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Staff Pick
In 1960s Virginia, we celebrated American superiority in the race for one of the first successful heart transplants. The reality of this success was darkened with the knowledge of what went on behind the scenes: organ collection from an African American without their permission or knowledge. The history of abuse within our health system, and how it has affected our communities of color, is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the world we live in. Recommended By Corie K-B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks meets Get Out in this landmark investigation of racial inequality at the core of the heart transplant race.
In 1968, Bruce Tucker, a Black man, went into Virginia's top research hospital with a head injury, only to have his heart stolen out of his body and put into the chest of a White businessman. Now, in The Organ Thieves, Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist Chip Jones exposes the horrifying inequality surrounding Tucker's death and how he was used as a human guinea pig without his family's permission or knowledge. The circumstances surrounding his death reflect the long legacy of mistreating African Americans that began more than a century before with cadaver harvesting and worse. It culminated in efforts to win the heart transplant race in the late 1960s.
Featuring years of research and fresh reporting, The Organ Thieves is a story that resonates now more than ever, when issues of race and healthcare are the stuff of headlines and horror stories.
Review
"Doggedly reported....A
dramatic and fine-grained exposé of the mistreatment of Black Americans
by the country's White medical establishment." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Startling....A powerful story that examines institutional racism, mortality, medical ethics, and the nature of justice for black men living in the American South....A moving exploration of an unthinkable trespass against an innocent man." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"With elements of legal and
social history, this work is recommended for readers interested in the
history of race and racism, and how it relates to medical practice in
the United States."
Library Journal
Review
"Jones meticulously details how yet another significant achievement in America was disproportionately costly for black people. The Organ Thieves exhumes more than just bodies — it unearths human hopes, scientific ambitions, and devastating mistakes." Benjamin Jealous, former president and CEO of the NAACP and visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication
About the Author
Chip Jones has been reporting for nearly thirty years for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Roanoke Times, Virginia Business magazine, and others. As a reporter for The Roanoke Times, he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the Pittston coal strike. He is the former communications director of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, which is where he first discovered the heart stopping story in The Organ Thieves.