Health and race disparities in America have deep roots: A brief timeline

Here are a few historical examples of how race, and racism, has greatly impacted the health outcomes of African Americans.

1619 to 1730: Africans were enslaved and transported to the American colonies to be treated as property, receiving little to no medical treatment. 

1742: Onesimus, a Boston enslaved person, told his owner about a procedure where he became immune to smallpox by exposing himself to the bacteria of someone with smallpox through an open wound, an early inoculation. His owner, Cotton Mather, experimented with this treatment and only six people out of 242 died. Although Onesimus contributed to this knowledge, he received terrible treatment as a slave and was punished severely for not converting to Christianity.  

See Also

By Tammy Joyner and Jasmin S. Lee, Detroit Free Press
Featured Image, James Estrin for The New York Times
Full article @ Detroit Free Press