Today, as the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, Powell’s story is a cautionary tale about the consequences of allowing prejudice to override the lessons of science. The problem, he asserted, was that Emancipation eliminated the slave system’s healthful effects - a remarkably ahistorical claim that ignored not only slavery’s brutality but also a similar post-war epidemic in white people.Īs his racist ideas informed public-health efforts, the consequences reached far beyond the dangers to his charges at the asylum. Powell, developed a theory to explain rising numbers of tuberculosis and insanity cases among the state’s African American population. Toward the end of the 19th century, the superintendent of Georgia’s State Asylum, T.O.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |