Tuskegee Apology

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study in Macon County, Alabama is a pretty low point when it comes to breaking the rules of the Nuremberg code. Not only was it unethical in that the participants did not consent to the study and underwent excruciating forms of "free" treatment like a spinal tap when there penicillin around to cure syphilis, but the fact that all parties conducting the study did not think they were doing anything wrong when the study finally was closed in 1972.

I am happy that President Clinton was able to acknowledge that there was wrongdoing and racism in conducting this study and offered an apology on behalf of the federal government, but it is truly sad that such an apology took as long as it did after the study was over. The blindness of the American people of this time to such racism says a lot about the generations past, and now it is easily understandable why people from around the world hate the United States, which I believe to be the greatest country on Earth. I know most of the racism and hatred of other people in the world today is passed down from adults that people look up to such as parents and grandparents. I, myself, have firsthand knowledge of this fact and feel that I have looked through the deceit and lies put upon me as a child and am able to judge people on who they really are, and not by their skin color, religion, lifestyle or personal beliefs.

The one thing I hope that the Clinton apology will change is the trust in medical research studies. It is completely understandable how the Tuskegee study has affected the African American involvement in medical research studies and organ donations, but I really do hope that trust can be established with the medical community once more so that Americans as a whole can wage war against foes such as cancer, diseases, and harmful infections.