<description>&lt;p&gt;June 1, 1840. U.S. Marshals are going door to door conducting the sixth-ever census in the United States. This year something is different – this is the very first time the U.S. government is asking a question about mental health. But the results are tragic, and long-lasting. Twenty-one years before the Civil War, with over two million slaves in America, this question will uphold a racist and pernicious lie that is already spreading throughout America: that freedom causes black people to go insane.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;p&gt;To our listeners, thank you for subscribing to History This Week. We want to hear your feedback:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://bit.ly/3a4FGqJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://bit.ly/3a4FGqJ&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr&gt;&lt;p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'&gt; Hosted on Acast. See &lt;a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'&gt;acast.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

June 1, 1840. The very first time the U.S. government asks a question about mental health on the census. But this question will uphold a racist lie that is already spreading throughout America: that freedom causes black people to go insane.

June 1, 1840. U.S. Marshals are going door to door conducting the sixth-ever census in the United States. This year something is different – this is the very first time the U.S. government is asking a question about mental health. But the results are tragic, and long-lasting. Twenty-one years before the Civil War, with over two million slaves in America, this question will uphold a racist and pernicious lie that is already spreading throughout America: that freedom causes black people to go insane. To our listeners, thank you for subscribing to History This Week. We want to hear your feedback:&nbsp;<a href="https://bit.ly/3a4FGqJ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/3a4FGqJ</a> <hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

HISTORY This Week

A Century of Stigma for Black America and Mental Health

A Century of Stigma for Black America and Mental Health

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