The Future Needs the Past

To be honest, some days it seems like I’m going out of my find a new Kristi Noem antic to be mad about. However, one of the South Dakota governor’s recent moves has been lingering on my mind for longer than usual.

Her letter to the South Dakota Board of Regents encouraging policies that preserve honest, patriotic education was, in my mind…….. troubling.

The statement that I found to be most troubling was her request to deny funds to the advancement or promotion of anything that: “misleads students into believing that their country is evil or was founded upon evil, or requiring, compelling, or otherwise directing students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to any such beliefs of tenets.”

This statement was particularly striking as I encountered it amidst reading Harriet A. Washington’s book “Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to Present.” The book had been highlighting the history of experimental treatment on slaves, sexual abuse of slaves by physicians, belief that African minds were subordinate, and that African pain tolerance was higher than Europeans. Of course, much has changed within the country in terms of slavery and racist beliefs, but the impacts and mistrust have persisted.

To find ways that these beliefs persist, it’s not difficult: just search racial disparities in healthcare.

In the spirit of relevance, COVID-19 vaccines provide an excellent example. Within the United States, less than a quarter of Black Americans have gotten at least one vaccine dose (CDC). This can be explained in two ways, less accessibility to the vaccines, and greater questioning of medical advice. However, unless medical professionals have gone out of their way to learn about the racist medical history in the U.S. (which is a great thing to do!), they likely are entirely unaware, as no part of the medical curriculum includes any form of history. Without an ability to understand historical reasons for patient hesitancy, there is no way to work with the hesitant community.

Not only are medical professionals not aware of how history impacts their patients decisions, they are unaware of how history impacts their own decisions. In a 2016 study (Hoffman et al.), about a quarter of white medical students endorsed ideas that Black people have a higher pain tolerance than white people, and have thicker skin and stronger bones. Even a handful of students believed that white people have more developed brains. The study went on to find that the students who held these beliefs were less likely to make accurate treatment suggestions for patients.

Although it is only one of many systems that perpetuate racial disparities in society, these beliefs play into statistics such as Black women having a maternal mortality rate that is 3x higher than that of white women (CDC).

To tie this back, I believe we should encourage an education system, at all levels, that teaches honest, authentic history, even if it’s shameful. An education system that does not push learners into a bit of discomfort won’t create sincere reflection, whether events happened last week or 200 years ago. If the racial reckoning of 2020 taught me one thing, it’s that the impacts of history will exist in society until there is a sincere effort for reparation. The not-so-good history of America matters, and it’s for purposes other than, in the words of Governor Noem “teaching our kids to hate our country.” Reparation cannot happen until acknowledgement occurs, and acknowledgment won’t occur without efforts for honest education.