Reproductive Apartheid

I knew that slavery and racism oppresses the Black community to this day, but before this study of Reproductive Apartheid, I did not realize just how deeply and how grave the situation is for Black women in our society. As a white woman, I have been afforded the privilege of excellent maternal care while pregnant with my son. It is a severe injustice that Black women do not get the healthcare and the autonomy about their reproduction that more privileged people in society have. This experience has me wanting to work more with this population to help their cause. This project was very hard for me as I felt depressed a lot while studying the horrific things that Black women experienced and still experience today. I found myself resisting working on it out of fear of the emotional pain that existed while working on it, but it is that same avoidance to the uncomfortable that affords wrongdoing to continue so I forced myself to continue reading about the horrors. I am grateful that I did this project because I believe it will help me in my life at having a deeper empathy for the experience Black women face and it will help me as a clinician with Black clients. I also am grateful because ignorance is not bliss, ignorance is deadly and this information is something I believe everyone should be aware and educated on. Awareness is the first step to action.

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