How Racism and Abuse Leads to Distrust in Medicine: an Interview with Dr. Darko
by Constance Tyne '21, Mattie Schoenfeld '22
Pictured: Dr. Daniel Darko, professor of New Testament Studies and Director of Church Relations at Gordon College.
“The causes of the mistrust are founded,” Dr Dan Darko said when asked to describe why so many minority communities in America are distrustful of its healthcare system. Dr. Darko is professor of New Testament Studies and Director of Church Relations at Gordon College.
After giving a presentation on racially-based distrust of modern medicine and Evangelicals in science a few weeks ago, Dr. Darko, sat down with Mattie Schoenfeld ‘22 to elaborate more generally on the subject of minorities in medicine.
Within the context of the minority experience with healthcare, Darko explains why the black experience with medicine is often fraught with distrust, manipulation, and inequality.
“Much of the distrust stems from a history of scientists using Black people as test subjects in manipulative and even dangerous ways… Scientists have used African Americans for medical experiments . . . on the worst side of things where . . . they could die if the outcome is not good,” Darko said, referencing the Tuskegee experiment, a syphilis research experiment done on 600 African American men in the 1930s. The research was conducted without the informed consent of the test subjects; the subjects were not allowed to opt out of the research once it began and were denied medicine once it became available so that they could remain subjects for the researchers.
“If this is how . . . the medical community is treating a people group, the group should not trust them,” Darko said.
He added that, despite the history of African American communities being used for medical advancement, African countries are often the last to benefit from medical outcomes.
“The continent of Africa [is where] many scientific experiments are often brought to be done. . . And when they develop the remedy, the last people to benefit from the medical outcome are the people that [they] run the experiments on. So . . . trust deficit is a big thing with the black community.”
Another aspect of minority distrust stems from the discrimination many have experienced at the hands of the medical community.
“One thing that is certain is that race affects the value doctors place on how to take care of patients,” Darko remarks. “How many blacks go to the medical system and don't get treated well by the medical professionals, and purely because they are black? They don't think they are as deserving of your time.”
The prevalence of prejudice that Black America experience is evident, but when it comes to healthcare, that prejudice can have physical and even life-threatening consequences; minority life spans are another example of inequality in the healthcare system.
“Black African Americans or . . . Hispanics, their lifespan is lower . . . instead of 75 years, we bring it down to 65,” says Darko.
Worse still is the reality that access to medical care, including certain vaccinations, is based on age; minorities’ average life span ends before the age where, for example, the COVID vaccine was made available for the elderly.
“People who are eligible for vaccination are all below five years of their lifespan . . . the medical system in America is . . . designed for those who can pay, who have good insurance and I am becoming more aware of [the racial disparities].”
Darko’s suggestion for how to combat the reality of the minority experience in medicine is involvement in those communities which have perpetuated inequality in the past: “For me, the solution is just simple: get more minorities in medicine! Encouraging minorities in health industries to deliver service, regardless of prejudice, is very important to me.”
Darko’s call to action extends to current caregivers as well: “Don't let race discriminate on how you give care. Because Christian ethics requires that when you have a patient in front of you, the oath you took as a physician is to care for people . . . If you don't do what you're doing because the patient is a white . . . you are participating in the same thing that you condemn.”
Darko maintains that change begins with awareness in immediate communities. When asked how he would encourage Gordon’s student body to pursue change in this area, his answer was simple:
“Gordon students should ask their professors tough questions . . . ask ‘what is the contribution of minorities to science.’”
By taking the time to listen to stories of inequality, ask difficult questions, read and research current realities of our medical system, and by caring deeply about those affected by its shortcomings, Darko insists that we can be better equipped to combat the inequalities which persist today.