Black Blood Donors Banned

An excerpt from Atlas Obscura -

In the Early 1940s, the Red Cross Banned Black Blood Donors
Sometimes, the politics of who can give blood has less to do with medical limitations than cultural ones.  By Cara Giaimo

Due to FDA guidelines, many queer men—specifically, men who have had sex with another man sometime in the past year—are not allowed to donate blood.  Despite blowback from medical experts, who called prior versions of the ban "antiquated" and "discriminatory," it has remained in place, in one form or another, since it was first instated in 1983. On this particular week, the ban seems like an additional assault. "I want to be able to help my brothers and sisters that are out there, that are suffering right now," one gay man, Garrett Jurss, told NBC Orlando. "But I can't, and I feel helpless."

But this isn't the first time blood donation has mixed with discrimination. Right when the U.S. entered World War II—just as blood donation was becoming a way for people to express their patriotism, dedication, and pride—black Americans nationwide were banned from giving blood. A look back at this ban highlights how decisions regarding who gets to donate blood are driven as much by cultural questions as by medical ones.

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