The rise of modern science and medicine has led to the eradication of many conditions and diseases that were poorly understood in previous generations. Progress in diagnosing and treating serious illnesses has brought modern understanding into conflict with traditional folk beliefs about health and the human body. In the case of cancer, researchers and health professionals have made great strides in diagnosing and treating its many different forms, but better detection methods and longevity (increasing one’s chances of developing cancer) have raised its profile in the public mind. This increased concern has provided fertile ground for the persistence and even retrenchment of myths about the origin of cancer and how it spreads through the body.
Cancer myths abound. Many believe that our industrial and technological advances have put us at greater risk of contracting different forms of cancer. They are, to a certain extent, encouraged in this belief by the incidence of cancer in those exposed to radiation or various industrial chemicals. In an effort to educate the public, the National Cancer Institute notes that research has failed to show any connection between use of cell phones, proximity to power lines, ingestion of artificial sweeteners, or application of hair dyes and the presence or absence of cancer (“Common Cancer Myths and Misconceptions” 2014). The organization also attacks a common myth that exposure to air causes cancer to spread. This myth has led many to reject surgery out of fear that their lives will be shortened, rather than extended with the procedure.
For generations, people in underserved communities, particularly African American communities, believed that surgery causes cancer to spread in the body. The basis of this belief lies in the mistaken view that opening the body exposes the internal organs to the air, which connects with cancer and causes it to spread and kill the patient. They believe that their loved ones may go into surgery in good health, but die quickly afterward because air got into their bodies. In reality, the most probable cause of death was an incidence of late-stage, incurable cancer prior to the surgery in question. Before the appearance of tests that could provide an accurate diagnosis of cancer in the body, surgery served as the primary way to assess its stage of development. Today, this myth causes barriers to timely health care interventions.
A particular aspect of this “exposure to air” myth is steeped in discriminatory health care practices based on segregation. At the turn of the twentieth century, when Jim Crow laws were implemented in the South, many African Americans responded by migrating to northern urban areas. In search of job opportunities and the American dream, African Americans took the long journey from their southern roots to create a better future for themselves and future generations. One of the key destinations of these African American migrants was Harlem, New York. By 1921, more than 200,000 African Americans from the South had moved to Harlem, and approximately 46 percent of them utilized Harlem Hospital (“Negroes Win Medical Jobs”). Although Jim Crow laws did not extend to New York, segregation and discrimination were very much the norm. Harlem Hospital reflected the discriminatory climate of the times by only providing health care services to African Americans on certain days of the week. African American patients were also overcharged for health care services rendered by the hospital, and such excessive charges were required to be paid prior to receiving any care.
Upon payment of the fee, African American patients lacked certainty of receiving proper treatment, and often feared that they might not leave the hospital alive. Historical reports indicate that patients had needles broken in their arms, were denied the use of X-ray machines and barred from certain floors for care, and sometimes were left to die for lack of medical attention. As a result of such poor treatment, African Americans came to distrust the medical system and would go to the hospital only as a final option. The delay in medical care put the community at risk in the event of contagious diseases, and it put patients personally at risk in the event of a disease such as cancer spreading throughout their body.
In 1919 Dr. Louis Wright, the first African American physician hired at Harlem Hospital, actively researched the impact of cancer on the African American community. He published numerous articles, including the notable essay “Cancer as It Affects the Negro” (1928). He studied the impact of cancer on the body, as well as the barriers in the health care system that led to poor health outcomes for the African American patients. His advocacy led to the further integration of African American health care staff and patients at Harlem Hospital. Dr. Wright’s work positively impacted the function of Harlem Hospital in a community that desperately needed access to health care and modern medicine.
It is important to recognize the cultural and social impact of segregation and discrimination on health care practices, as well as the resulting effects in popular beliefs about health and the body. The long history of medical barriers in the African American community continues to make it difficult to develop trust and to facilitate connections between health care professionals and their intended beneficiaries. Today, public health officials continue to develop cultural sensitivity when discussing cancer within the African American community. Their sensitivity and understanding is an essential component to helping the community become more receptive to health care services. More generally, organizations like the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Cancer Society have made concerted efforts in recent decades to dispel not only unsupported folk beliefs, but also modern superstitions that have produced confusion and misunderstanding in the popular mind regarding cancer and the human body.
Christine W. Thorpe
See also Folk Medicine; Urban Legends/Urban Belief Tales
Further Reading
“Common Cancer Myths and Misconceptions.” 2014. National Cancer Institute website. http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths. Accessed October 27, 2015.
Mitchell, Alanna. 2015. Malignant Metaphor: Confronting Cancer Myths. Toronto: ECW Press.
“Negroes Win Medical Jobs.” 1921. New York Times, April 21.
Reynolds, Preston P. 2000. “Dr. Louis T. Wright and the NAACP: Pioneers in Hospital Integration.” American Journal of Public Health 90 (6): 883–982.
Wright, Louise T. 1928. “Cancer as It Affects the Negro.” Opportunity: A Journal of Negro Life (June): 167–170, 187.