Im am being harrassed at work possibly because of my race

Vito Andolini · May 26, 2009

I always have the feeling that minority groups are the ones that are the first to judge and are intolerant and prejudiced. And I dont like all this nonsense about racism. Just because you are minority you expect other people to glorify you? And if things don't go your way or other people just ignore you, it always seems to be the easiest to pretend to be a victim of racism.

Some minorities are definitely too quick to see racism in others when it, in fact, might not be the case.

But some racism is real.

I am black and I have usually felt quite well-accepted and part of the group at work. Other times, I had to wonder why someone seemed cool or unfriendly. Here is the mistake that many minorities make - the assume that the cool or unfriendly person is a racist. Such may or may not be the case. As I pointed out in my response to the OP, such a person could have other things on his or her mind that have absolutely nothing to do with her being a minority. I suggested that, rather than trying to figure it out, just keep on doing her thing. Unless someone says something unmistakably racist to her, just ignore it, whatever it is, and move on.

I agree, some minorities are racist, too. Some words set people off - cotton, plantation, auction, tobacco, lynch, whip, sell, rice, domestic, housekeeper, Mammy - these can be very disturbing to blacks like me, no matter the context in which someone uses them, no matter how innocently. Honestly. A white person saying "My new cotton shirt" can get a racist black all upset because it evokes a bad thought about how some of her ancestors were forced to toil in the cotton fields. Of course, and here's the racist part, if another black said it, it would be ok. So there are plenty of minorities who are racists themselves.

It's a very painful topic for me, all this political correctness and touchiness. If someone non-Black said, "We need to bring back the days of Negro slaves working in the cotton fields of my plantation", I'd have some justification to believe he was racist - or insane. But innocently talking about your smokes or your rice you had for dinner or the online auction you are in - geez, Louise, can't we grow up?

The problem with attitudes is that they are so often hidden. Our behavior is NOT always indicative of how we think or feel. That's the hard part for me, not being able to know of a certainty what is in someone's head, based on their words or behavior.

For the most part, I just don't try to figure it out, as it is not always figure out-able. I just do my work and get along the best I can. I hope this helps.

Vito Andolini · May 26, 2009

funny this comes up my husband is white and he is the one who said to me. this is racism, the decreat white way, can you specify the discreet or discrete white way?
and he broke it down for me how it works. he is not being silly trust me he is white as they come!!! but he is just. and he believes in equality and even though some whites make stupid comments, many times it's out of ignorance. but does that mean i have to put up with it at work? can you give some examples? pm me if you prefer. i'd like to know if i'm being too nice, if i hear certain things, maybe i should be upset. for real, angela.
absolutely not. you can be the grand dragon of the clan but when you"re a nurse working in a multi ethnic work place you better keep it in check is what he told me. you took this job as a racist knowing what it entailed and who i would be working for and working with. you cannot harrass peple just becsue you dont like them.

thank you.

Vito Andolini · May 26, 2009

Being a blond haired, blue eyed white girl I feel free to defend minorities by saying racism exists out there big time. I've seen it and heard it for African Americans, Mexicans (not all are aliens) and Phillipinos.
EVeryone is just getting better at hiding it. My husband and I deliberately raised our son in a mixed neighborhood so he would know that race has nothing to do with it. We are very proud of the way he turned out too.
Get out of your gated, security clad community and see what the real world is like.

So you're a girl, not a woman?

For the record to all who have commented, OP said the nurses have made racist comments behind the patients' backs. Not to her or to the patients or all the time. Just they have been heard to do this.

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · May 26, 2009

Some minorities are definitely too quick to see racism in others when it, in fact, might not be the case.
But some racism is real.
I am black and I have usually felt quite well-accepted and part of the group at work. Other times, I had to wonder why someone seemed cool or unfriendly. Here is the mistake that many minorities make - the assume that the cool or unfriendly person is a racist. Such may or may not be the case. As I pointed out in my response to the OP, such a person could have other things on his or her mind that have absolutely nothing to do with her being a minority. I suggested that, rather than trying to figure it out, just keep on doing her thing. Unless someone says something unmistakably racist to her, just ignore it, whatever it is, and move on.
I agree, some minorities are racist, too. Some words set people off - cotton, plantation, auction, tobacco, lynch, whip, sell, rice, domestic, housekeeper, Mammy - these can be very disturbing to blacks like me, no matter the context in which someone uses them, no matter how innocently. Honestly. A white person saying "My new cotton shirt" can get a racist black all upset because it evokes a bad thought about how some of her ancestors were forced to toil in the cotton fields. Of course, and here's the racist part, if another black said it, it would be ok. So there are plenty of minorities who are racists themselves.
It's a very painful topic for me, all this political correctness and touchiness. If someone non-Black said, "We need to bring back the days of Negro slaves working in the cotton fields of my plantation", I'd have some justification to believe he was racist - or insane. But innocently talking about your smokes or your rice you had for dinner or the online auction you are in - geez, Louise, can't we grow up?
.

I am just wondering why something so innocent could invoke these thoughts? Is it society, is it our parents? Is it ingrained in our body to feel this way? There is still slavery in the world, and I could understand your feelings if YOU have been a slave, or even if your parents were slaves. But in America, the descendants of african american slaves are removed by several generations. I am not trying to belittle your feelings at all, just trying to figure out why the word cotton used so innocently could make you angry inside thinking about slavery.

"Contrary to popular belief, slavery didn't end with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Experts estimate that today there are 27 million people enslaved around the world. It's happening in countries on all six inhabited continents. And yes, that includes the United States. The CIA estimates 14,500 to 17,000 victims are trafficked into the "Land of the Free" every year.

Why hasn't more been done to end a dehumanizing, universally condemned practice? One challenge is that slavery today takes on myriad, subtler forms than it did during the Atlantic Slave Trade-including sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced domestic or agricultural labor, and chattel slavery-making it tougher to identify and eradicate.

FAST FACTS

Slavery today is defined as forced labor without pay under threat of violence.

600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked internationally every year. Approximately 80% of them are women and children.

Slavery was officially abolished worldwide at the 1927 Slavery Convention, yet it continues to thrive thanks to the complicity of some governments and the ignorance of much of the world.

In the 2000 Refugee Report, "Trafficking in Women and Children: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright calls human trafficking "the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world."

Slavery is an extremely profitable, international industry. Experts estimate trafficking in the US yields $9 billion every year. Around the world, trafficking in women for commercial sex purposes nets $6 billion per year. The trade of human flesh is so lucrative that authorities complain that even as they close in on one smuggling ring in the US, another one pops up.

The four most common types of slavery are: chattel slavery, debt bondage, forced labor, and sexual slavery."

http://iabolish.org/slavery_today/primer/index.html

Now, if you were a slave today, I would definitely understand it.

chicookie, BSN, RN · May 26, 2009

You stick to your dreams. Once you become an NP you can go back and rub it in there faces.

To me, the more people that say you can't, the more you should do it. PROVE THEM WRONG!

gonzo1, ASN, RN · May 26, 2009

to Vito Andolino

For the record I am a 53 year old woman, however when riding my Harley I do feel 19

Thanks for redirecting my momentary flight of fancy that I might be anything but aged

Vito Andolini · May 26, 2009

I am just wondering why something so innocent could invoke these thoughts? Is it society, is it our parents? Is it ingrained in our body to feel this way? There is still slavery in the world, and I could understand your feelings if YOU have been a slave, or even if your parents were slaves. But in America, the descendants of african american slaves are removed by several generations. I am not trying to belittle your feelings at all, just trying to figure out why the word cotton used so innocently could make you angry inside thinking about slavery.
"Contrary to popular belief, slavery didn't end with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Experts estimate that today there are 27 million people enslaved around the world. It's happening in countries on all six inhabited continents. And yes, that includes the United States. The CIA estimates 14,500 to 17,000 victims are trafficked into the "Land of the Free" every year.
Why hasn't more been done to end a dehumanizing, universally condemned practice? One challenge is that slavery today takes on myriad, subtler forms than it did during the Atlantic Slave Trade-including sex trafficking, debt bondage, forced domestic or agricultural labor, and chattel slavery-making it tougher to identify and eradicate.
FAST FACTS
Slavery today is defined as forced labor without pay under threat of violence.
600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked internationally every year. Approximately 80% of them are women and children.
Slavery was officially abolished worldwide at the 1927 Slavery Convention, yet it continues to thrive thanks to the complicity of some governments and the ignorance of much of the world.
In the 2000 Refugee Report, "Trafficking in Women and Children: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery," former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright calls human trafficking "the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world."
Slavery is an extremely profitable, international industry. Experts estimate trafficking in the US yields $9 billion every year. Around the world, trafficking in women for commercial sex purposes nets $6 billion per year. The trade of human flesh is so lucrative that authorities complain that even as they close in on one smuggling ring in the US, another one pops up.
The four most common types of slavery are: chattel slavery, debt bondage, forced labor, and sexual slavery."
http://iabolish.org/slavery_today/primer/index.html
Now, if you were a slave today, I would definitely understand it.

It doesn't make ME angry at all. To me, those are just words. I was just giving examples of how the most innocent of words, used in the innocent type of examples I gave, can get people in trouble. Personally, you can say cotton to me all day long and I will not be offended - unless I find myself in the hold of a slave ship! Seriously, unless someone says something overt, I am not offended.

Some of my fellow blacks, though, are offended. You will have to ask them why. I do not know. I think awareness education has been successful in opening blacks' eyes to the whole issue of racism. Too successful sometimes.

AOx1 · May 30, 2009

Since the time of recorded history, you can find that almost anyone in the religious, ethnic, cultural, or racial minority has been the recipient of poor treatment and abuse. The best thing we can do is open a dialogue, listen to each other, learn to change our minds when needed, and be politically and socially active. As someone who grew up in a house where racism was present but always hidden, I learn something new all the time and am even more determined not to pass that attitude to my children.

nurseby07 · May 30, 2009

Racism is very real, but her last postings seem embelished. I don't buy it.

SoundofMusic · May 30, 2009

I think that sometimes many minority people (whoever that may be, black or white), put an undue burden on themselves by perhaps thinking that "racism" has to do with their difficulties at work.

Work IS difficult. That's why we get paid to do it. Work is also tough for whites or other non minorities. It is often difficult to work alongside people of any race, to work cooperatively and to be professional and be a good co-worker. Rotten people are out there, and are usually rotten to everyone equally.

I work with many African immigrants at work. They often click to themselves and don't talk to me much at work. Do I resent them for it? No. I just figure they feel more comfortable with each other as they are from the same place and talk the same language. I remember being in a new country myself and only wanting to find someone who could speak English.

The faster we all drop the race card, the better off we'll all be. We have enough problems working together well as human beings without using the race card to fall back on.

musicstar23 · May 30, 2009

One thing you will have to understand is that the world can be a cold :crying2: place sometimes! On that note, most people don't like their jobs and hate their co-workers even more. Maybe the people at your job isn't racist. Have you ever thought it could be your own insecurities :imbar:vlin: that make you feel this way. Times have change & racism is becoming less of a problem in this world. It seems more & more people are either of mixed race or dating someone of a different race.

I admire :yeah: the fact that you would like to become a Nurse Practitioner, but you really need to educate yourself. Why would an adult take advice from someone she thinks is racist? That is kindof strange if you ak me! Anyway, through my extensive research in the nursing field, I learned that Nurse Practitioners are going to be required to obtain a doctorate degree (DNP) by 2015.

The bottom line is to start with the basis of nursing before you jump into the idea of becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Possibly the people at your job think that you are talking out of your _____ because you don't seem to know much about the steps of becoming a Nurse Practitioner, but say you have plans to become one in such confidence!!

rholman · May 30, 2009

I admire :yeah: the fact that you would like to become a Nurse Practitioner, but you really need to educate yourself. Why would an adult take advice from someone she thinks is racist? That is kindof strange if you ak me! Anyway, through my extensive research in the nursing field, I learned that Nurse Practitioners are going to be required to obtain a doctorate degree (DNP) by 2015.

The bottom line is to start with the basis of nursing before you jump into the idea of becoming a Nurse Practitioner. Possibly the people at your job think that you are talking out of your _____ because you don't seem to know much about the steps of becoming a Nurse Practitioner, but say you have plans to become one in such confidence!!

I don't mean to be controversial however, I think it's absurb for you to assume she has not educated herself as to the steps of becomng an NP. How do you know she has not done the same research as you, so what if it requires a DNP by 2015, her OP does not indicate what her plans are to get there. Yes, she should take it one step at a time, like the rest of us but we all are entitled to dream big and have goals. Your remark is somewhat insulting, at least that's how I took it.

As for the racial debate, racism is alive and well in this country and will always be. Continuous education, tolerance and understanding is required to overcome but personally I don't think we will ever get there. We have made great strides but still fall short.