Racism in the workplace

mzkede · Aug 25, 2006

You have to realize that a percentage of nurses who post here carry the same view and that they are racist..You cannot change them and it is just a fact of life..

I WAS ALWAYS TOLD AN OPINION IS LIKE AN A**HOLE, EVERYONE HAS ONE. HOWEVER, WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO BEING DISRESPECTED, OR JUST PLAN IGNORANT. IT WOULD BE IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THAT INDIVIDUAL TO KEEP THEIR IGNORANT COMMENTS TO THEMSELVES. ONE NEVER KNOWS WHO THEY ARE TALKING TO, AND WHAT CAN COME FROM THOSE UGLY REMARKS. LORD HELP US ALL!

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2006

Dear All

I realise that this is a very hot topic, but we are here to discuss it rationally and can we please refrain from personnal attacks as it is against the TOS of this web site and cannot be tolerated.

Please keep calm

NurseLatteDNP, MSN, DNP, RN · Aug 25, 2006

I have noticed that people from my mother's generation (such as these two nurses) have the impression that its ok to make subtle racist remarks among themselves as long as they don't say them out in the open. Most of them are very defensive when you point out to them that their comments are of a prejudicial nature, and will swear up and down that they are not in fact racist.

I have seen that happen also. And they talk to me like I am a part of the 'insiders club' just because I am not black. But I always let those people know what I think about their remarks.

Gods child · Aug 25, 2006

I've recently moved to Texas after spending a short lifetime in California and people are always asking me, "Where are you from? You sound funny." I personally believe I am asked this question because I'm a black female who speaks proper English and, therefore, is 'white-sounding'. The locals around here expect all black people to have Southern drawls, which is not the case.

I get that all the time. Although I am interracial, I am still considered "black" and people constantly tell me I sound white. :uhoh3:

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2006

I have a thought that's pretty much off-topic and yet related somehow. I was just talking to my BF about this today. Feel free to stone me because I already feel pretty bad about it but it "is what it is"
Background--grew up a CA liberal/PC/schooled in diversity/supporter of social programs/education/blah, blah...
I have been working in an inner-city ED for just about a year. I now think I am BECOMING racist. I don't need to give examples but the absolute worst stereotypes are being played out pretty much every shift. By all? No. But enough to where I just realized yesterday that I think I am getting resentful.
I already know, time to change the scenery...I'm already burnt out---for my sake and my patients. Just wanted to throw that out.

I think I know what you mean. I too have a liberal/PC/diversity supporter background and I too am sometimes shocked and ashamed at some of my thoughts. I once listened to an anthropology professor at my church discuss this very issue. She said something like, "stereotypes do in fact contain a kernal of truth." She went on to say that they do come from somewhere. But it would NEVER NEVER be fair to apply those stereotypes to individuals with assumptions. So it is fair and accurate to note that certain groups do have certain characteristics ON AVERAGE compared to other groups. But it's never fair to assume anything about any particular individual.

I think the key is to maintain complexity. I think when we breakdown complexity with our thoughts and indulge in simplistic thinking - anger and frustration - that's when we begin these thoughts that shock and ashame us. It's ok to also change your beliefs/politics as time goes by, as long as you aren't maligning any particular race IMHO. For example, I no longer support affirmative action at the college level, but I do still support it in the workplace. Years back this would have been unthinkable to me, to change my mind on AA. Time passes and some of our views can change. Just never assume anything about any particular individual because of their race, and I think you are ok. Just my thoughts.

Plagueis · Aug 25, 2006

The next stage, if you ask me, has to be the same intolerance for black 'defeatism'. We must attack that just as equally and ferociously as we are bigotry. Calling a child 'oreo' for doing well in school is simply intolerable. Our next generation has to be taught differently then excelling in school is caving in to 'the man'.
Most social scientists will say there is progress here: there is a growing black middle and upper class EXACTLY because many are surpassing these 'internal' boundaries. But, at the same time, many are being left behind, mired in a sub-culture that preaches that the only real successes are anti-educational: pro sports, music careers, and 'pimping'. Just listen to a rap song or two. It's an expression of anger, yes, but also a clear expression of the problem.
~faith,
Timothy.

I have also heard about how some people, like author John McWhorter, believe that some African Americans still have the belief that blacks who get good grades and study hard are "acting white," and that this is why some blacks don't get ahead. I remember Bill Cosby got into some trouble when he made that speech a couple of years ago about why some African Americans aren't doing well in society. As far as the nursing field goes, I would like to see more African American nurses. In fact, I have actually seen more nurses who are male, who are considered a substantial minority in nursing, than I have seen nurses who are African American of either gender. I don't have exact figures of what percentage of nurses are African American, but I don't think it's a lot. Why aren't there more African American nurses?

mcleanl · Aug 25, 2006

Tamar Jacoby, from the book, "Someone Else's House", discussing the 1965 book "Black Ghetto" by Integrationist and Psychologist Kenneth Clark:
"Clark's central metaphor for segregation was a prison or concentration camp, and as he saw things, the long, enforced isolation had wreaked so much psychological havoc that many blacks had lost the capacity to seek their way out. Though careful not to blame the victim, he spared nothing in his description of this "racial damage": a combination of defeatism and impotent anger that, he said, made blacks suspicious, predatory, and continually resentful and left them ill-equipped to compete in the mainstream. Each individual was trapped by a "core of doubt" - a belief in his own inferiority and "the pervasive failure of his group." Many were so bitter that they would not even try to do well in the white world: to them, success seemed humiliating - a kind of betrayal to the race - because it meant seeking white approval and submitting to standards used in the past, to keep blacks back. Even his own accomplishments, Clark admitted, felt like treachery. What he feared was that, even when white resistance disappeared, the black man's "own inner anxieties" would hinder his movement into the mainstream."
See, I like this book so far. The writer is suggesting that racial relationships is a sort of 'meeting in the middle'. But, the different groups, as a result of our social legacies, have difficulty reaching out to a common middle ground. We are, to put it bluntly, a dysfunctional family. And each of us has our own reasons for simply not talking.
There's lots of emotional and social 'baggage' still lying around.
So, just like the sister, or brother, or parent that so many haven't spoken with in 10 yrs, it's just easier to forget that there is even an issue to worry about. That doesn't make the hurt and the estrangement go away. It just means you don't have to deal with it for the moment.
That moment has been the last 20, no 30, yrs in our history.
The greatest accomplishment of the Civil Rights movement was to make bigotry ugly. It has been driven underground. The majority of whites might still hold residual bigotries, but most recognize them for what they are: undesirable and wrong.
The next stage, if you ask me, has to be the same intolerance for black 'defeatism'. We must attack that just as equally and ferociously as we are bigotry. Calling a child 'oreo' for doing well in school is simply intolerable. Our next generation has to be taught differently then excelling in school is caving in to 'the man'.
Most social scientists will say there is progress here: there is a growing black middle and upper class EXACTLY because many are surpassing these 'internal' boundaries. But, at the same time, many are being left behind, mired in a sub-culture that preaches that the only real successes are anti-educational: pro sports, music careers, and 'pimping'. Just listen to a rap song or two. It's an expression of anger, yes, but also a clear expression of the problem.
If 'the system' holds no hope for someone, how will they EVER integrate into that system? We must dispel the notion that 'the system' is a white man's world. After all, MLK's biggest contribution was his insistence that 'the system' be colorblind, an equal avenue for all that could be equally accessed by all.
The gulfs that still hinder us must and can only be closed by claiming and advocating for fostering the hope that lies in believing in 'equal access'. It's not enough to merely work to make it a reality; we have to work to make it believable - not just by those that have benefited from the successes of the past and handed down those social mores to their children - but for those that don't have those advantages, as well.
The crux of the 'American Dream' is nothing more then the BELIEF in individual empowerment.
~faith,
Timothy.

Wow,

I am so glad you posted this and I hope people really take the time to read it. The racial issues between blacks and whites are so complex and in addition we can throw the whole "class" (can I use this word?) issue into the mix.

NurseLatteDNP, MSN, DNP, RN · Aug 25, 2006

Did you all see the new Survivors previews? They made it where different races are competing with each other. There are 4 teams, each is a different race. What do you think? Is that pushing it to far?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2006

Why aren't there more African American nurses?

There are many black nurses in DFW, Texas. I am proud to say that I'm one of them.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2006

Did you all see the new Survivors previews? They made it where different races are competing with each other. There are 4 teams, each is a different race. What do you think? Is that pushing it to far?

I think it is a shameless ploy for ratings. Shame on CBS. The last thing we need is more division.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Aug 25, 2006

Wow,
I am so glad you posted this and I hope people really take the time to read it. The racial issues between blacks and whites are so complex and in addition we can throw the whole "class" (can I use this word?) issue into the mix.

I happen to think that the current issues are more socioeconomic class rather than race alone.

buildingmyfaith57 · Aug 25, 2006

I work at a long-term care facility in a large metropolitan area in Texas and, yes, I see certain stereotypes ans statistics come to life with my CNAs. Virtually all of the CNAs are young, black unwed mothers with several children fathered by multiple men. Many collect food stamps because they have offered to sell them to me and the other nurses. They brag about the housing assistance they receive from the state. One of my former aides, a 29 year old woman, had five children and one grandchild.
I'm a young black female who was born on the West Coast and raised with an open mind. I still have an open mind.

hi commuter i just wanted to say im a white person and i don't care what you're skin color is you and i are sisters bought to this world for a purpose. if this world could just wake up and see there are different skin color people out there fighting for our freedom. what if someone were pass out on the sidewalk would it matter what skin color they are as long they have help to save your life?