Side by Side

When I was a second-year dental student, I had the privilege of attending the ADA Annual Session for the first time. I remember walking through the maze of exhibitors and seeing a booth for the National Dental Association. I surmised that this was an association of African American dentists. I wondered to myself why black dentists had an organization of their own and what the relationship of this organization is to the ADA. It took nearly 10 years, but I was finally enlightened to the answers. Black dentists formed their own professional organization because, at one time, they were denied membership in the ADA and its component societies. And as for the relationship of the NDA to the ADA, it is ever evolving and steeped in a rich history.

The history of African American dentistry and the National Dental Association has been forged by the efforts of many individuals spanning more than 150 years to the present day. Space will not allow mentioning all of these men and women here. For a most detailed and eruditely written chronicle of the entire NDA story, I recommend the book NDA II, The Story of America’s Second National Dental Association by Dr. Clifton O. Dummett and Lois Doyle Dummett (reviewed in the March 2001 CDA Journal, Vol. 29, Page 3). I have relied shamelessly on it for the following accounts.

Consider the courage and perseverance of Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman. After being denied admission to several dental schools on account of his race, he was accepted at Harvard University’s School of Dental Medicine, and in 1869 became the first African American to receive a dental doctorate degree from a U.S. university. Then there was the vision and leadership of Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd, who in 1895 became the first president of the National Medical Association, at that time encompassing the professions of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. Boyd was well-prepared for this role, having received both an MD degree and a DDS degree; and he admirably served his profession and community in many capacities during his career.

At the onset of the turbulent 1960s, the daring and uncompromising actions of Drs. Roy C. Bell and Eugene T. Reed, both staunch civil rights advocates, underscored the fact that progress toward racial equality is not always gained with patience, civility, and deliberate negotiation. In March of 1961, Bell, a Georgia dentist, led a contingent of eight black dentists in a picket line outside of the Thomas P. Hinman meeting in Atlanta. In spite of their prior peaceful and legitimate attempts at professional racial integration, the Hinman meeting remained closed to African American dentists. Meanwhile Reed, a New York dentist, was staging his own protest against overt discrimination. After refusing to move from a "whites only" section of a diner, he was arrested and convicted of trespassing by an all-white jury. These two individuals displayed unwavering bravery in the face of potentially severe negative repercussions. Their actions drew attention that not only moved the National Dental Association forward, but also helped inch all African Americans one step closer to racial equality.

Throughout the early part of the 20th century, black dentists began slowly integrating into ADA constituent and component dental societies. Yet even as this was occurring in some areas of the country, in others, notably the Southeastern states, blacks were excluded from membership into the 1960s. Following enactment of civil rights laws, ADA finally passed a series of resolutions, in essence, banning all racially motivated membership restrictions amongst its components and constituents. This occurred at the ADA House of Delegates in 1965, more than 100 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the official dissolution of the institution of slavery.

The arrival of the 21st century has seen a new chapter in ADA and NDA relations. The NDA has long had government relations and legislative advocacy activities that have paralleled those of the ADA and its constituent associations. Last year, the two organizations collaborated in an unprecedented way. When Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), who is African American, sponsored federal legislation to ban the use of amalgam based largely on scientifically unsubstantiated claims, the ADA legislative team sprung into action. Meetings were quickly arranged with legislators and their staffs to provide factual information on amalgam, from its safety as a material to its public health benefits. One person the ADA could not secure a meeting with, however, was Rep. Watson herself. Leaders of the National Dental Association stepped up to the plate and did secure a meeting with her, dutifully representing all American dentists. While the outcome of this legislation is still unclear, what is clear is that there is a new solidarity between the ADA and NDA.

The inferno of racism in this country has been quelled yet still it smolders and occasionally flares up and engulfs our efforts at equality. To those stuck in the antiquated cycle of racial division, we hope that the dental profession may set an example of how two organizations with radically different histories can come together and work toward a common goal. We hope that African American dentists may continue to cherish and celebrate their proud history through membership in the National Dental Association. Yet we also hope they realize that they are not only welcome, but also sorely needed as part of ADA, CDA, and the local component societies. If the future of dentistry is to be as bright as its past, dentists of every color and background must stand side by side to vigilantly guard the profession we all belong to.