Examples Of Discrimination In The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

The first social determinant that impacted Henrietta Lacks’ health was income. The higher income an individual has, the more likely that they will be able to afford better healthcare, healthier foods, cleaner houses, and so on. These things directly influence are health. Individuals with lower incomes settle

The first few chapters of the book follows the life of Henrietta Lacks and her entire battle with cervical cancer. Henrietta Lacks was a young woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer during the 1950s and would go to John Hopkins hospital, the closest hospital that would accept black patients. Rebecca goes into vivid detail to describe the treatment and exams Henrietta would encounter, including having a tube of radium sewed right into her cervix. During her stay and initial exam, Henrietta’s doctor, Dr. Gey, was conducting research on cancer cells and the growth of human cells and chose to take samples of Henrietta’s cells without her knowledge and conduct testing. This is a huge ethical issue,

The book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, shows that an individual can stand up to wrongdoings and make a difference in society. In this case, that person is the author of this book, Rebecca Skloot. She goes out of her way to conduct extensive research all because she notices how wrong it is for society to not recognize such an important person. And she does make a difference. Because of the book that she wrote, so many more people are now aware of who Henrietta Lacks was, and what her cells did for science.

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot depicts the story of a woman named Henrietta whose cancer cells revolutionized science. Henrietta, a young black woman, grew up in the 1920s when Jim Crow laws divided the nation, making whites and blacks separate but certainly not equal. Believed to be inferior beings, blacks were not fortunate enough to have the things that white people were given such as good schools, high paying jobs and competent doctors. Black people had such poor health care and education that they believed anything a doctor said because they were lucky that they could even see a doctor. This willingness to listen to anything a doctor, or any white

Author Rebecca Skloot did a fantastic job describing the racial politics and economic aspects surrounding the Henrietta Lacks case. What surprised me most was the contrast between the Johns Hopkins doctors and Lacks family following Henrietta’s death. While the educated Dr. George Gey and his team propagated millions of HeLa cells and laid the foundation for what later became a multibillion-dollar cell culture business, the Lacks family, especially the children, suffered in poverty and because of abuse. Specifically, while Gey shipped HeLa cells “around the country” (Skloot 95) and Tuskegee Institute churned out billions of cells, Ethel fed the Lacks children just one “cold biscuit” per day (111). With her mother gone, Deborah became an easy

Being born into a privileged life can provide more opportunity and the perception of more rights than what appear to be available to the average individual. The immediate and extended family of Henrietta Lacks were without such privilege considering they began from a slave owner, Mr. Lacks, and one of his slaves that he fancied. It is evident throughout that African American people are less privileged than the average individual as seen in their lifestyle and morale.

The cause of health disparities are multidimensional, ranging from SES, to educational obtainment and race. Due to a lack of education dictated by her race, Henrietta is stuck in cycle of poverty that leads to increased health disparities. As a young African American women in the 1950’s, Henrietta was subjected to inequalities in health services, access to education and even occupational opportunity. Due to her lack of education, Henrietta did not have any other opportunity but to work on a tobacco plantation where she was most likely paid a meager salary. Due to lacking economic means, education and race, she was stuck in a cycle of poverty that builds on itself and is exacerbated by the addition of children. Once children are involved there

Behind every breakthrough in a field, people have questioned the accuracy, risk, morality, and many other aspects of the breakthrough. Before man stepped on the moon, the President of the United States prepared a speech to give in the worst case scenario, because no one knew if the scientists were sending astronauts to their death. Before the US dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, citizens protested and said it was unethical. However, the professionals involved in each situation weighed the pros against the cons and decided to push questionable ethics aside for the greater good. In the contemporary biographical novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot used the passion of the characters to show how the eithics and morality of important decisions have grey areas and can impact a large number of people in both negative and positive ways.

This essay was written in effort to critically analyze the novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot. The question researched was as follows: can Skloot’s objectivity be challenged due to the continued use of secondary sources, an angled or biased perspective, and uneven representation of both sides of the tale? Its main objective was to examine the apparent subjectivity with which the novel was written. In order to cover the copious amounts of information and unique situations, the essay separates each part of the research question into its own section. The aim of this technique is to effectively highlight the differences within a highly focused research question. The investigation for the information presented in the essay was found mostly through careful analyzation of the novel, yet outside sources are pulled in occasionally for definitive purposes and counterpoints to be disproved. The essay determines that Skloot’s objectivity can be challenged and in fact disproved through the points mentioned in the research question: repeated use of secondary sources, a perspective that is biased and a skewed representation of both sides presented in the novel. The effect of these conclusions speaks to the previous acclamations of the novel, discrediting and refuting their praise and weight.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, and Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines all revolve around colloquial affairs in humanity. Bringing forth the dilemmas caused by medical facilities concerning privacy and consent is the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Also, The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates reveals effects of social problems. In addition to the two, Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines expresses environmental matters. Altogether, the following books illustrate mediocre issues occurring in the world today.

To begin with, perhaps one of her largest inequalities was racism, as it was to many blacks at the time. Henrietta experienced racism from the beginning of her life to the very end. One may think that a person’s life would not depend on race, however

What if Henrietta’s story appeared in the mainstream in 1951, instead of 1976? Would it help her case? Or would anyone care because of the color of her skin? Everyone’s point of view of African Americans were very different in 1951 from in 1976. The public interpretation would be very different if publishing Henrietta’s story in 1951 because of the changes like Jim Crow Laws, segregation, and if Rebecca Skloot would even be allowed to interview the Lacks family as much as she did.

Social inequality influenced the health outcomes of the Lacks children by creating barriers to accessing adequate healthcare, education, and the resources needed to maintain good health. Poverty, discrimination/racism, and environmental factors like where they live, are all social factors that played a part in the poor health outcomes Henrietta’s children faced. The Lacks children faced many different social determinants of health that influenced their lives. Poverty and race played a significant role in this, as it caused the children to receive less care and attention to their health issues.

●Although there are many social injustices presented in the novel by Rebecca Skloot, we felt that the most pressing issue was prejudices and imbalance of racial power in the medical field. This is the most relevant issue because it is the source of the confusion Henrietta’s family endured for decades, and almost more importantly, it is why Henrietta’s body was taken advantage of initially. We plan to address the countless instances in the novel of this cruel misuse, as well as point out how this issue is still haunting the lives of others today. ●Then: Hospitals were split into colored wards, and often times those of color were not given the best care, as well as their medical files were not confidential.

Discrimination has always affected people to a certain extent in society. Whether it be in the form of class or racial discrimination, people experience it in their everyday lives. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee illustrates the dangers of judging others before getting to know who they are. She demonstrates discrimination through social classism, gossip, and racism and how these things can lead people to judge others before they know their story.