Years ago, I had a bedridden patient—Mr. T—with extremely advanced Parkinson’s disease.
He was Caucasian, and the nurses warned me that he harbored extreme nationalist tendencies. Most of the caregivers in his nursing home were female and either immigrants from Africa or Black Americans. He was utterly cruel in his treatment of them. When they’d help transfer him from his bed to a wheelchair, for example, he tried to kick or punch them and issued a stream of profanities. His use of the B-word and the N-word was commonplace.
The situation was so nasty that we eventually contacted his sister and asked her to intervene. She drove six hours to get there and gave her brother a stern warning: “If you’re not nice to these women who clean your dirty diapers several times a day, regardless of the color of your skin, you’re not going to find anyone to help you, and I won’t visit you anymore, and the whole family will want nothing to do with you.”
The sister’s visit was a wake-up call and Mr. T was a transformed soul.
At my next visit, he said, sadly, “I am sorry for being mean. I grew up in a small town in rural America. Everybody in town was white. I had never seen a Black person except on TV. The first time I saw one was when I got here. I am truly ashamed. My sister told me I am racist. I don’t want to be racist anymore. You are my doctor. Can you prescribe an anti-racism pill that can cure me of this terrible disease?”
His contrition made me think: Even a hard-core racist was able to take a turn for the better.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could invent a pill to cure the disease of racism/sexism/ classism/ageism and other needless societal oppressions?
Humans aren’t born judgmental. But early socialization too often means people acquire these tendencies by late toddlerhood. By the time someone is a teen or young adult, it takes much education to break a pattern of prejudice. There is a disproportionate burden of oppression borne by humans in colored bodies.
The staff and Mr. T’s sister were happy that he acknowledged his bias before he passed away from his Parkinson’s. Such a transformation is uncommon, though; many go to the grave with their prejudices intact.
Wouldn’t it indeed be wonderful if there were an anti-“ism” pill!
Neeta Nayak
Richardson, Texas
6 thoughts on “An Anti-Racism Pill?”
Beautifully put Dr Nayak. Racism is present throughout the world and it takes one person at a time to reduce it. Mr T’s sister, your staff and you did a great job in reducing the burden of racism. One person at a time!
It is unfortunate that sometimes people cannot see past the way they were raised. Most of the time that stems more from fears that are instilled rather than just hatred. It is also unfortunate that kinship often is not enough to draw on when it comes to taking on the burden of caring for the debilitated.
In medical practice, all too often we see patients asking for a quick fix, not willing to do the underlying work to keep good health. The ask for an ‘anti-racism’ pill is not different but redeemed by what seemed to be genuine repenrance
Great message in a short story …
So true and worth thinking about ..how the two siblings are so different .. is there an ulterior motive ? Or just different nature ?
Great story with a better ending than most. Sister was nice to begin with? They both had same upbringing. Thought crosses my mind that she realized if he doesn’t behave they may have to take care of him , we will not know.
Family upbringing does play a great role in molding our thoughts and personality but we do know people who helped free slaves had same white upbringing. We all know stories of brave white men and women who helped with the revolution. Nature plays a role I think, we see now children favor more liberal ideas than their very conservative parents . Racism is alive and thriving in present time very openly. Presidential candidate telling the educated and smart black journalists that immigrants are taking black jobs! What other proof we need.
An insightful and eye opening essay. Sadly this is endemic in every society and culture. We have a long way to go. I hope awareness is the panacea for these ills as beautifully conveyed by the esteemed physician
Touching ….Home is the first school and sadly many of these undesirable attitudes are kind of ingrained in many individuals. Glad Mr T turned over a new leaf and surely must’ve passed on a much happier person . Beautifully written, Neeta Nayak