Hello, everyone out there in the world of allnurses.com I just need to get something that's been bothering me for a while off of my chest. I just want to talk about this issue especially affecting minority nurses. And that issue is that it can be hard to be a nurse of color.
I am part Somoan/part African-American and consider myself Black for the most part. Well, I just feel that after all these years, minority nurses still don't get as much respect as their white colleagues.
Always being mistaken for for support staff even though my name tag boldly states who I am and my credentials. And I even feel that sometimes, patients feel insulted by me being their nurse. It seems like that when I first go into the patient's room, before I can introduce myself properly, they always assume I am a CNA. After I explain that I am their nurse, they seem to loose that "glow". It's like they don't want ME to be their nurse. And when a previous nurse that happens to be white reports how pleasant a patient was, I don't get that "pleasant" behavior from the same patient.
We as nurses know that patients can often be demanding, rude, and downright ridiculous with any nurse. But, to the minority nurses out there, do you sometimes feel that you are being treated with less respect because your a minority? Do you feel like you get treated differently from the other nurses by the same patient?
I must protest re: AA being the only ones owned, or having their lives hamstringed by the law.
Maisy, while some other groups have also, as I said, been treated quite badly, AA's have been the only ones literally owned. Even indentured servants got out eventually. Being a slave is quite different than being a free person who chooses to take a dangerous job. What is also different is that the other groups of which you speak elected to come here. They weren't torn from their homes and families and chained and shoved into the holds of ships and dragged here against their wills.
No disrespect to you TrudyRN but You will never understand what we go through until you wear our shoes. I went to two higher end institutions both in the midwest and it was plain ugly. If I had to do it all over i would not. The bigger institution was alot better, but once we were in the work enviroment even those i considered to be my great friends(not of color) ended up gravitating to their roots. There are double standards at every level see what they did to the Katrina victims. Had that happened in a predominantly white neiborhood. New Orleans would now be a major tourist city.
More and more children of color are passed on for adoption, Yet adoption outside the US is on the rise.
I could go on and on but I will stick to the "serenity Prayer".
i am now realizing that racism must run rampant in different parts of the country.
i have never lived outside of boston since 1964.
again, i can say that where i live, aa's are NOT secondary in anyway, shape or form.
nor are other cultures/ethnicities.
if anything, there are many galas, events that celebrate the diversity of our city.
and all attend.
on the street where i live, we have block parties every summer, with aa, hispanic, greek, italian, caucasian, haitian, dominican....we all cook our own dishes and feast together.
heck, we even grab the homeless people sauntering down the street.
we have a neighborhood crime watch, with all of us looking out for ea other.
no one is segregated.
so i apologize if i came across as righteous.
it saddens and sickens me to think that such abhorrent behaviors still exist.
yep, discrimination and reverse discrimination, is alive and well.
but as sharon pointed out, my resentment is misdirected.
i've worked with (too) many substandard nurses.
i've even complained and filed written grievances.
1 was aa, 1 was white and 1 was philippino.
and so, grievances have nothing to do with race but w/performance.
but i maintain, anyone who receives secondary treatment (except from our pts ), should not accept it.
often, a firm and steady, "yes, i am your nurse today" with a steady gaze, will suffice.
you can't change some's opinions.
but with a healthy dose of self-respect and self-worth, no one can make you feel inferior.
i am now realizing that racism must run rampant in different parts of the country.
i have never lived outside of boston since 1964.
Leslie, I grew up in NYC and a few years ago moved close to the Canadian border. This is vanilla land, and I hear the n word with frequency and complete obliviousness on the part of the speaker. And when I say, "I beg your pardon?" they don't even realize that I am referring to what they just said. Oblivious and ignorant. Politer people - even those my age - refer to "colored people" or a "colored nurse" or any number of uses of "colored" that I haven't heard since my born-before-1900 grandparents died.
Lots of people have been owned besides African Americans, it would depend on where in the world you would like to focus your attention. As far as other types of ownership, I believe women and children would also be among those who could, and have been, sold for profit.
Since my first love in life was history, I would also like to point out that the very sellers of US slaves were their enemies, other people of color. They profited from their brothers, as did those merchants who loaded them into slave ships. While those merchants of many nationalities brought slaves of many backgrounds to the new world, how long ago was the last shipment?
What does that have to do with the young African Americans of today? Do we (people who did not profit for the horrible trade) need to make amends for people (not us) who did horrible things to people (who are no longer with us) ? If so, how? What will erase this part of our history? In my eyes, comraderie and respect with all those we encounter based on their qualities not their looks would be the answer to that question.
Every group has their tale of prejudice, but how long can you say I didn't get the job because: I was dark, light, had an accent, was fat, ugly, had acne, small, too tall, blah blah blah. Because guess what...Those are all the people I work with, maybe it's just you or maybe you are right and the manager didn't like your quirk. Get over it
, go somewhere where you will be appreciated!
Maisy;)
PS SueSquatch I can't help it, we need to move along-not get stuck in the past. I don't believe anyone is helped by dwelling on things that cannot be changed. It is completely non-productive.
Wish you could work in my environment...I think you'd see it how I do. Judge the person by their deeds not their skin color. I love my coworkers, and can honestly say they are very varied! Patients are always patients, who knows what will make them happy?
I am sorry your school experiences were bad, but you confirmed what I'd thought about the midwest and their attitudes. It amazes me....my dad was born in 1933 and lived in Oklahoma and Kansas during his formative years. He was the most unprejudiced person I ever met, and is one of the primary reasons I am so open to others.
I hope your give others the chance to be non-prejudiced, and forgive those who don't know any better.
Good luck to you, I hope the rest of your life only knows fairness and objectivity based on your attibutes.
Lots of people have been owned besides African Americans, it would depend on where in the world you would like to focus your attention.
We are talking about the US. Not the whole world.
Since my first love in life was history, I would also like to point out that the very sellers of US slaves were their enemies, other people of color. They profited from their brothers, as did those merchants who loaded them into slave ships. While those merchants of many nationalities brought slaves of many backgrounds to the new world, how long ago was the last shipment?
And? Yeah, black people can suck, too. We know that.
What does that have to do with the young African Americans of today? Do we (people who did not profit for the horrible trade) need to make amends for people (not us) who did horrible things to people (who are no longer with us) ? If so, how? What will erase this part of our history? In my eyes, comraderie and respect with all those we encounter based on their qualities not their looks would be the answer to that question.
No one in this thread is talking about whites making amends except for whites. As to people "no longer with us": do you really think that the deliberate exclusion of generations of AA's from education hasn't affected the current generation? That each successive generation emerges from a vacuum?
Every group has their tale of prejudice, but how long can you say I didn't get the job because: I was dark, light, had an accent, was fat, ugly, had acne, small, too tall, blah blah blah. Because guess what...Those are all the people I work with, maybe it's just you or maybe you are right and the manager didn't like your quirk. Get over it, go somewhere where you will be appreciated!
Very easy to do when you are beige, and blend.
PS SueSquatch I can't help it, we need to move along-not get stuck in the past. I don't believe anyone is helped by dwelling on things that cannot be changed. It is completely non-productive.
We do not disagree. But I find it astonishing that you think discussion of those things that hold people back is unproductive, and that you honestly believe that racial discrimination is either dead or not worth acknowledging.
), should not accept it.
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SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN
10,263 Posts
Maisy, while some other groups have also, as I said, been treated quite badly, AA's have been the only ones literally owned. Even indentured servants got out eventually. Being a slave is quite different than being a free person who chooses to take a dangerous job. What is also different is that the other groups of which you speak elected to come here. They weren't torn from their homes and families and chained and shoved into the holds of ships and dragged here against their wills.
It's different.