On the Shoulders of Giants: A Reckoning with Social Justice

Hastings Cent Rep. 2022 Mar:52 Suppl 1:S72-S78. doi: 10.1002/hast.1377.

Abstract

As a field, bioethics has failed to adequately change in a direction that pursues and addresses continually shifting contemporary social problems, in particular, anti-Black racism. In this essay, we draw from interviews with four senior Black scholars-Anita L. Allen, Claretta Y. Dupree, Patricia A. King, and Lawrence J. Prograis, Jr.-to learn from their experiences in this field dominated by White-majority thought and to consider thematically how best to recalibrate bioethics to imagine a braver, broader, and better bioethics, one that centers social justice and is equipped to work against anti-Black racism.

Keywords: Black bioethicists; Black bioethics; anti-Black racism; intergenerational knowledge; social justice.

MeSH terms

  • Bioethics*
  • Courage*
  • Ethicists
  • Humans
  • Racism*
  • Social Justice