Harlem on Amazon Prime sheds light on – Implicit Racial Biases in Medicine

Written by Michael Cox

In recent years you can see the change in Black television as they combat for the better issues that the community faces on different accounts. The days of pure comedy or seriousness are over when it comes to the storyline and character development. Shows are taking a more proactive, bolder and Generation Z approach to writing by shedding light on things that often go overlooked. 

Harlem, the latest series by Amazon Prime featuring a star studded cast: Meagan Good, Whoopi Goldberg, and Tyler Leplay. This new comedy follows the lives of a group of ambitious, independent, stylish, and career driven African American women in Harlem. 

They made sure that Implicit Racial Biases in Medicine was a theme for this episode for the seventh episode titled “The Strong Black Woman.” 

In that episode, the character Ty played by actress Jerrie Johnson has a fainting spell and is immediately rushed to the hospital. Her girlfriends come to her side as they question the doctor on her condition. The non-POC male doctor informs them very nonchalantly that her anemia caused the fainting. Ty and her girlfriends persist that there has to be more going on and that he needs to double check his findings because this couldn’t be the issue. 

An article published by the American Heart Association News discusses the racial disparity in which Black women’s health concerns are taken less seriously than their white counterparts. Black Women are four times more likely to die from pregnancy related issues than white women. The article discusses world-famous tennis player Serena Williams’ experience of her life-threatening concerns going ignored after giving birth to her daughter via cesarean section. Serena Williams is not someone who lacks the funding or access to proper care. Yet, when Serena expressed her concern and symptoms, medical professionals ignored her and led to her facing a pulmonary embolism. Serena Williams’ case stands as proof that it is not only external factors, like the socioeconomic conditions, that dictate the subpar treatment that black women go through.  Dr. Ana Langer, director of the Women and Health Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health stated it best: “Basically, black women are undervalued. They are not monitored as carefully as white women are. When they do present symptoms, they are often dismissed.”

Due to the doctor not listening to the concern of Ty or her girlfriends, she had a second fainting spell within days of the first one which was almost life threatening. The new doctor performed cyst removal and during the process discovered she was suffering from uterine fibroids. According to USA Fibroids Centers, 80 to 90 percent of Black women are impacted by fibroids. Black women are at three times higher risk for developing anemia, twice as likely to have a hysterectomy and seven times more likely to have a myomectomy (surgical removal of fibroids from the uterus).

It’s great to see shows take a more crucial role in using writing and the screen to educate others on why this is something we can’t ignore and neuter can the next generation of non-POC doctors.