Tuskegee Experiment: Demonstration Of Racial Inequalities And Dehumanization

The Tuskegee experiment was yet another demonstration of racial inequalities and dehumanization illustrated by a people who believed in racial superiority. The experiment was unethical and demoralizing from the beginning. The analysis was corrupt and unethical for a plethora of reasons. The experiment disregarded several basic principles of the American Sociological Association’s code of ethics. Perhaps the greatest flaw in the experiment was the intended denial of treatment, which, in turn, directly affected the subject’s safety, violating the code of ‘protecting subjects from personal harm’. ‘Respect the subject’s right to privacy and dignity’ is an additional custom in the code of ethics ignored. The researchers clearly could not even
The advanced nature of the syphilis in each patient contributes to the prevailing thought that the study was not only misguided, but unscrupulous as well. These men needed immediate medical care, but the urgency was of no concern to the researchers. The fact that these men were told they were ill (and that they were) and promised care, but were denied it, provides further evidence that experiment should have been stopped before it was even initialized, but realistically that was not going to happen. When the patients began dying off, the researchers should have stepped in, stopped the study and treated the patients, but because of the “ignorance and easily influence nature” of the subjects, they were not given treatment. Ignorance is deemed the right term indeed, but only because the researchers left out the whole nature of the experiment. They were given placebos, food, shelter, and constant letters informing them they were being treated and followed up
The participants were not too quick to jump into the research though, until of course, they were given incentives, their cooperation was built on the promise of help and generosity of mankind. As time moved forward, I believe they were still hopeful due in part to the fabrication of treatment, but maybe a bit suspicious, hence the start of the covers for burial preparations if death, in fact, struck them. As the years progressed, many participants died, from the severity of their illness, so therefore much of the primary evidence of feelings and emotions is not known. Over time, I expect that the attitudes toward the experiment, from the perspective of the participants and outsiders, did indeed change, and not positively. In decades following, the attention became negative, angry, and impatient. As of now, I believe people, of all races, are utterly disgusted and outraged. The fact that this continued for nearly forty years is incredible and