Should there be a 'White Nurses Association'?

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I was reading an article in a nursing journal about racism in nursing. Apparently, there are nurses associations specifically for different racial and ethnic groups.

So, would it be a good idea for White nurses to band together in this way? Is that a taboo because it's construed as being as racist or is it just that Whites don't have the need for a group identity because of their majority status? Will that be changing as the demographics of the nation change? After all, in some areas White people are a minority.

What do you all think?

Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

I don't care what color/ethnicity/whatever my co-workers are, as long as they do their jobs.

What chaps me is when someone does not do his or her job and, when I have an issue with that, it gets blown off as a race/ethnicity issue: "Oh, you know she just doesn't like Purple people."

No, I just don't like working with incompetent people!

I've had that happen to me. I was outraged. I still get outraged when I think about it, because it was totally not true. My issue with someone's work performance becomes a personal attack on my character. What was worse was that I believe it was started by someone who knew better but who originally said it to cause trouble.

I don't look at your skin color and assume that you're lazy, stupid, uneducated, incompetent, a thug, a ****, a drug dealer, or whatever the stereotype might be. Don't look at my skin color and make judgements about me.

I understand where you are coming from, but you have to realize many minorities are very disadvantaged and need the help. I am not saying you didn't, I am just saying that if you were born into a situation where you were middle class, you are so much better off then not only the majority of blacks, but the majority of the world!

This is also a false assumption. The majority of Blacks in this country are middle class, working folks. We are bombarded with images of the idiot kid in the 'hood who kills a child by accident in a drive by. These people, while they exist, are a very small portion of the African American population. Sadly, they have a tremendously delterious affect on everyone else.

But I agree, in spirit, with what you're trying to say.

:)

This is also a false assumption. The majority of Blacks in this country are middle class, working folks. We are bombarded with images of the idiot kid in the 'hood who kills a child by accident in a drive by. These people, while they exist, are a very small portion of the African American population. Sadly, they have a tremendously delterious affect on everyone else.

But I agree, in spirit, with what you're trying to say.

:)

Actually a quarter of Black Americans live below the poverty line..

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/26/news/economy/poverty_survey/index.htm

Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.
Someday we will all realize that there is just one race, and that is the human race. The human race is made up of many different cultures and ethnicities and two genders. But all that still adds up to one race.

Homogenicity might be reassuring to some, but it could be boring.

It reminds me of "Stepford Wives", somehow.......

What if the human race decided to have only one religion? :confused:

Actually a quarter of Black Americans live below the poverty line..

As do 18% of white children.

Neither is a majority, and that any children in this nation subsist in poverty is a disgrace.

http://www.childstats.gov/AMERICASCHILDREN/eco1.asp

This is also a false assumption. The majority of Blacks in this country are middle class, working folks. We are bombarded with images of the idiot kid in the 'hood who kills a child by accident in a drive by. These people, while they exist, are a very small portion of the African American population. Sadly, they have a tremendously delterious affect on everyone else.

But I agree, in spirit, with what you're trying to say.

:)

:D

I guess its what you define as middle class, to me that's annual income of 30,000 or more, not just working because you can work full-time and make less then 13000 a year which to me is way below the poverty level. I am sure I can find statistics to back me up that the majority of black families make this or less (30,000)and that is not implying that they are hoodlums, I myself being a product of poverty. I agree with you too, though, its just that I think what blacks consider middle class,or maybe I should just say what I consider middle class, isn't the same as what the majority of people consider middle class.

:twocents:

Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

This, as you all well know, is a very hot topic. Staff have been discussing the posts and for the most part, they've pretty interesting and educational as well as thought-provoking.

One staff member said the following:

One of the things I like about Allnurses is that I have no idea what colour anyone is and well ,who cares anyway!You are all nurses and great people,that's all that matters.
That was a pretty cool statement.

Please, let's not turn it into a racial issue with one-on-one arguing back and forth. Let's not be divisive. Please, let's all unite as one.

All nurses.

All of the human race.

United.

Please keep to the topic of "White Nurses Association?", but w/o interjecting remarks that will only serve to hurt feelings, cause the staff members' coronary arteries to squeeze, and result in the thread being shut down. It's just not worth it.

Specializes in Cardiac x3 years, PACU x1 year.

Interesting topic. I just can't shake the bad feeling I get when I hear "white" organization. I'm a white girl and it makes me a little uneasy- perhaps because of the history of "white" groups and their tendency toward bigotry and general evil- doing.

It's people like that -and those that are more subversive and use their religion or politics to promote bigotry in the name of their god or their country- that defeat my waning hope for humanity.

But I guess there are still people that want to work together- like us. And when I see evidence of that, it makes my heart joyful.:redbeathe

As do 18% of white children.

Neither is a majority, and that any children in this nation subsist in poverty is a disgrace.

http://www.childstats.gov/AMERICASCHILDREN/eco1.asp

I do believe you read the stats wrong.. It stated that 10% of White children lived in poverty. It didn't mention if the kids worked for a living. The article I posted was referring to Black working Americans. 18% accounted for all children ages 0-17.

Interesting topic. I just can't shake the bad feeling I get when I hear "white" organization. I'm a white girl and it makes me a little uneasy- perhaps because of the history of "white" groups and their tendency toward bigotry and general evil- doing.

It's people like that -and those that are more subversive and use their religion or politics to promote bigotry in the name of their god or their country- that defeat my waning hope for humanity.

But I guess there are still people that want to work together- like us. And when I see evidence of that, it makes my heart joyful.:redbeathe

I'm pretty sure thats how a lot of Americans feel. Anything with the term White in front of it regarding towards white people makes people feel uneasy.

No, ProLogic, I read the statistics I cited as they were written. 18% of white children live in poverty, as do 30% of black ones.

I do not deny, nor have I denied, that there are more poor people of color than there are white ones in the US. I do, however, object to the misapprehension that most black Americans live in poverty.

Too many people, period, are poor. That number is certainly disproportionately higher among ethnic minorities. (I am trying to stop using the term "race" as if has very little scientific meaning.)

I am really not quite sure about what you are arguing with me.

I am really not quite sure about what you are arguing with me.

by virtue of being 17?;)

leslie

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