Elders, Joycelyn (1933—)

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Elders, Joycelyn (1933—)

African-American physician and the first black woman appointed to the post of U.S. surgeon general. Born Minnie Joycelyn Jones in Schaal, Arkansas, on August 13, 1933; eldest daughter and one of eight children of Curtis (a sharecropper) and Haller Jones; Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas, B.A., 1952; University

of Arkansas Medical School, M.D., 1960, M.S. in bio-chemistry, 1967; married Oliver Elders (a basketball coach); children: two sons.

Having vowed to become "the voice and vision of the poor and the powerless," Joycelyn Elders was confirmed as the 16th surgeon general of the United States in September 1993, succeeding Antonia Novello . The first black woman ever appointed to the post, Elders was an outspoken advocate of reproductive rights, contraceptives, safe sex, and the decriminalization of drugs, issues that the American public has not always been comfortable with in open forum. Unfortunately, Elder's pronouncements were frequently as controversial as her views, and after a series of uncensored statements that embarrassed the White House, she was removed from office 15 months into her term.

Elders is the eldest of eight children of sharecroppers and grew up in a three-room cabin in Schaal, Arkansas, without electricity or indoor plumbing. At the age of 15, she entered the University of Arkansas on a scholarship from the United Methodist Church and, following her graduation in 1952, joined the Army as a first lieutenant. After the service, she used the G.I. Bill to attend the University of Arkansas Medical School, where she was the only woman to graduate in the class of 1960. After serving her internship and residency, she went on to earn an M.S. degree in biochemistry from the University of Arkansas Medical School, after which she joined the faculty there as an assistant professor of pediatrics. She became a full professor in 1976 and two years later was board certified as a pediatric endocrinologist.

It was during the 1970s that Elders first met Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, when he attended the funeral for her brother Bernard, who had been murdered by a psychologically unstable man who was obsessed with Bernard's wife. In 1987, Clinton appointed her director of Arkansas' department of public health. Even then, Elders was not one to mince words. At a press conference following her appointment, after she had announced her intention to combat Arkansas' soaring teenage pregnancy rate by establishing school-based health clinics, she was asked if the clinics would dispense condoms. "Well, I'm not going to put them on their lunch trays, but yes," she replied. Later, when recounting the incident to Paul Hendrickson of the Washington Post (February 16, 1993), Elders recalled that Clinton's face had turned bright red. "I realized I'd just dropped my governor in an ocean of Jell-O," she said.

In 1992, impressed with Elders' track record in Arkansas, particularly in the areas of early childhood screening and immunization, prenatal care for women, and HIV testing and counseling, president-elect Clinton offered her the post of surgeon general. At the time, she reminded the president of her past record. "Governor, you didn't really know five years ago what you were buying," she told him. "Now you know exactly what you're getting if you're gonna name me surgeon general."

Even Elders' confirmation hearing was problematic, with concern over her removal as a member of the board of directors of the National Bank of Arkansas in a scandal involving mismanagement, questions about whether she should be responsible for Social Security taxes on wages earned by a nurse retained by her husband to care for his aged mother, and accusations of "double-dipping" (as a member of Hillary Rodham Clinton 's health-care task force, she earned a consulting fee from the federal government while still employed as Arkansas' public health director). Other critics, especially conservative women's and religious groups, attacked her past efforts to promote sex education, contraception, and abortion rights, citing some of her more unrestrained remarks, including her reference to the Roman Catholic Church as a "celibate, male-dominated" institution, and her pointing out the absurdity of offering teen-agers driver's education while ignoring health education. "We taught them what to do in the front seat of a car. Now it's time to teach them what to do in the back seat."

Even after Elders' nomination reached the Senate floor for confirmation, Republican opponents delayed the floor vote until after the congressional summer recess, insisting that they needed more time to examine her views and the allegations against her. She was finally confirmed and sworn in on September 8. "I felt it was more a mechanism to try to destroy me than anything else," Elders said about the confirmation process. "When it was all over I remember thinking, 'I came to Washington, D.C., like prime steak, and after being here a while I feel like poor-grade hamburger.'"

Almost immediately upon taking office, Elders was raising hackles again, reiterating her support for widespread availability of condoms, and telling The New York Times (September 14, 1993) that the conservatives' opposition to sex education and preventative measures was due to an underlying "fear of sex," and an accompanying belief "that fornication must be punished and that teenage pregnancy and the bad things that happen after are the natural punishment." A short time later, she departed from White House policy by advocating a so-called "sin tax" on alcohol as well as tobacco. Then in December 1993, she suggested that it might be a good idea to study the potential impact of the legalization of drugs, a position that, once again, embarrassed the White House. While Clinton had for some time turned a deaf ear to Elders' off-hand remarks, his tolerance level was beginning to dip. In 1994, following a statement suggesting that masturbation should be taught in schools, Elders lost her job.

Amid the swirl of controversy that surrounds her, it is easy to lose sight of Elders' ongoing commitment to improving health care in this country. Dozens of awards attest to her accomplishments, among them the Arkansas Democrat's Woman of the Year award, the National Governors' Association Distinguished Service Award, The American Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis Award, the De Lee Humanitarian Award, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women's Candace Award for Health Science. Elders is a prolific writer and has authored more than 150 articles on children's growth patterns and hormone-related illnesses. She is also the recipient of more than a half-dozen honorary degrees, including one from Yale University.

In comparison to her public life, Elders' personal life is almost humdrum. Married for over 30 years to Oliver Elders, a retired high school basketball coach, and the mother of two grown sons, Elders shuns social occasions claiming that she is almost phobic about being around a crowd of people.

Harkening back to the statement that cost her her job, Elders is writing a serious book about masturbation, which she sees as a useful weapon against disease and unwanted pregnancies. Entitled The Dreaded "M" Word, the book maintains that masturbation can help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. "Masturbation has never given anyone a disease; it's never gotten anyone pregnant," she contends, as her detractors once again gear up for battle.