This may come off as more of a vent, but I see white new grads, some with less nursing and healthcare education than myself, getting jobs, some of them highly coveted specialties. Yet here I am, with a BSN, magna cum laude, three years health care experience, new grad getting pushed aside. I interview well, but apparently not good enough. I am starting to feel bitter and can't help but wonder if my race might play a role. Other black new grads (BSNs too) are having a much harder time getting a job than white new grads.
Any black nurses want to comment on this phenomenon?
I am starting to look outside of my state, but I am not sure where to start. Preferably a place that is diverse.
Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.
I kindof figured. Every person who uses their color as a scapegoat devalues the legitimate concerns of actual racial discrimination. It also comes off as incredibly...racist.
Here's the rub - the word racist is being used incorrectly in this context. You are confusing her right to feel the experience with the ability to deprive someone of a job, an apartment, a promotion/raise, entry into an educational institution.
Why do you think there is ever going to be your versionof "actual racial discrimination" performed in your face for you to "see the light?" I guess that's why I am puzzled, yet tickled with you - you refuse to believe oppressive things are happening because no one is tapping you on the shoulder every time it happens. If you work/worked in L&D, do you believe women aren't laboring because you're not onshift? lol
Please review the definition of racist - you will never see it defined as someone reliving their experience either verbally, written in a social blog or as an overheard phone conversation... lol
I'm not arguing that doesn't exist, but white privilege is real, especially in a white woman's profession that is nursing. Being black is a whammy. I have a BSN, PCA experience, great grades and references, yet it white new grads with ASN get picked before me. ********.
Unless you live in the south. Reverse discrimination is real. I have seen both sides of this. I have lived all over and have seen a variety of treatment. Let me tell you, when you don't fit the mold of whatever that majority may be, you will be discriminated against. It happened to me. I couldn't change it. I moved along to where I knew I'd be more comfortable and not be mistreated.
Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.
However, you have not cited any grievances, just suspicions. Yet you knee-jerk to blaming your situation on a racial issue. Do you not think there is anything wrong with that?
Is this okay? Do you somehow see it differently?
Okay...explain. Please describe also how you know you were racially profiled and discriminated against, if so.
Why do you, a complete stranger require so much proof? Do you regularly grill people who have different perceptions/experiences, etc?
I am disheartened to see a nurse with this level of empathy.
Specializes in TCU, Post-surgical, Infection Prevention.
Unless you live in the south. Reverse discrimination is real. I have seen both sides of this. I have lived all over and have seen a variety of treatment. Let me tell you, when you don't fit the mold of whatever that majority may be, you will be discriminated against. It happened to me. I couldn't change it. I moved along to where I knew I'd be more comfortable and not be mistreated.
Why is it when an AAs stand up and expresse discontent with the system it is an automatic label with "a chip on the shoulder", or being hostile? That shows me already what the past history of this nation has assumed so much about AAs. African Americans as well as other ethnic groups have a right to express and articulate discontent of how they are treated in the workforce. I will be damned if I use a generic name, what is implied is that she uses a name that is not threatening? So done!!! I will say this the more diverse a state is the more tolerant of other ethnic groups and you will most likely will get hired. This is why affirmative action was enacted in the first place to level the playing field so everyone can have equal opportunity. I realize you cannot make people like you which is far from my concern but you will have to be fair in the work force and keep your views at the door. Its sad a few raunchy apples makes it bad for everyone else. When I am denied a job I honestly think of other reasons before implying racial injustice. Unfortunately, given the history of America I know for some it is hard not too.
Certain ethnicities are over/underrepresented in certain fields. It's just the nature of things. Is the NBA against non-Blacks? No, I highly doubt that.
I think that for racism to die the death it needs to have, AA, the concept of "privilige", and all other things need to be stamped out just as much as actual discrimination. All of the little programs which help minorities just because of their origin or skin color need to go away. All of the AA contracts handed out to companies by Ford and others need to disappear. We need a merit-based society and not a race-based society. Discrimination AND reverse-discrimination are to blame equally.
I am White. I grew up in an area where I was a minority. I can't recall it being a problem, nor did I go looking to make it a problem. So, yes, I can relate to being the only face "my color" in the room on MANY occasions. It never bothered me one bit. I don't define myself as "a White person". That mess is for background checks and my driver's license and such.
White women benefit the most from affirmative action so I don't know where you were going with that. (Please look it up--a simple google search will lead you gov. statistics) Second, you're white, regardless of how you identify. You were not ever nor will you ever be a minority, regardless of where you grew up. The fact that you can recall being the only white face in a room and having it never bother you is irrelevant and does not speak at all for the black experience.
Note: my employment prospects significantly improved once I relocated to the South. Not only are interviewers here accustomed to black applicants, they are also hypersensitive to E.O.E. regulations due to the region's past history of racial intolerance in the mid-20th century.
I'm white and I live in the South (I have in one place or another my entire life) and this is so true. My mother's family is from up north, and it's crazy how much more racism I've seen up there than where I live. In my town and every other small town within 45 minutes' driving distance of me, everything is shared. There are predominantly white/predominantly black neighborhoods, but nobody of any color is going to get odd looks for walking into any store we have in town. On my visits up north, my grandma would overtly tell me I wasn't allowed to go to a shopping center or strip mall somewhere because "that's the black mall". I was shocked at first. I thought surely there was no way she was serious. Then my mother told me we really weren't allowed to tell grandma we went shopping there or she'd get upset and worry. Holy crap.
People like to joke that, where I live, the population is half white, half black, and half hispanic. That's largely true. There's only one middle school, only one high school, so there is no opportunity for segregation. We all live together and thrive together because we have to, and while there will always be ignorant people who muck it up, it isn't tolerated well, especially in a skilled work environment like the hospital.
As far as privilege goes, I really do believe it's something you can't see until you don't have it. I'm white, but I grew up dirt poor in a crappy trailer park; thus, I got labeled as "white trash". Money and access to all that it buys were privileges I didn't have. I didn't like it then, but I value that experience now. It's helped me open my eyes to the privileges I did have and understand those who had even less than I did.
This happened in my town. Whites with scores meeting admission standards were turned away in fa or of Blacks who failed to meet or surpass the white students scores who were turned away. It hit the news and was messy. I want to say it was about 5 years ago and involved a high school. Certain ratios are required like you say. I say make it 100% merit based.
Given that white privilege most definitely exists, as does being thin and white, I say set your quotas then make it merit based from there.
Does it ever occur to you that the black kid who had respectable if not stellar grades/extra curricular record is actually the badass here and the middle class white kid isn't much above ordinary?
I would just like to agree with ladybuglovee that Atlanta, Georgia, is a very culturally diverse metropolitan area. A black friend of mine, who holds an MSN, recently was hired for her dream job at The Centers for Disease Control. Another black friend, who has a BSN, works in staff development at a very well- known downtown Atlanta medical center. Yet another black RN that I once worked with in my current facility left about 9 months ago and moved to.... Atlanta! She wanted to live in a more diverse, progressive city, and she quickly found a job there. OP, you may want to research nursing opportunities in Atlanta.
Don't forget that your grandparents (or their parents) watched African Americans literally fight for the right to access the same education systems that white people have been entitled to since they were built. Segregation was REAL. Maybe you didn't see it, but your grandparents sure did, and it will be generations before the consequences of that disparity are eliminated. In the meantime, ethnic minority scholarships exist to help open those doors that have ALWAYS been open to us PRIVILEGED white people.
Not even so long ago as to be grandparents...maybe parents. I am almost 50 yo. I went to elementary school in Milwaukee WI, a large racially diverse city. There were students of many colors and nationalities in my classes. We had "busing." The practice of transporting students from low income predominantly black schools..and yes, it was called black students then, not African American so I am sorry if that offends, believe me black was not the worst things these kids were called...none of us students ever had issues based on the race or color of our classmates, but it was pretty scary walking into the school past a picket line of adults protesting the busing policy.
Just three years later I moved to the area I'm in now, not a kid of any color other than white in sight. I took until I was in 7th grade to see an African student. A great kid whose dad was in the area as an exchange physician, he was from Nigeria. Not a single African American student until I was in high school and the populations from the jr high's merged. I never thought about it as a kid, but now that I'm an adult with an adult's perspective I wonder how much more difficult school was for the 3 African American students out of a population of over 1500.
Where is this money? Which social programs bestow money upon people based skin color? I'm asking because, as an African-American female, I have not personally enjoyed any freebie paydays in my 30+ years of existence that were race-based.
Sorry I've seen this. My high-school got a group of junior seniors together for an overnight all expenses paid, stay at a college, paid for by the college. Turns out they were trying to "diversify" and were offering scholarships for minorities.
I scored fairly high on my PSAT and was offered scholarships specifically for being a smart minority.
There are unconfirmed rumors that even my nursing school has a sort of preference or gives priorities to minorities and males.
Outside of the school setting however, I have not seen this.
@theprincessbride, Do you know the new grads who were selected personally? If so, do you know who provided their references? Sometimes who provides a reference influences a decision to hire one applicant over another. If the person providing the reference is in a position that is respected by the hiring manager, it can carry more weight than an applicant's past work experience and education.
anie10
294 Posts
Here's the rub - the word racist is being used incorrectly in this context. You are confusing her right to feel the experience with the ability to deprive someone of a job, an apartment, a promotion/raise, entry into an educational institution.
Why do you think there is ever going to be your versionof "actual racial discrimination" performed in your face for you to "see the light?" I guess that's why I am puzzled, yet tickled with you - you refuse to believe oppressive things are happening because no one is tapping you on the shoulder every time it happens. If you work/worked in L&D, do you believe women aren't laboring because you're not onshift? lol
Please review the definition of racist - you will never see it defined as someone reliving their experience either verbally, written in a social blog or as an overheard phone conversation... lol