History of Race, Disease, and Diabetes

January 23, 2023 -
5:00pm to 6:30pm

Arleen Marcia Tuchman, PhD
Nelson O. Tyrone, Jr. Chair in History
Professor of History
Vanderbilt University

Abstract: This talk is drawn from Dr. Tuchman’s book, Diabetes: A History of Race & Disease (Yale University Press, 2020) which examined historical changes in how medical and public health communities answered the question of who is considered most at risk for diabetes, and why. Over a hundred years ago, diabetes was believed to burden white, middle-class, and especially Jewish people disproportionately. After World War II, American Indians, African Americans, and Mexican Americans gradually came to be labeled most at risk for developing the disease. This talk demonstrates that such claims have reflected and perpetuated troubling assumptions about race, ethnicity, and class, as diabetes underwent a mid-century transformation in the public’s eye from being a disease of wealth and “civilization” to one of poverty and “primitive” populations. It shows how racial stereotypes become entrenched in the biomedical literature, with dire consequences for those who are struggling to manage this disease.

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1155 Public Health