Black Evidence A History And A Warning – Candis Watts Smith

Some state legislators crafted bills that would make the removal of the implant financially costly. Oklahoma’s Department of Public Health directed its physicians to basically coerce women on welfare to keep the device implanted as long as possible. North Carolina introduced a bill that mandated the insertion of Norplant in women who were on Medicaid and had an abortion.

Still more, a wave of bills tying birth control and state financial support rippled through the United States. Some bills called for requiring Norplant for women on welfare or female substance users; others sought to deny welfare benefits to those who refused it; a couple offered free devices for women under the poverty line; and still, some states sought to encourage public schools to market the LARC.29 Proposed legislation, even if it does not pass, tells us something about the concerns of policy makers. The language of the legislation and the desires of these bills’ creators were clearly telegraphed to their targeted populations: Black women and other women of color, particularly those who are poor or incarcerated.

One step from race science, these bills messaged to the public that the people who represented them believed that poverty is biological; that is, they believed that when poor, Black teens and women procreate, they bear inherently poor, Black infants and children. If the goal of legislation is to solve our biggest problems, then these bills suggested that the so-called problem of Black life was best addressed with raced-, gendered-, and class-based methods of social control.

From this point of view, there is no need to focus on the social, political, and economic forces that reproduce racial inequality; Black people are their own problem.30 Despite a wide array of opinions, ranging from “useful idiot” to “intellectual superstar,” Samuel Cartwright was a well-known physician, having been a key player in enhancing the credibility of Southern doctors, especially among those around the country who sought to maintain the institution of slavery.

While Cartwright is not a key historical figure that most Americans come to learn about, his nineteenth-century race-based research continues to influence the ways in which medical students are trained, how Americans’ vital signs are evaluated, and the fact that racial disparities in both physical and mental health persist.

Cartwright believed that we cannot understand diseases unless we understand the anatomical and physiological differences between Black and white bodies. He described so-called racial differences in the color of blood, bile, and bones; the shape of heads; heights of foot arches; fields of vision; and the development of nervous systems. He theorized that the least common denominator of disease pathologies and treatment was lung capacity.

I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries. My country, right or wrong. Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me. —Zora Neale Hurston, 1928 Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.

—Margaret Atwood, 1985 Because, most of all, our tomorrow is the child of our today. Through thought and deed, we exert a great deal of influence over this child, even though we can’t control it absolutely. Best to think about it, though. Best to shape it into something good. Best to do that for any child.

—Octavia Butler, 2000 1kitap1.com/en CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE: EXCLUDE CHAPTER TWO: TERRORIZE CHAPTER THREE: GASLIGHT CHAPTER FOUR: MEDICALIZE CHAPTER FIVE: ADULTIFY CHAPTER SIX: WAYS OF LISTENING Include Amplify Acknowledge Repair ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES INDEX 1kitap1.com/en BLACK EVIDENCE 1kitap1.com/en INTRODUCTION On May 25, 1911, hundreds of people carved out some time in their day to go to the Old Schoolton Bridge in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma.

The bridge, remnants of which can still be found today, crossed the North Canadian River near the towns of Okemah and Boley. Though originally sitting in Creek Nation, Indian Territory, Okemah was opened by the federal government to non-Native settlement in 1902; its white residents merged the town into the new state of Oklahoma five years later. And though Okfuskee County had a decent-sized Black population at that time— between 37 and 50 percent—Okemah’s townspeople had no problems acting on their intention to build a town for whites only.

The four dozen or so people standing on top of this suspension bridge offer a representation of the residents of Okemah.1 On a typical Thursday morning, we would expect Okemah residents to be at work. Some might be found at the post office or providing services at their dentist’s or veterinarian’s office. Oklahoma farmers in May would be planting warm-season crops. The maintenance of a home has its own long list of chores—cooking, cleaning, laundry, caring for children, and perhaps helping with farm work.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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