2015 has been a remarkable year. Popular culture in the United States is evolving and I believe that socio-anthropologists are well equipped to address these evolutions. The first issue that anthropology is particularly well-equipped to address is gender related topics. Whether comparing and contrasting the roles of men and women, women in the west to women in the east, the emergence of metro-sexual and lumber-sexual as re-definitions of masculinity, the promotion and acceptance of trans-gendered persons or any number of other issues, I believe that anthropology has the potential to speak into these topics and guide Americans in what it means to be human. After all according to Texas Tech's website, "The discipline of anthropology is uniquely positioned to both educate and engage students about the human condition."
The second issue that I believe anthropology is particularly well equipped to address is the issue of race and racism in America. Many people will emphatically disagree with me, since the standard approach in anthropology is to deny that race even exists. While I completely agree that there is no biological markers that allow for scientific segregation, as anthropologists we cannot allow scientific data to blind us from the very real cultural phenomena that take place on a daily basis. Many will argue that acts of racism are not really about race, but about politics, economics, education levels, etc. While that may be true, I envision a world where anthropologists are using their unbiased approach to studying a variety of cultures which begins to create conversation points for the culture at large. It is no longer okay, in my humble opinion, to allow the voice of anthropologists to be locked away in academic castles, but we must use our collective voice to go beyond "do no harm" and begin to "do good".
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
In 2015, We Need a Higher Standard, like a Platinum Rule.
Is the answer to questionable ethics, as simple as "Follow the Golden Rule?"
Most people are taught from a very early age, "Do unto others as you would like to be done unto you."
As adults, we know that there are various standards for ethical behavior, depending on one's profession. In the world of research; medical doctors, psychiatric doctors, sociologists, and anthropologists are held to a specific standard to protect people from being hurt emotionally or physically.
There are a few cases that are remarkable for the appalling nature of their ethical violations. One such case is, "The Guatemala Syphilis Experiment."
Wikipedia states that from 1946-48, the United States conducted experiments in Guatemala whereby doctors infected "soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, without the informed consent of the subjects, and treated most subjects with antibiotics. This resulted in at least 83 deaths."
While the National Research Act (1974) had not been signed into law at this time to govern these practices, it should not take laws to tell people that this kind of behavior is beyond unethical, it is criminal. Since these days, we have witnessed men help legally accountable for their medical research in the famous Nuremberg Trials and I believe the people who participated in the Guatemala Syphilis Experiment should also be held legally responsible, just as the holocaust doctors were in the Nuremberg Trials.
There are other cases that have certainly been, at a minimum, disrespectful towards people's cultural heritage. In 1991, Archaeologist and Louisiana State professor, Heather McKillop followed Canada's protocol in the Ontario Cemeteries Act.
According to The Star.com, "For remains deemed very old and aboriginal, there are two choices under the Ontario Cemeteries Act: One is to contact the closest First Nations group, which in this case was the Alderville First Nation. The second option is to consult with the most likely people descended from the dead."
McKillop, followed this protocol by choosing the first option, which was to ask the closest geographical group of native peoples' (Alderville First Nation) permission and it was granted. The chief of the Alderville at the time was Nora Bothwell. In the process of research, McKillop discovered that the bones she dug up were not in fact from the Alderville First Nation but instead from a different tribe, the Huron-Wendat.
According to The Star, Bothwell said, "the bones were expected to be repatriated and that she hadn't initially known the skeletons were Huron-Wendat."
The ethical question then, is McKillop ethically responsible to return the bones to the Huron-Wendat, who are extremely eager to have them returned, and have proven so by filing a law suit. If the former chief of the Alderville First Nation were expecting the bones to be repatriated, I cannot see a reason why McKillop would not return them to the Huron-Wendat as well. Anthropologists and Archaeologists, we will never have a peaceful relationship with the First Nations people if we continue to rape and pillage their cultural heritage. Whether we agree or not, the First Nations people continue to feel as though we are doing just that every time we choose our science needs over their cultural heritage needs.
Ethics should be a basic common denominator in research, but unfortunately we live in the 21st-century, where people have wildly different values and morals. The Golden Rule is not enough anymore, we need a platinum rule. I hope that when it comes time for me to make ethical decisions in research, I will do so with more than just my own interests in mind.
Most people are taught from a very early age, "Do unto others as you would like to be done unto you."
As adults, we know that there are various standards for ethical behavior, depending on one's profession. In the world of research; medical doctors, psychiatric doctors, sociologists, and anthropologists are held to a specific standard to protect people from being hurt emotionally or physically.
There are a few cases that are remarkable for the appalling nature of their ethical violations. One such case is, "The Guatemala Syphilis Experiment."
Wikipedia states that from 1946-48, the United States conducted experiments in Guatemala whereby doctors infected "soldiers, prostitutes, prisoners and mental patients with syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases, without the informed consent of the subjects, and treated most subjects with antibiotics. This resulted in at least 83 deaths."
While the National Research Act (1974) had not been signed into law at this time to govern these practices, it should not take laws to tell people that this kind of behavior is beyond unethical, it is criminal. Since these days, we have witnessed men help legally accountable for their medical research in the famous Nuremberg Trials and I believe the people who participated in the Guatemala Syphilis Experiment should also be held legally responsible, just as the holocaust doctors were in the Nuremberg Trials.
There are other cases that have certainly been, at a minimum, disrespectful towards people's cultural heritage. In 1991, Archaeologist and Louisiana State professor, Heather McKillop followed Canada's protocol in the Ontario Cemeteries Act.
According to The Star.com, "For remains deemed very old and aboriginal, there are two choices under the Ontario Cemeteries Act: One is to contact the closest First Nations group, which in this case was the Alderville First Nation. The second option is to consult with the most likely people descended from the dead."
McKillop, followed this protocol by choosing the first option, which was to ask the closest geographical group of native peoples' (Alderville First Nation) permission and it was granted. The chief of the Alderville at the time was Nora Bothwell. In the process of research, McKillop discovered that the bones she dug up were not in fact from the Alderville First Nation but instead from a different tribe, the Huron-Wendat.
According to The Star, Bothwell said, "the bones were expected to be repatriated and that she hadn't initially known the skeletons were Huron-Wendat."
The ethical question then, is McKillop ethically responsible to return the bones to the Huron-Wendat, who are extremely eager to have them returned, and have proven so by filing a law suit. If the former chief of the Alderville First Nation were expecting the bones to be repatriated, I cannot see a reason why McKillop would not return them to the Huron-Wendat as well. Anthropologists and Archaeologists, we will never have a peaceful relationship with the First Nations people if we continue to rape and pillage their cultural heritage. Whether we agree or not, the First Nations people continue to feel as though we are doing just that every time we choose our science needs over their cultural heritage needs.
Ethics should be a basic common denominator in research, but unfortunately we live in the 21st-century, where people have wildly different values and morals. The Golden Rule is not enough anymore, we need a platinum rule. I hope that when it comes time for me to make ethical decisions in research, I will do so with more than just my own interests in mind.
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