Chapter 04: A Political Conscience
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Description
Dr. Levin discusses the political climate of the late sixties and seventies in the U.S. and how this effected his thinking. He recalls the activities of the Black Panther movement, human rights activists, and the role of such formative people as Dr. Quentin Young, from Chicago, who advocated for medical care as a free right for everyone. Dr. Levin also recalls that he was subject to the draft for the Vietnam War because of his immigrant visa status, and describes how he was “battered by the process” of seeing his status shift from 1A on one day to 4A the next. He speaks briefly about the Vietnam War and says that he recently traveled to Vietnam and visited the museum documenting the War’s devastating effects.
Identifier
LevinB_01_20130207_C04
Publication Date
2-7-2013
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Bernard Levin, MD, Oral History Interview, February 07, 2013
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Character and Personal Philosophy Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents Personal Background Military Experience Cultural/Social Influences
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I bet.
Bernard Levin, MD:
Godfrey’s lab was a hotbed of political activity. People who were working for the Black Panthers in the clinic, and I had friends who were volunteers for the Medical Committee for Human rRghts. And I helped them with providing medical assistance for rock concerts. We would go and help people who were using drugs. And we would provide medical support so that the Medical Committee of Human R recreational ights would get donations for this. There were some very profound—the formative people there at the time—Quentin Young, who is still alive, and was one of the people who believed in medical care for all as a human right. His partner was President Obama’s physician when he was in Hyde Park in that practice. And I also was exposed to the draft. Because I was an immigrant I was subject to the draft, and I was, of course, opposed to the Vietnam War. And I took part in a variety of draft counseling activities as a volunteer, and I was helped greatly by the Midwest Committee for Draft Counseling. I subsequently served in its board and worked wit the American Friends Service Committee. I had a lot of unusual experiences as a result of these beliefs and activities.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Anything you can share?
Bernard Levin, MD:
My suspicion is that somewhere in the bowels of the FBI I have a folder. But I’ve never seen one. But I came across very remarkable individuals.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
How did that influence you? I mean, globally how was it for you?
Bernard Levin, MD:
I was seriously considering becoming a conscientious objector. I, at some point, had filed for that. But the draft boards didn’t like that. They preferred to find other reasons for deferment. And I was a graduate student at the time, so they chose that avenue rather than recognize me as a conscientious objector. For whatever reason, that was something of an anathema. They didn’t like people who stated that. But I also saw the iniquity of it. For example, I was classified as 1A within six months of arrival in this country. And I would raise the question, I said, “You know, I came to learn how to do research. If I were an American, I would at least have an opportunity to go to the NIH, a so-called yellow beret.” Or even had I gone into the military, which I didn’t really want to, I could go to a research institution—Walter Reed or Fitzsimmons and do something useful. They said, “That’s true. But you’re not an American. You have no status, you’re an immigrant. You can’t do the same things that Americans do.” I found that hard to accept. And I think my views against the iniquity of the war and the draft grew as I learned more and more about it.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
And kind of another very different view, of course, of some of the arbitrariness of governmental bureaucracy, but another version of what that can look like coming from South Africa and then coming here.
Bernard Levin, MD:
I was obviously battered by this all. I mean, it was amazing, the ups and downs of the draft system, 1A one day, 4A, 1A, 4A, always. But I’ll never forget, though, my father who was a very wise man, had warned me. He said, “They’re going to put you in the Army,” when I left home. I laughed at him. I said, “Of course not. I’m not an American.” But he somehow had read the fine print more closely than I. But when I arrived at Passavant Hospital, I was not very efficient. So I would break the day—at the end of the day before the evening’s rounds, I would go to the doctor’s lounge, which was more lavish than anything I had ever seen—a beautiful facility—and there was then a fairly large color TV set, and watch the Vietnam War through the Huntley-Brinkley report. Then I would go back up and finish my work for the day at 6 o’clock. But I’ll never forget the sights and sounds of the war, having just literally come off the plane. It was absolutely astounding to me. I’d never seen anything like it. But all of this culminated in the wish to not be part of that. So that’s a diversion. That’s not something I’ve talked to a lot of people about.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
It sounds to me like it’s on a continuum, though, with some of the other subjects you touched on, which are basically social justice issues. And that also presses me as being really fundamental to your commitment to prevention—shifting or channeling that same impulse in a slightly different direction.
Bernard Levin, MD:
I think so. If I put it all together, yes.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
No, but thank you for talking about that. It’s an interesting dimension to your experience.
Bernard Levin, MD:
It wasn’t popular amongst some of the people I knew.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I remember that time. I’m slightly younger, but I remember watching the body bags on TV. I remember the heated discussions of parents and children who disagreed—really almost violently—about the war. I mean, it was a very traumatic time in this country.
Bernard Levin, MD:
And having had the opportunity to go to Vietnam not so long ago for the first time to see what was called the American War and to see the museums of Agent Orange victims and the war supplies and material in various museums in Hanoi and Saigon, it brings it home even more so. And I think on the other side, seeing what the Vietcong had prepared for eighteen- or nineteen-year-old Americans suddenly taken out of rural Iowa etc and plunged into the jungle of Vietnam, what an absolutely terrifying experience that must have been and how just awful they must have felt.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I think part of the national process is coming to understand the really deep psychological impact of war on the men and women who have to fight it and having that conversation even more deeply now.
Bernard Levin, MD:
They hated us as we theoretically hated them. I can only imagine the hardships that they endured and in return they inflicted upon the invaders. And of course, there is tremendous ingenuity and persistence and courage beyond belief, in my opinion.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Shall we go back to your medical focus?
Bernard Levin, MD:
Yes, I got—
Recommended Citation
Levin, Bernard MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 04: A Political Conscience" (2013). Interview Chapters. 1340.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1340
Conditions Governing Access
Open
