On June 9, 1972, whistleblower Peter Buxtun escalated his efforts to expose the Tuskegee Syphilis Study—a 40-year experiment where Black men with syphilis were deliberately left untreated to study the disease’s progression. Though Buxtun had voiced concerns earlier, it was around this date that pressure on the U.S. Public Health Service began to mount. Media coverage followed in July. The revelations horrified the public, exposing deep medical racism and leading to major changes in research ethics and informed consent. The date symbolizes a shift in accountability for institutional abuse of African Americans in science and medicine.
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