President apologizes at White House for error in Tuskegee case

Jet, June 2, 1997

"The United States government did something that was wrong -- deeply, profoundly, morally wrong," President Clinton confessed to a hushed audience in the White House East Room.

His voice quivered and his eyes were teary as he boldly sought to end a disgraceful scourge on one of the finest Black institutions of higher learning and the predominantly Black city of Tuskegee, Alabama.

Ever since Booker T. Washington founded the institution, Tuskegee Institute reigned as one of the nation's finest institutions of higher learning. Its reputation was unblemished, and its tradition was forward-looking until the federal government overstepped the boundaries of decency in health.

Taking it upon himself to rectify the error that has shamed Alabama's Black leaders and frightened their people from using federal health services, President Clinton invited as his personal guests five of the experiment's survivors -- Herman Shaw, 95, Charlie Pollard, 91, Carter Howard, 93, Frederick Moss and Fred Simmons, who estimated his age at 110. Also on hand were scores of members of families of the original 400 "duped patients."

Other guests included Atty. Fred D. Gray, who for decades has been crusading for government action after winning the first class action for medical fees, and Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, the president of Tuskegee University.

Then, while TV cameras rolled during an unusual apology for racism, President Clinton issued the words most of the audience came to hear: "I am sorry."

He re-emphasized the theme over and over again. "What was done cannot be undone. But we can end the silence. We can stop turning our heads away. We can look you in the eye and finally say on behalf of the American people, what the United States Government did was shameful, and I am sorry."

Outbursts of applause were great in the East Room and in Tuskegee, where those who couldn't travel to the nation's capital congregated to watch the program on television.

During the government experiment -- which started in 1932 and lasted for 40 years -- the men suffered from syphilis but were deliberately left untreated so that doctors could study the disease. Some went insane. Families split up. Children were infected. The community became the neglected victims of the medical field.

The president continued, "The American people are sorry -- for the loss, for the years of hurt. You did nothing wrong, but you were grievously wronged. I apologize, and I am sorry that this apology has been so long in coming."

But while he expressed his sorrow for the harm done to the men, President Clinton announced that he wanted to "build a lasting memorial at Tuskegee" to wipe out the bad memories. The first approach will be to help to finance a center for bioethics at the school, which will serve as a museum of the study. The government also will support efforts to address its legacy and strengthen bioethics training.

Shaw, who spoke for the victims, said he was pleased with Clinton's apology and recalled the tragic experiment. "We were treated unfairly," he said. "To some extent like guinea pigs. We were not pigs. We were not dancing boys. We were all hard-working men, not boys, and citizens of the United States."