Ugly History: The U.S. Syphilis Experiment - Susan M. Reverby

Dig into the unethical Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which spanned 40 years and lied to its participants about receiving treatment for syphilis.

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Afflicting nearly 1 in 10 Americans, syphilis was ravaging the U.S. in the 1930s. Many doctors believed syphilis affected Black and white patients differently, and the Public Health Service launched an experiment to investigate, recruiting 600 Black men to take part. But the study was centered on a lie: the men wouldn’t actually receive treatment. Susan Reverby details the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

Lesson by Susan M. Reverby, directed by Ouros Animation.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Po Foon Kwong, NinjaBoffin, Jesse Jurman, Josue Perez Miranda, Scott Markley, Elija Peterson, Ovidiu Mrd, Xavier dupont, paul g mohney, Aravind Battaje, Nathan Giusti, Helen Lee, Anthony Benedict, Karthik Balsubramanian, John Hong, Annastasshia Ames, Amy Lopez, Vinh-Thuy Nguyen, Liz Candee, Kathryn Vacha, Ugur Doga Sezgin, Anthony Arcis, Chung Wah Gnapp, Karmi Nguyen, Yelena Baykova, Harshita Jagdish Sahijwani, Nick Johnson, Carlos H. Costa, Roberto Patrick, Les Howard, Jennifer Kurkoski, Ryan B Harvey, Abhishek Bansal, Akinola Emmanuel, Jose Arcadio Valdes Franco, Karl Laius, JY Kang, Heidi Stolt, Alexis Hevia, Christina Salvatore, Karlee Finch, Michael Goldberg, Denise A Pitts, Doug Henry, Kristiyan Bonev, Keven Webb, Mihai Sandu, Deepak Iyer, Javid Gozalov and Kyanta Yap.

[ElBandito]

The past, no matter how painful or controversial, must be told so that it will not be repeated again.

[echojr.]

The art of this animation is impeccable and tells the story well

[ShortHax]

It’s horrid that they were denied treatment and were just told “You’ve got bad blood.”

[natcarroll]

As a Guatemalan, it’s nice to see such a large channel addressing these issues. African Americans and indigenous people have always been a target for these kinds of experiments. It’s angering.

[asprywrites]

They did this to my granddad while he was in the army. He gradually lost his ability to walk and care for himself. At 15, my father had to wipe his own dad's behind until his dad died.

[abimbolaakinrin]

this is beautifully animated, the beginning looking like a movie is stunning

[vitamink]

I'm glad this is being presented again on such a big platform. Like Amber Ruffin said, this and many other gruesome expiriments help understand why there was/is a certain level of hesitancy with the vaccines in the African-American community this year.

[vitamink]

On another note, I like how the use of shadows and the slow, dragged motion of the animations convey a gloomy and bleak atmosphere.

[Nimr]

We're told how the abhorrent Nazis experimented on their prisoners yet rarely taught the parallel history of the allied nations.

I can't imagine how people could be such horrible and cruel to others. It wasn't for the development of medicine, it was just the fulfillment of their own sick desires.

[kurushi]

"Do no harm... unless we can profit from it"

- American doctors

[ghostderazgriz]

This animation is emotionally scarring and that's why it's perfectly executed.

[mariaskdfjcnhpkduhv]

It's absolutely sickening that even after a treatment was found they continued the experiment. Their shouldn't even have been an experiment to begin with.

[javoywhyte]

Trust me, when today becomes history and the truth is revealed, it will be even darker.

[AnimeProphet]

People who wonder why PoC are more hesitant on average to line up for a new vaccine need only watch videos like this. Distrust of the medical community runs for generations and generations.

Anyway, beautiful animation, one of Todd's best.

[akshidashottar]

I repeat, the animations COULD NOT have been more gripping, gruesome and terrifying. I'm gonna have nightmares tonight. And I wanna hate Ted Ed for it, but they did a bloody good job.

[VamshiOhgs]

A Hip Hop artist by the name of JID made a song about this, it's pretty horrendous how some people will do obscene things just because they look different

[OutlawMaxV]

One of many reason why people distrust US government. Not to say any other country is innocent in this.

[Stephanie-rtdo]

If you’d like to learn more, the ‘You’re Wrong About’ podcast covers the Tuskegee experiments in depth. They talk about how most of the patients came from the same families and other interesting facts.

[jewris.art]

*Medicine* is the science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease
but we all know this study has a *dark and horrifying history*