Lives Are Ruled By Color in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”

Racism is an extremely widely discussed issue in our today’s society. Racism is discrimination against other humans because of their differences from the majority. In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” ethical issues are analysed and this essay also depicts the role and influence of racism. Racism is a way of disrespect to those people who are different. Racism initially started with slavery to African-Americans causing a huge issue in our society that we need to stand up against. Racism is unfair, immoral, and leads to poverty.

As humans we did not choose our ethnicity or skin color. It is unfair to be treated upon skin color or get stereotyped. Furthermore, in the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, colored people are only allowed to go to charity hospital which is called John Hopkins hospital. In this hospital they used her skin tissue for researcher without her permission. In addition, doctors assume that she will not be able to understand her condition of cancer because of her education level and uses that as an excuse to make decisions for her which is against human rights.

It is immoral to take a control over others right to live like humans. In the article Racism and Families in the United States, by John D Foster, he states, “The bodies of enslaved women were under the control of their masters and enslaved women, men, and children were under constant threat of whippings, sexual assault, and rape”. Black slavery broke humanity’s rules and treated humans like objects. In other words, masters give them no rights to speak or choose for themselves. Slaves are under their master’s mercy. Likewise, in the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, they treated black people like they do not deserve to be healthy or be in good condition like white people. In addition, they were only allowed to go to only one hospital which it means they do not have the right like all other races.

Racism can also lead to poverty and illiteracy. In the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Henrietta was born in a poor a family that could not afford to pay for education. In fact, that caused her to have no knowledge about her disease or what could be the best for her. Work requires many years of education and knowledge and that caused many black people to be poor because they were not allowed to have education because people were against them attending the same school. For instance, in the article Racial Conflict, by Peter Katel, “The $11,000 median net worth of black households is about 13 times less than the median white household net worth of $141,900”. The article mentioned that black people have way less income than the white people. Besides, twenty-two percent of African-Americans earn college degree in comparison with thirty-four percent of whites. Consequently, lack of education and knowledge will lead to illiteracy.

Therefore, racism is against all human rights and humanity. Racism and discrimination is giving less value to the person so it is against morals and fairness. It also can be a cause of poverty and unimproved society. Finally, We should treat each other with equality and fairness because we are all humans. We all deserve to be treated the same, no one living on earth should be treated different for any reason. We are all the same and all one.

Work Cited

• Connie.kwan. “About Racism.” Racism. It Stops With Me, 4 Oct. 2017, itstopswithme.humanrights.gov.au/about-racism.1
• Foster, John D. 'Racism and Families in the United States.' The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies, edited by Constance L. Shehan, Wiley, 1st edition, 2016. Credo Reference,https://libris.mtsac.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wileyfamily/racism_and_families_in_the_united_states/0?institutionId=4288. Accessed 03 Feb. 2019.
• Katel, Peter. 'Racial Conflict.' CQ Researcher, 8 Jan. 2016, pp. 25-48, library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2016010800.
• Beagan, Brenda L., and Josephine Etowa. 'The Impact of Everyday Racism on the Occupations of African Canadian Women.' The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol. 76, no. 4, 2009, pp. 285-93. ProQuest, https://libris.mtsac.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libris.mtsac.edu/docview/213009522?accountid=12611.
• Van Daalen-Smith, Cheryl. “[Surviving in the Hour of Darkness].” Canadian Woman Studies, vol. 26, no. 1, Winter/Spring 2007 2007, p. 111. EBSCOhost, libris.mtsac.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hft&AN=50