Reader with a Cause discussion

Would Henrietta Lacks have lived if she had been White? Would she have been asked before her cells were taken for research if she had been White? Rebecca Skloot says “There’s no way of knowing.” (64)

“According to Howard Jones, Henrietta got the same care any white patient would have; the biopsy, the radium treatment, and radiation were all standard for the day.” However, she goes on to say that “…several studies have shown that black patients were treated and hospitalized at later stages of their illnesses than white patients. And once hospitalized, they got fewer pain medications, and had higher mortality rates.” (64)

What do you think?

First, I am glad this book has been posted; I did not know of this profoundly important book until I found it here, in this group.

I did a bit of research and now I will answer that question:
Since Henrietta's cancer was so aggressive, I don't believe she would have lived if she had been white; however, I do believe she would have received better treatment if she was white and educated. I also firmly believe that her cells would not have been stolen from her body without her written consent. In the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's, black people were still treated as lesser humans and afforded less rights than even poor whites; poor whites were treated less respectfully than economically advantaged whites. Large organizations were less afraid of lawsuits because the human rights and civil rights campaigns of the 1960's were yet to impact them, as now.

Sara