The Innocence of a Child and the Ignorance of a Father…
I’m normally a fairly calm guy but I read a story on CNN.COM today that got my blood boiling. You can read the full story here http://ow.ly/hMkB8 The short version is a nurse in Michigan is “suing a hospital, claiming it agreed to a man’s request that no African-Americans care for his baby.”
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Photo credit: Army Medicine)
This gentleman (I use that term loosely) had the audacity to ask that this highly trained professional working in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit be removed from looking after his child. You probably guessed that he had swastikas tattooed on his body.
This riles me on so many levels, I even have trouble writing about it. If I’d have been holding a newspaper instead of reading it online, the paper would have been shaking.
What kind of a message did the management of the hospital send to the staff? In my world, the guy would have been told to “suck it up princess or get to hell out of my hospital!” The hospital finally changed its mind but for a month no African-American nurses were assigned to the NICU. This is just so wrong! What a great morale booster had they told him to take a hike right at the beginning. The staff would know that management had their back.
If an African-American man had asked that a white nurse be removed from caring for his newborn child because he wanted only African- American nurses, would the hospital acquiesce to that request? Not bloody likely! But why not, fair is fair isn’t it? Oh I forgot, this is sort of like George Orwell’s Animal Farm – all animals are created equal except some animals are more equal than others.
I wonder, for example, what this swastika laden individual would have done if he knew before hand that the people in the Delivery Room were a Muslim, a Jew, an Oriental, and an East Indian who all happen to be born and raised American citizens? Would he have the guts to ask that his child, who was obviously in need of serious medical intervention, be taken care of only by white Christian people of good faith? More importantly would the hospital have agreed?
This poor child probably has no hope of understanding what a kind and tolerate environment can do to fulfill a person’s life. Let’s hope that eventually he/she is strong enough to realize that hate and bigotry has no place in any society.
It’s interesting that as I read this I barely flinched — desensitization in full effect. For me, the saddest part really is what the child’s view on life will be growing up. Many parents/guardians don’t realise the impact they have on the lives of little ones.
You hit the point exactly. What becomes of a child surrounded by hatred?
As you probably gathered, I was outraged. I was raised to believe that you judge people by their deeds not the colour of their skin.
Thanks for stopping by and reading the post.
Craziness!
Craziness almost doesn’t describe it does it? Sort of hard to find the right words. Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment. I appreciate it.
Nelson
Wow! I hadn’t heard about this – thanks for the head’s up. I know that these people exist, but still, it’s a shock to hear about what they “believe.”
It really is hard to believe that people still think this is Ok. Thanks for the comment.
Right on my brother.