Racism is a vice that has continued to affect African Americans years after it was declared inappropriate. To enhance equality in the America society, laws were passed to govern all American citizens with the objective of discouraging them from discrimination. After the passing of this law, the American courts were filled with cases where mostly African Americas were reporting some white somewhere for discriminating them. Despite all this efforts by the government and even various institutions, the gap between the blacks and whites in America remains to be large. It is unfortunate that some of the cases presented in court face delay or are rejected and hence making the black community not to obtain the required justice. In this paper, we analyze one of such cases that happened in a hospital setting that was against racial discrimination and how the management never took the same seriously.
In as much as this case may be taken lightly, it has a lot of implications especially to the African American staff in the hospital. It is an act that is demoralizing and basically undermining their medical credentials. According to me, this is a macro-oriented case because of the various issues that surround it. First and foremost, the hospital operates under antidiscrimination laws. This implies that as the staff applied for the jobs and accepted them, they were sure of their protection. They understood clearly that it would be an environment that allows them exercise their skills and produce quality services to their clients. The fact that the hospital was antidiscrimination, they expected the management to grant the much-needed protection from patients who may come with discriminatory needs. The case would have been micro-oriented if the hospital had not stated clearly that it was antidiscrimination or even taken measures to defend the staff.
Reading the case, we realize that the hospital management had turned against their employees at the expense of their clients. The fact that the degree was not eve done in secret but openly just to imply to the staff how their services were irrelevant to the couple because of their skin color. The management chose to listen to their clients and ignore the objectives under which the hospital was established on. Even though the workers sued the management, the case is more than about the workers but the hospital at large. A hospital is an institutional establishment that is governed by certain laws and objectives; it is registered and carries out its activities on this basis. Any violation of what was stipulated is an illegal act that is punishable under the court of law. Even though the nurses sued the hospital on personal discrimination basis, it is a wider case where the hospital was operating contrary to the set objectives.
The sociological theory that applies to the case
The theory applicable to the above case is the social conflict theory. The theory states that a certain social group or class uses the power they have to discriminate against those that seem to have lesser power. The higher authority they may have could be in terms of their numbers, economic influence or historic background. In this case, we understand the history of whites and blacks in America and the racial wars they have been having. This has not been completely solved because the whites believe they are more privileged and advantaged compared to the blacks. They still have the slave mentality towards the blacks and hence not absolutely trusting them to handle other professional responsibilities (Bartos & Ernest, 2002). There is a racial conflict between the whites and blacks that crop up in various circumstances. The attitude the whites still hold towards the blacks and not accepting them as part and parcel of the American population makes them to be taken for granted.
Looking at the black and white population in America, we get to understand that the whites are more especially when we consider that they are the natives of the land. They also hold more prominent positions in America both I the private and government sector. The places where they live are more sophisticated and served with better social amenities compared to their black counterparts. All this and more has been a draw back especially in the efforts of the government to stop discrimination. They are always found in situations where they are looked down on and even their services not trusted by the whites. It is mainly because of the social gap between the whites and the blacks that they are constantly discriminated. The hospital management may have considered the social class and status of the white patients and automatically granted them the request despite the antidiscrimination rules that were set. When it comes to handling those of the higher class, all riles are likely to be frozen just to accommodate their demands.
A similar case in my life
It happened to me when I was seeking admission for one of my nephews in a private university. It was a crucial moment considering the fact that the admission date had expired yet he had lost a chance in the public university because they could not allow him to take the course he desired. We happened to know one of his friends who also had similar ambitions of pursuing the course. He had all the credentials and qualifications for pursuing the course and had been trying for at least three months to secure admissions in the same private school. When he heard that we would also be trying out applying in the college considering the lost opportunity, he warned us in advance that it was not easy for one to secure admissions in the mentioned college. He told us that despite making trips to the college for the past three months, he was yet to secure them because of some things he had to clear with the administration.
Even though we were discouraged, we needed the admissions at all costs and we were therefore ready to go through the procedures. After realizing the hustle that awaited us, we decided to look for acquaintances in the college to advice us on how to go about it. When we talked to him, he surprised us by telling us that it was not hard to obtain the admissions and we would get them within a week. We did not believe him but tried it anyhow. To our surprise against, the nephew got the admissions within a week while his friend was still being tossed around. We sought to find out the reason and what we discovered shocked us. We were told that people from his community have a bad record in college and that is why they are tossed around to make them give up on their admissions in college.
Strategies that would have been applied by the hospital
The hospital management had all the responsibility to ensure that they stick to their objectives. In this case, they would have protected the staff by talking to their clients and telling them about the objectives under which the hospital had been established on (Prichard, 2005). They should have hence insisted that they would be served by any staff member of the hospital irrespective of whether they were white or black. By standing by this objective, it would have been up to the couple to decide whether they would accept to be served by the nurses or look for another hospital. They would have clearly explained to the couple that they do not allow any form of discrimination and treat their clients and employees the same irrespective of their skin color (Byrd & Clayton, 2001). This procedure would not only have acted as a revelation to their clients on the evil of discrimination but also helped them operate under their objectives. The move would have also set the hospital on the right track and minimize on any form of exploitation by white clients.
Agreeing with the demands of their clients rather than the antidiscrimination laws they had set implies that the hospital is not serious in its operations. They are capable of changing what they promised to stand for, just because of a particular person who is ranked higher the society. The management should remember that the client couple they favored will not always be there and their stay is a temporal one. They will be encountered with many other clients who would probably visit them because of the objectives they set for the institution. As decisions are made in the hospital, much consideration should be given to the future needs of the institution rather than temporal needs that are likely to make them loose clients as well as employees (Prichard, 2005). Every institution needs to show respect to its staff members if they desire them to deliver quality results that will ultimately attract clients.
Conclusion
Discrimination in America has roots, which are yet to be dealt with. These roots are birthed within the minds of most whites who grow up knowing that they are superior to other races. As long as the society continue to have different learning institutions for whites and blacks, and more especially I the crucial foundation stages of learning, it will be quite difficult to solve the problem. Most attitudes that the whites have towards Africa Americans are planted in them at their younger stages of life. This makes them never appreciate what the blacks do no matter how best they try. It becomes easier even for hospitals such as Abington Hospital to forget that they are operating on antidiscrimination objectives when they encounter a white patient. It does not obviously happen to them the hospital is against discrimination and that they had set objectives to treat all people equally. Unless the root causes of discrimination are effectively dealt with in United States, then the court is sure to receive many more complains of discrimination and especially from African Americans.
Reference list
Bartos, O. & Ernest P. (2002). Using Conflict Theory. London: Cambridge University Press.
Byrd, W. & Clayton, L. (2001). An American Health Dilemma: Race, medicine, and health care
in the United States 1900-2000. New York: Routledge.
Prichard, O. (2005). Three Workers Sue Abington Hospital Over Racist Incident: Supervisors
Obliged a 2003 Demand for Only White Staff in a Delivery. Retrieved from
