1944 By Lucille Clifton Essay

A consistent critique of the medical field both historically and presently is the frequent presence of racial and gender discrimination towards patients. More specifically, medicine’s treatment of black patients revolved around treating them as mere objects for research, rather than as people. Over time, this maltreatment has developed into physicians often ignoring the opinions of women and patients of color. While the phenomenon of racial and gender discrimination in medicine has received more attention in recent years, a solution to the issue is still unresolved. In the poem, “1944”, Lucille Clifton depicts her life story following her diagnosis with breast cancer. Throughout the piece, Clifton repeatedly references “coldness” and the “winter”

Moreover, referencing “breast”, which is anatomically female, and “dark skin”, which likely refers to someone who is black, reveals the audience to likely be other black women, evidencing the underlying meaning behind the piece. Considering the audience, the lines, “you have your own story/you know about the fears/the tears/the scar of disbelief” likely refers to a specific aspect of the common story shared by black women that Clifton is referencing. While the sadness and disbelief Clifton references could pertain to shock after receiving a devastating diagnosis, the choice to use the word “scar” implies a much deeper wound that has healed, but still leaves a trace. The sadness associated with the diagnosis of a condition and/or disease often dissipates once it has been cured, however, pain associated with maltreatment and discrimination in medicine has consistently shown to leave a lasting impact on

Continuing on, Clifton states, “to be born with breasts/you know how dangerous it is/ to wear dark skin”. Considering the earlier mention of the word “scar”, coupled with lines describing a black woman, it implies that the danger that has resulted in a metaphorical scar is a result of these identities. Furthermore, Clifton chooses to reference her womanhood as inherent with the word “born,” whereas she references her race as a choice with the word “wear.” Reflecting on her breast cancer diagnoses, her word choice reveals that her diagnosis is natural as she was born with breasts and the disease is an inherent danger associated with that. However, the treatment she receives as a black patient is a choice made by others, more specifically in this context, a choice made by medical professionals. Near the end of the poem, Clifton states, “i was leaving my fifty-eighth year/when i woke into the winter/of a cold and mortal body”. The first line of this stanza is a repeat of the beginning line of the entire poem when Clifton references her