Histories of Harm: Race, Medicine and COVID-19 in Historical Perspective

Featuring Carolyn Roberts, assistant professor of History of Science & History of Medicine; African American Studies, Yale University

Black people in the United States have had a tumultuous relationship with American medicine for hundreds of years. The crisis caused by COVID-19 offers a critical opportunity to consider the historical legacies that have shaped health disparities. In this talk, we will discuss how the history of slavery, the slave trade and segregation caused medical harm and distrust. Yet, this is also a history of resilience and resistance. Black people then, and now, have utilized their knowledge, resources and ingenuity to endure.