00:00So today America does remember the hundreds of men used in research without their knowledge and consent.
00:07We remember them and their family members.
00:10Men who were poor and African American, without resources and with few alternatives,
00:17they believed they had found hope when they were offered free medical care by the United States Public Health Service.
00:26They were betrayed.
00:30The damage done by the Tuskegee study is much deeper than the wounds any of us may have suffered.
00:57It speaks to our faith in government and the ability of medical science to serve as a force for good.
01:27We were treated unfairly to some extent.
01:56To some extent like guinea pigs.
02:00We were not pigs.
02:02We were all hard working men and not boys.
02:07And citizens of the United States.
02:10The wounds that were inflicted upon us cannot be undone.
02:40I'm saddened today to think of those who did not survive and whose families will forever live with the knowledge that their death and suffering was preventable.
03:06No power on earth can give you back the lives lost, the pain suffered, the years of internal torment and anguish.
03:23What was done cannot be undone.
03:27But we can end the silence.
03:33We can stop turning our heads away.
03:36We can look at you in the eye and finally say on behalf of the American people,
03:43what the United States government did was shameful.
03:47And I am sorry.
04:02The Tuskegee studies occurred within many of our own lifetimes to truly combat vaccine hesitancy and encourage diverse enrollment in clinical trials.
04:31We must first acknowledge this real history of mistreatment and exploitation of minorities by the medical community and the government.
04:39Then we need to explain and demonstrate all that has been done to address these wrongs.
