Imagine a world where sick people couldn’t step into a hospital, be treated by a doctor, or receive proper medical care simply due to the color of their skin. It sounds like a make believe story, but sadly there were and still are citizens of the United States being denied the right to medical treatment. Throughout the history of the United States, African Americans have not been treated as equals to other races. White superiority has made it hard for African Americans to simply find a job, living arrangements, or even just a restaurant that won’t refuse to serve them or deny them access to the bathroom. To no surprise, African Americans have a worse chance of surviving from cancer, strokes, diabetes, …show more content…
Several aspects such as patient-physician interaction, quality of hospitals, education for medical staff, medicines, medical attention, treatment, and medical equipment significantly differed between Blacks and Whites. “First, Blacks must cope with a current shortage of black physicians and health-care providers. Second, Blacks have historically resided in what are labeled as medically underserved areas, and for a number of socioeconomic and demographic reasons, may still receive inferior care. Third, the changing doctor-patient relationship mediated largely by managed care, coupled with non-mainstream cultural medical practices, may exacerbate mistrust and poor health”. It took an extremely long time for healthcare representatives to begin to see the faults in their medical operation and to actually make a change. This change began with Jim Crow, and over one hundred years later we have seen a huge transformation in the healthcare system. However, the reversal of our nation's actions will never fully eradicate the damage that has already been done. Although the U.S. has come very far from a distasteful past of discrimination, segregation, and racism, the U.S. is still striving toward equal rights and freedom for ALL citizens even …show more content…
A lack of hospitals for blacks came along with an inadequate amount of doctors, medicine, treatment/care, and availability. As if it wasn’t already bad enough, white hospitals that accepted some black patients were segregated and often very unfair. Since whites were viewed as superior they received excellent treatment on upper level floors while African Americans got poor treatment in the basement of facilities. Some “hospitals were designed with separate entrances, admissions desks, restrooms, dining areas, and wards. Even the equipment was labeled “White” or “colored” and some areas of the hospital excluded Black patients entirely”. Strictly black hospitals were rare and had a lower quality of care due to the lack of