Restitution without reformation is greed
After reparation, what next? At some point we dust off and move on, right?
Not far from where we're vacationing in Belize, almost 80 years ago, the US government conducted a study in Guatemala.
I learned of this following a casual remark from my husband about someone seeking reparations for Tuskegee.
One of the cruelest twists in the Tuskegee tale is the callous disregard for the humans who suffered there when considerating the callous disregard for the humans who suffered in Guatemala: “From 1946 to 1948, nearly 700 men and women—prisoners, soldiers, mental patients—were intentionally infected with syphilis (hundreds more people were exposed to other sexually transmitted diseases as part of the study) without their knowledge or consent."
With complete disregard for their vows, medical pratictioners intentionally sacrificed human lives in pursuit of discovery. “We must let them die in order to learn … for the sake of humanity. Let the few suffer for the benefit of the masses.”
Who gets to decide who suffers and to what end?
Before Guatemala the same researchers conducted the useless but damning Terre Haute prison experiments (1943 to 1944). 1
"The American public health researcher in charge of the project, Dr. John Cutler, went on to become a lead researcher in the Tuskegee experiments."
Apparently the "noble goal" was to find a way to prevent STDs in American soldiers who consorted with prostitutes. 2
The Tuskegee story broke "in July 1972, prompting public outrage and forcing the study to finally shut down. By that time, 28 participants had perished from syphilis, 100 more had passed away from related complications, at least 40 spouses had been diagnosed with it and the disease had been passed to 19 children at birth."
"In 1973, Congress held hearings on the Tuskegee experiments, and the following year the study’s surviving participants, along with the heirs of those who died, received a $10 million out-of-court settlement. Additionally, new guidelines were issued to protect human subjects in U.S. government-funded research projects."
"In part to foster racial healing, President Bill Clinton issued a 1997 apology, stating, 'The United States government did something that was wrong—deeply, profoundly, morally wrong… It is not only in remembering that shameful past that we can make amends and repair our nation, but it is in remembering that past that we can build a better present and a better future.'”
Even after this, Cutler and Mahoney were recognized and lauded as leaders in Public Health.3
In response to the shameful study in Guatemala, in 2010 "Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius issued an apology for the STD study and President Obama called the Guatemalan president to apologize for the experiments."
Cutler and Mahoney's research, similar to that of Eugenics, resonates with Hitler's Nazi Germany.
The US government's contempt for humanity.... I wonder if everyone has equal regard for the implications. Where are these people today? Scotty didn’t beam them up. They’re still here, with us, on terra firma. Unless you’re buying their myths.
Friends, it's not about race; it's about who's available and most easily manipulated to suit the whims of those in power. Eugenics data is clear, and the American justice system records confirm the data - being outside of the social norm matters more than skin color.
The poor and the marginalized are historically oppressed and will remain so as long as their plight is ignored or misdiagnosed.
Don't consider corrective action if you've not yet sorted out root cause.
We have to face our past wholly, with a healthy desire to heal holistically.
"The Terre Haute prison experiments were conducted by Dr. John C. Cutler in 1943 and 1944 under Dr. John F. Mahoney, the head of the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory of the US Public Health Service, to determine the effectiveness of treatments for sexually transmitted diseases. The test subjects were prisoners at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.[1]: 20 They were given disclosures and consented to the experiments.[2] A total of 241 prisoners participated in the study and received $100, a certificate of merit, and a letter of commendation to the parole board at the end of the study. The researchers deposited various strains and concentrations of gonorrhea into the penises of the test subjects.[1]: 21 After several months, Mahoney noted that the method of inducing gonorrhea in humans was unreliable and could not provide meaningful tests of prophylactic agents.[3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terre_Haute_prison_experiments
So, yeah, you know…sailor’s gonna sail, right? Gotta take care of the troops. Why worry about the loss of life or livelihood for those who are already the lowest of the low? https://www.britannica.com/.../Guatemala-syphilis...