How Did J. Marion Sims Contribute To The Mistrust Of The Medical Community?

One last community that has historically been exploited for medical research and experiences mistrust towards the medical community is black individuals. Throughout the 19th century, slavery was rampant in the United States and while black individuals were exploited for labor they were also exploited for medical research. One man in particular, J. Marion Sims, specifically exploited black enslaved women to further his gynecological research. Enslaved women were the choice of study for Sims because they were socially seen as inferior at the time and their fertility was of great importance to the slave owners. In one case study, a woman named Mary had concerns that she was not conceiving and was simply told that uterine diseases were just common among black women. This highlights how even beyond exploitation, medical healers' knowledge of black individuals was also incorrect. Additionally, physicians at the time would even use enslaved women's uteruses after death without consent to further their medical knowledge.

The work of J. Marion Sims contributed to the spread of this mistrust as he violated numerous black women in his pursuit to learn more about female anatomy. Today, mistrust in the black community can be seen in the way they have little trust in medical healers and their services. A frequent reason for this mistrust is the fear that medical healers will prioritize the care of white patients and minimize the symptoms of black patients. This fear is legitimized when considering the acts of J. Marion Sims and how he spread misinformation about black people's anatomy and minimized black women's symptoms and