Sara’s Comments (group member since Jan 16, 2015)

Sara’s comments from the Reader with a Cause group.

First, I am glad this book has been posted; I did not know of this profoundly important book until I found it here, in this group.

I did a bit of research and now I will answer that question:
Since Henrietta's cancer was so aggressive, I don't believe she would have lived if she had been white; however, I do believe she would have received better treatment if she was white and educated. I also firmly believe that her cells would not have been stolen from her body without her written consent. In the late 1950's and throughout the 1960's, black people were still treated as lesser humans and afforded less rights than even poor whites; poor whites were treated less respectfully than economically advantaged whites. Large organizations were less afraid of lawsuits because the human rights and civil rights campaigns of the 1960's were yet to impact them, as now.

Sara