Can poverty be a racial issue?

By ashleygreer92

The prejudice of Henrietta’s society is aimed at the black community; they are seen as lower class because of their ethnicity. It is made very clear that they are not at the same level as the white community which inevitably created the black community as the lower under layer of the community. In the book Skloot lets the reader know what decade her writing is taking place by commenting and taking note of the racial differences. The typical racial identifiers for poverty are within Henrietta’s community. Henrietta was born into poverty and so were her children, they lived and worked on a tobacco farm which solemnly supported their basic needs.

“It is not consciousness of men that determines their social existence, but their social existence determines their consciousness” – Marx

Mentioned in the above video, Charles Barron a New York City Councilman states that even at Capitalism’s high point it was still no good to the lower society, people were still in poverty and there was very little that could be changed to create an escape for them. “Racism emerged and flourishes for capitalists, themselves white in color, because of its economic utility. Blacks receive wages lower than white workers to enhance profit making for capitalists” (Willhelm, 98). This was very true especially in the time of Henrietta’s youth, her brothers, father, and also husband received wages that were based upon race rather than work ethic. Also the other side of that statement is that white capitalist men wanted the black men to be employed by their company so they could work those longer hours and at a lower wage. “Marxists tend to see racism in the U.S. as a capitalist device for dividing the working class; racism generates antagonism within the working class, rather than across class lines, and thereby deflects decisive working-class challenges to capitalists’ rule in America” (Willhelm, 99). Marxism plays a part in this through stigmas, for example poverty is seen as a disease and the stigma is the problem. The societal dimensions create the make up of Henrietta’s world. If this Marxist  theory continued there would be no hope of equality in this capitalist society. “They came to believe that black was a symbol of sinfulness and ugliness and that therefore as black people they were inferior and worthless” (Himes, 55). The black community was classified as a cohort of citizens that did not deserve to succeed to the standards of those deserving, the white community, and this put them into a downward spiral of disadvantage, lost hope, and false pretenses of equality. This such devastation hindered the moral outlook for the black community, thus not allowing for many of the black community to have the determination to stand up for their own rights. “This structural situation was conducive to racial conflict in at least three ways. First, alienated and inward-facing, the two categories tended to maximize their separate and opposing group interests. Second, under such circumstances, the racial interest groups were transformed into racial conflict groups. And third, the two racial conflict groups are structurally opposed in what Ralf Dahrendorf (1959:126) has characterized as the classic social conflict posture” (Himes, 55). This social conflict posture is seen through Henrietta’s life first in the basics of segregated public washrooms, to the forceful white coats that stole her cells without her consent. “Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr., sat on a stool between her legs. He peered inside Henrietta, dilated her cervix, and prepared to treat her tumor. But first—though no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting samples or asked if she wanted to be a donor—Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta’s cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical tissue nearby. Then he placed the samples in a glass dish” (Skloot, 33). This further proves the fact that in the time period that Henrietta had her procedure done was when white superiority had hit its peak and the black community suffered from lack of acceptance for social diversity.

9 thoughts on “Can poverty be a racial issue?”

  1. Hi Ashley – I would just take the term out of there. The “phallus” for Henrietta is actually dictated by white society Toni Morrison outlines this fact in The Bluest Eye). I would just remove the term – now that I give it a second look, that’s the best course of action. May I ask what you wanted to articulate here (I read about 3/4 of the post and it looks good!)

  2. I really enjoyed this post Ashley. Since I am also writing on Henrietta (more so a look on segregation), I was able to see and agree with many of the points and issues you have highlighted in your post. Would you mind if I reblogged this post?

    This might just be my computer but it seems that the video you mention didn’t link into the blog properly, just a heads up to double check this before submitting.

    • Hey Nicole
      No I don’t mind if you re blog my post at all I’m glad that someone else is looking at Henrietta as well. And thanks for the update on my video I will take a look at it!
      Thanks!

  3. You went deep here Ash, I don’t think that hearing these topics of racism and poverty will ever be topics that become desensitized, or at least I hope not. The cruelties and crimes committed against the black community are heartless and deserve to be exposed. How one could dislike another based on color is beyond ridiculous, and this itself is proven when the Doctor steals her cells (huge ethical issue, how does this make a white man better than a black man if he is abusing is position of authority and stealing from another human being???) This Doctor is acting in a contradicting manor, though he believes black population to be of a lesser race they are evidently no different than the white population. They are not “diseased” or “animals” (or however else it has been so cruelly put), otherwise stealing Henrietta’s cells would not have been seen as a viable source for a potential cure he would have had to of used a white woman’s instead.

  5. Ashley, I was very interested reading what you had to say on Henrietta Lacks. This book was not one that I would have picked up and read on my own, but I ended up loving it! I had no idea how many controversies came up in the scientific world. I like how you took the time to focus on wages and how racism played a huge role in the matter. Also, I think the layout of your blog complements the actual book of the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in regards to colour and font choices. I don’t know if this was intentional for you but it looks great!

    • Thank you! I actually did make the fonts and colour purposely fit the novel so that it would be an easy connection to what I was writing about, also because it adds some brightness to such a dark topic.

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