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March 20-26, 2013
Page B-4
Health professionals must rise above any appearance of discrimination in the workplace By Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom
Free Press, Hurley said the incident “was trigged by conduct which is not consistent” with the hospital’s policies. “We regret that our policies were not well enough understood and followed, causing the perception that Hurley condoned this conduct.
As healthcare professionals one of the ethical tenants that govern our behavior is primum non nocere which is Latin for First, Do No Harm. We hear these words spoken regularly during our medical training, on graduation day and those same words reverberate throughout the hallowed halls of institutions where we practice.
“Hurley Medical Center is fundamentally opposed to any form of racial discrimination.” The terms of the settlement were not released, and the hospital now faces a new lawsuit by another Black nurse arising from the same incident.
What’s ironic is, there isn’t a reciprocal code of respectful conduct that Kimberlydawn Wisdom governs the behaviors of patients we are called to serve. What exists in the patient’s/family member’s toolkit It’s difficult to imagine, whatever a to safeguard health professionals from hospital’s formal policy may be — or being the victims of abusive language, even in the absence of an explicit code bursts of anger and verbal threats or of conduct _ that anyone in 21st century America would agree to provide care aceven actual physical violence? cording to racial preference. Last Halloween — an ironically suitable day for such a twisted occurrence Hurley officials reportedly said the — a man tattooed with a symbol of father’s white supremacist tattoo frighthatred walked into a hospital neonatal ened and intimidated some staff memunit while a nurse stood at the bedside bers, as though the incident could be explained if not excused. of an infant the man claimed as his. News reports tell us that the nurse asked to see the wristband of all new parents are given to identify and connect them with their child, and he immediately demanded to see her supervisor. The man was White and tattooed with a swastika. The nurse was Black and highly experienced in caring for newborn babies, human beings as yet unmarked by a sometimes cruel and hateful world. Their encounter took place in Hurley Medical Center, the venerable teaching hospital in Flint, a city largely populated by African Americans. And what happened next became the subject of a lawsuit filed by the nurse that drew national attention and was recently settled with only an implied admission that it even took place. The tattooed man demanded that black nurses be kept away from his infant and, according to the lawsuit, the hospital agreed, posting a note to that effect on an assignment board and keeping African American nurses away from the child for about a month. When the lawsuit settlement was announced, as reported by the Detroit
But there is no excuse or explanation that can mitigate such an outrage. Hatred deserves no accommodation anywhere, and certainly not in a place where medical care is the reason for being. The most basic tenet of medicine “First, do no harm” should go both ways. When racial preference is practiced or accommodated, when skin color is used to judge human worth and decide treatment, there is a victim, someone who has been judged and found guilty of unsuitability or inferiority.
Harm is done.
In a society where health professionals are governed by “First, do not harm”, I espouse the additional tenant for those that we serve of “Second, do no harm too - and if you have done harm — have the heart to apologize” to those trusted, highly-credentialed professionals — whether Black, gay/lesbian or diverse by any measure — who work tirelessly 24/7 to serve all-comers, during their most vulnerable moments. Kimberlydawn Wisdom, MD, MS, senior vice president of Community Health & Equity Chief Wellness Officer, Henry Ford Health System.
‘Congress’ voting rights power is in the Constitution’ By Robert Weiner and Richard Mann In the oral debate over cutting down the power of the Voting Rights Act – the law designed to assure enforcement of no discrimination against minorities’ right to vote – Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated last month, “This is not the kind of a question you can leave to Congress.” He called the bill, “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” He added, “It is very difficult to get out … through the normal political process.” The Court could make a decision as early as June. The justice apparently missed that the 15th Amendment to the Constitution states, “The right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The extremely significant next sentence of the 15tth Amendment states, “The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was recently asked if Congress has the power to enact and amend the Voting Rights Act. She responded, “Yes, it’s there in the 14th and 15th Amendments.” To assure she meant the directness of her answer, she was asked if people are just wrong to say Congress does not have the power. She repeated, “It’s in the 14th and 15th Amendments.” The 14th Amendment specifies that no group’s vote should be “denied” or “in any way abridged” and that if any state does so, the state’s congressional “representation shall be reduced in proportion” to the group’s voter reduction. We asked former House Speaker Newt Gingrich last week if he still believes the Constitution gives Congress the power, since he had presided over and voted for extensions of the Voting Rights Act, and he said “Yes.” He asked us what we thought was Scalia’s reasoning to question it, and we told him about Justice Scalia’s assertion that Congress was politically pandering. Gingrich, unfazed, responded, “All the Founding Fathers won elections and understood that – they all were elected.” One may often disagree with Gingrich’s policies and politics, but as a congressional and constitutional historian, he is informed.
It’s not as though discrimination is dead and we no longer need the Voting Rights Act. After the Civil War and right through to 1965, many states enacted Jim Crow laws to try to subvert the freedom of former slaves and the right of African Americans to vote. That was what gave birth to the Voting Rights Act and its extensions. The Voting Rights Act and its extensions have been among the most bipartisan and overwhelmingly supported votes in American history, including the 25-year renewal in 2006 by 98-0 in the Senate and 390-33 in the House. There is a window. Perhaps Scalia’s earlier comment that “this Court doesn’t like to get involved in racial questions such as this one… that can be left to Congress” will be his better side and will be the Court’s attitude. The 15tth Amendment says “Congress shall have the power.” However, if the Supreme Court knocks the law down or diminishes it, this should be one of those rare circumstances where the Congress effectively reverses the Supreme Court and reenacts the bill, perhaps changing a word or two so that it can say there is a difference. Some weeks ago we went out and bought a little pamphlet for a couple of dollars with the text of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The whole thing is about 1/20th a normal paperback novel’s length. You can read and circle phrases in it in an hour or two. There is much talk these days about the Constitution. Some people try to make it seem complicated. That’s just a way of keeping we the people from our power. There is also enormous biased usage of the wording. We want an informed electorate, and everyone should read it and even carry the small pamphlet around. And that includes the justices themselves. Robert Weiner is a former White House spokesman, communications director for committees headed by Reps. Conyers, Rangel, Pepper, and Koch, aide to Senator Kennedy, and a congressional committee chief of staff. He wrote the epilogue to Bankole Thompson’s groundbreaking book, “Obama and Christian Loyalty.” Richard Mann is senior policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates, Solutions for Change.
A trinity of leaders for Detroit
By Tom Watkins
Perhaps the days of pretending and spending, going back decades, will come to an end in the city of Detroit with the appointment of Kevyn Orr as emergency financial manager.
Stop the anchor behavior that is weighing down the city and region, keeping it from truly taking off. Become a sail, not an anchor. Three leaders stepped up that day:
1) Gov. Snyder. The If you have a hole in your governor could have found roof, pretending to fix it will a away around stepping up not keep the rain out. Deand leading on this issue troit has been behaving like which many of his prede“Fantasy Island” for far too cessors have done before long. Sadly, its fantasy behim. He saw a problem, havior has been enabled by he stepped up and dove in pandering politicians at the with a solution. Agree or state level for decades as Tom Watkins disagree, he is a leader who is leading. well. It was apparent in 2005 that the City 2) Kevyn Orr. The man is obviously of Detroit was paying its Visa Card with bright and capable and he will gladly its Master Card, yet the Granholm ad- take the leadership baton from Snyder ministration allowed more long-term and run with it. He has the ability to help borrowing to allow the pretending and turn around the city of Detroit — and we all should offer a helping hand. spending in the city continue. This on top of years of financial fool- 3) Mayor Dave Bing. “Say what?, you ishness as the world shook beneath the ask, befuddled. Yes, Mayor Bing. The feet of Detroit’s elected political lead- mayor behaved like a true team player, willing to slide down the bench when a ers. new “star” player joins the team. Elected leaders at both the local and state level have been kicking the city Mayor Bing deserves praise for suckof Detroit’s financial troubles down the ing it up and pledging to work with Mr. road for some time. They have run out of Orr to get the city working again. Even the best player can’t score without ascans and road. sists from teammates, all playing impor Finally, Gov. Snyder said “Enough is tant roles, subordinating themselves for enough” and pulled the trigger on the the overall advancement of the team. appointment of an emergency manager Especially, juxtaposed to the disfor Detroit — Kevyn Orr. graced former mayor of Detroit Kwame No, Mr. Orr did not walk up the De- Kilpatrick being led off to 20 or more troit River to take on this challenge, but years in prison, Mayor Bing earned a his résumé equals his debut at the press spot on the City of Detroit all star team conference announcing his appoint- that day. ment. A new era has begun in Detroit. It is Bright, confident, thoughtful, articu- up to us all to help re-imagine and begin late and driven all the while — engaging the hard work to create the new Detroit. and expressing a willingness to “work with” not simply “work on” Detroit’s Welcome back to Michigan and to the elected leaders not simply to cut, slash city of Detroit Mr. Orr. Please know that and burn but to restore services that the many will do all they can to help you citizens of Detroit need and so desper- succeed. ately deserve. That day was another clear reminder The time for blame and finger point- that leaders truly matters and that real ing needs to come to an end and every- change requires real change. one needs to roll up their sleeves and Tom Watkins is a former elected pitch in to help make Mr. Orr a success. Wayne County Charter CommissionIf he succeeds, we all benefit and if he er from the city of Detroit. He led two fails we all lose. major departments of state govern For the naysayers, stop. Stop at- ment: mental health and education. tempting to tie two-ton weights around He is a US/China business and educathe new emergency manager’s ankles tional consultant and can be reached before he even dives into the financials at tdwatkins88gmail.com. woes facing the city.
The Black Slate opposes an emergency manager for Detroit We of the Black Slate and the East Side Community Slate feel compelled to speak about events surrounding the how, when, and why of Gov. Rick Snyder’s Detroit emergency manager decision, why we can’t give up the fight, and how we can work to move forward. First and foremost, we know that Detroiters, like most voters across the country, were elated about President Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory. Unfortunately, too many of us thought that that was enough, and during the 2010 didterm elections, too many of us stayed home. Add in the fear mongering and racial overtones of having a Black man in the White House and the result was a swing of the American and Michigan vote to the right. Consequently, the 2008 Democratic vote was greatly diminished, resulting in a 2010 midterm onslaught of Republican victories in state and federal elections throughout the nation. In Michigan, Rick Snyder and many Tea Party Republicans were swept into office. Both the state House and Senate were taken over by these right wing conservatives. Since then, the notions of cutting safety nets, suppressing voters’ rights and taking over municipalities have dominated the agenda both in Washington, D.C., and most certainly in Lansing.
us in Detroit and communities throughout Michigan, there can be only one answer to this unacceptable dilemma: vote. But even more importantly, you must be an informed, intelligent voter who votes in every election. That is because we believe that politics, however ugly and troublesome it may be, is sacred. Moreover, everything that touches our lives and the lives of the children of a loving, caring, giving and forgiving God (be it economics, education, finance, politics or whatever) is sacred. Furthermore, history has shown and continues to teach us that, in the U.S.A., whenever a vast majority of the people vote, the more likely democracy, fairness and justice will win out. And we know this to be absolutely true with voters across the great state of Michigan. So the answer is to vote. Encourage your family members, co-workers, friends and co-students to be informed, to register and to vote in every election. Additionally, another way to be informed is to attend our Black Slate First Wednesday Community Educational Forums held at 700 Seward on the first Wednesday of every month. The Black Slate Committee and the East Side Community Slate.
We, as a collaborative, believe that for
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