Page 4 - A Brief History of Racism and Health in So MD

Blacks were the majority in Southern Maryland and they suffered under Jim Crow repression and segre-
gation. County populations and economies grew through the 1960’s, and then more so through the 70’s
up to today. Until desegregation in the mid-60s, the Black population was severely repressed.

❖ Schools were separate and significantly unequal for Blacks.
❖ Health care and hospitals were segregated and unequal.
❖ Blacks could not get books from the library.
❖ Voting by Blacks was repressed.
❖ While it was not as prevalent as in the deep South, there were lynchings in Southern Maryland.
❖ There were “sundown” rules where Blacks were not welcome after dark in places like Solomons
Island.

While we may refer to apartheid in South Africa, it was really a time of apartheid in Southern Maryland.

Health Care Realities in Southern Maryland During Segregation

Let us remember that while much of what is described above happened centuries ago, segregation in
Southern Maryland did not end until the mid 1960’s. Many of us here today remember those times, and
the older lifelong Southern Maryland Blacks among us experienced segregation in health care.

The hospitals were segregated with separate wings for Black patients and separate entrances. As our
Black steering committee members and partners have shared, “We had to go to the back entrance.”

If there wasn’t space in the Black wing, patients were placed in beds in the hallways. In one case, a pa-
tient needing an appendectomy was placed in the laundry room.

In no case would a Black nurse or aide care for a white patient. Some white doctors would not care for
Black patients.

Excerpts from Steering Committee interviews:

While the hospital remained segregated (prior to 1965), African American patients were kept on the col-
ored “C” ward and white patients were on the “B” ward. When there was a shortage of beds in B ward,
white patients were put into the first room on C ward and kept separate. When there was a shortage of
beds in the C ward, patients were put up in the corridor of that wing. [NAME] wasn’t allowed to touch
white patients, although she was required to clean the white delivery room at night. She wasn’t even al-
lowed to get a glass of water for a white patient, even if she was asked. She didn’t think much about it –
“that was just the way it was.”

[NAME] remembers one nurse stating “I’m not going touch no Black baby.” She suffered no conse-
quences for her position. She was simply allowed to continue on the floor and avoid working in
maternity.

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