Survival of the fittest
Justification of African American's continued use of unorthodox medicineThe science of medicine and the practice of medicine after slavery have been an evolving and dynamic series of events. After slavery ended, the majority of African Americans held fast to their methods of healing such as therapeutic herbal remedies, "conjuring" and other unorthodox procedures, for several reasons, despite improvements and advances in medical technology. "Doctoring" as practiced by slaves on slaves was much more acceptable to them than modern white medicine. It was quite clear that this clinging to the familiar, was in part due to the innate and profound distrust of the medical care rendered by whites, their faith in the African healers and "conjurers", affordability and conditions of the very few black hospitals, racism as well as the all important fact that in some states, medical treatment was denied to blacks by white hospitals and doctors. While therapies appeared to become significantly important to maintaining good health and crossing social divides, African Americans often struggled against racial, gendered, and class based constructions of who was fit to claim the privileges of medical authority.
There are numerous records of the sick being cured by conjuring. In addition, whites often sought the services of slave healers with specialized knowledge, such as herb doctors and conjurers. According to Essie Mae Alexander "I heard the doctor used to tell about home remedies too. This was a failure on the part of the physician who "should have attempted the transfusion first rather than last. Jones' house found a bottle under the door steps. They didn't pay me; maybe they will pay you. African Americans were not passive victims of medical malice, nor were they helpless dependants on white health care. For fevers, peach tree leaves were used; boiled kookaburra roots for diarrhea, milkweed for sores and tea made out of the hoof of pig's feet were used for colds and whooping cough. African American midwifery influenced black people and made them confident in their practice.
Common topics in this essay:
African Americans,
African American,
North Carolina,
American Alabama,
Americans Therapies,
Plainfield Connecticut,
Allen Hunts,
Sims Alabama,
Faith Mitchell,
Jim Crow,
black people,
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herbal remedies,
black women,
jim crow,
white physicians,
home remedies,
white medicine,
african american midwifery,
african american midwives,
passed generation generation,
remembering jim crow,
modern white medicine,
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Acceptance Essays
