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157 Ezra E. H. Griffith BlAcks And the lAnGuAGe of their BiotechnoloGicAl future 9 in their introduction to this volume, the thoughtful editors suggest a definition that has biotechnology promising to renew damaged organs, restore lost vision or mobility, and extend life itself. So on its face, the promise stands for an almost majestically positive article of faith about what the future will hold. And yes, there is something religious sounding about the promise. it brings to mind the fifth verse of Psalm 30: “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” This idea of what biotechnology may provide is almost akin to reaching the biblical promised land. Suffering will be reduced, and consequently a better life is in store for us—all of us—in the future. However, members of nondominant groups, such as blacks in the context of these United States, may have a more nuanced view of their relationship with biotechnological developments; hence, their use of language to describe their biotechnological future may in some ways be different from what we may expect to hear from others. The experiences of blacks in the United States differ significantly from those of members of other ethnic groups, even when those other ethnic group members have experienced discrimination and oppression. it has been pointed out that the systematic relegation of blacks to second-class citizenship status in this country has made their oppression unique. Blacks’ racial identity, as they emerged from this oppression, has in turn influenced their appraisals of situations and behaviors.1 However, without exploring the extensive scholarship that has been carried out on the problem of blacks’ racial identity, i wish to make the point that blacks may understandably have their own point of view about the subject of biotechnological 158 g After the Genome advancement—one that may be linked to their sociocultural history in the United States. it therefore makes good sense to afford them some voice to make their own statement about the matter. it is “their significance of difference from the dominant other” that catalyzes curiosity about their views.2 i make the assumption, too, with some hopefulness, that the readers of this volume will be familiar with the cultural history of blacks in this country, particularly with reference to oppression. But in case it should be necessary, i reinforce this history with a glance at recent stories in the New York Times. One report mentioned that “a research grant application from a black scientist to the national institutes of Health is markedly less likely to win approval than one from a white scientist.”3 The disparity here is obvious, and the differential impact on blacks needs no further explication. A similar note can be made of another story pointing out that new york City is about 30 percent black, while its fourteen-thousand-member Fire Department is about 3 percent black.4 in citing these two stories, i do not simplify their inherent complexities. The causes of these disparities are not so obvious as they may at first blush appear, and neither are their solutions. However, the repeated exposure to this genre of problem, with blacks commonly at a disadvantage, evokes the common reaction from members of this group that translates their tiredness at being constantly on the negative end of these disparities. i reference one last journalistic report from the Times, a recent story about the global failure of the international efforts to cope with the cholera outbreak in Haiti.5 The outbreak and the efforts to contain it and to save black lives certainly represent a narrative in which a number of actors and organizations tried to apply biotechnological advances in a generous effort to do some good. However, as the reporter made clear in the story, the efforts were muddled, and the deaths have reached somewhere around seven thousand. Once again, even a cursory analysis of this event concludes that the causes of the errors were multifactorial. Still, it is hard to avoid the observation that this did not have to happen. The question then rears its head as to what role nondominant group status may have played in the unfolding of the story. At any rate, my thesis is that such stories are likely to have an impact on the ways in which black people think about biotechnology and on the language they use in conceptualizing the phenomenon. After all, the stories persistently underscore the simple finding that blacks are not doing as well...

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