I was watching this video from a mixed-race female doctor about how she heard another doctor introducing himself to a patient by saying "I'm (name) and I'll be your doctor" and it occurred to her that she never once EVER considered introducing herself by her first name because her experience as a mixed-race female is so drastically different. She always says "I'm Doctor (name)." because she always has to reinforce to patients that she is a doctor and not a nurse.
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Her experience also with racism in the system means she has to do more to prove herself or to be taken seriously and being so casual makes her look "unprofessional" whereas for the white male doctors, it's considered fine.
She posts videos often about the everyday experiences she has in the medical field and this one was particularly powerful because she realized that she was shaped by this system to feel like she was somehow "less than" and couldn't even introduce herself by her own name.
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Not only that but that she had never even THOUGHT to do it ... there was just no question in her mind. It was her realization of how deeply she was groomed by these beliefs and her lived experiences as a mixed-race female in the world and in her profession that brought tears to her eyes. Why had she not realized it? How could she begin to dismantle all the beliefs that kept her locked in this invisible cage? She expressed these thoughts beautifully ...
The comments she received ... my god.
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The fact that everyone believes their reality is the ONLY reality that people live in always astounds me. But the level of willful delusion that people engage in is even more disturbing.
The idea that it's possible for someone to look at another person, listen to another person describe their life and experiences and somehow still find a way of saying something like: "it doesn't happen because I have never seen it or experienced it and something is wrong with you" is mind-blowing to me.
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When you grow up in, live in, work in, exist in a society and country that is ROOTED in, and SHAPED by, white supremacy and a patriarchal view, your entire life and view of the world is tainted by that if you are a member of the Global Majority or the minority. Your ENTIRE worldview is molded by these global and systemic ideals and you probably don't even realize it. The level of trauma, brainwashing, grooming, and ingrained ideas is designed to control the population in one way or another.
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You may be LUCKY to have grown up in an environment or had family and friends who never subscribed to the ideas of fell victim to the grooming and you were raised differently.
You may be LUCKY to have grown up in a town or a city where these ideals never had a chance to take root.
You maybe be LUCKY to have been in an environment surrounded by narrow, evil, negative, broken people and had your own level of strength to break free of it.
NOT EVERYONE IS SO LUCKY. NOT EVERYONE IS YOU.
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This woman did a beautiful job of expressing and understanding of her own prison ... of being able to see how she'd allowed this kind of societal grooming to seep into the very way she saw herself ... that kind of realization is ROUGH and it can be brutal ... and it takes strength and bravery to admit.
So many soulless and heartless people in the comment section just came down on her, blamed her, accused her of weakness, stupidity, and of not deserving her MD ...
The world will never change.
𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺. - Frederick Joseph
𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. - Frederick Joseph
From the brilliant mind of Frederick Joseph
The Unyielding Flame of #AaronBushnell
https://frederickjoseph.substack.com/p/the-unyielding-flame-of-aaron-bushnell
I’m sorry. I hear your hurt and frustration.
Biggest hugs. Fck. 💜
@thewebrecluse
I see a NYTimes bestseller written by Frederick Joseph. I notice it is for young adults. Do you know if the material you quoted here is from that book?
@HopeSeeker I'm quoting from several of his recent essays on his substack that I linked yesterday.
Eloquently said.
For me, one of the biggest heartbreaks of this thread is that stories, real like hers, or even fictional stories that mirrors that truth, are an incredible way to get yourself inside someone else's viewpoint for a little time. To get some sense of what another person's reality looks like. They are a gift, a promise of understanding others. I guess that's why some people are so intent on squashing them.
@misterfive I have noticed on social media, here as well, that people are very much triggered by the stories from any marginalized groups and are intent on trying to downplay them or try and center themselves instead.
It seems to be a major problem that white men and others want to take power away from the lived realities of people who have suffered in some way in society or want to use minimizing language to justify the horrible, unfair, or heinous treatment of others.
@thewebrecluse @misterfive Whenever my mom saw something on TV about how people of color are treated or were treated in the past she often said "they're just trying to stir up trouble." Dad had a more empathetic response but was still a bit patronizing. I find myself still having internal battles against stereotypes I was raised with. I know they're garbage, but they're woven deep in early memory.
@poemblaze @misterfive At least you are realizing and working through these things for yourself. That is the hardest work ... for anyone. So many things are ingrained ... and for so many years ... formative years ... that it's hard to pull yourself out from them. It takes A TON of self reflection.
Yes, we all have stuff woven deep where we can't easily see it.
I mentioned earlier that defensiveness is the root of much evil. In my experience, the minute someone gets defensive, understanding flies out the window. Unfortunately many people get super defensive when conversations about privilege get uncomfortable. "But not me!" kicks in and "Let me listen here" flies out the window.
@misterfive @poemblaze TRUTH. ❤️ Anger means no listening can ever happen. Anger changes the chemical makeup of your brain ... not over time ... but instantly. Anyone who expresses anger towards me or something I have expressed I know to immediately remove myself or them. There is nothing to be done and such people are dangerous.
Yes. It's part of being a human being. But if you want real change and real understanding, you have to recognize it in yourself first, and move from Defensive mode to Objective Observer mode. Which needs a lot of practice, and can be very hard to do in today's conversational climate where rhetoric is often designed to provoke and attack.
@misterfive @poemblaze Not a lot of people CAN or are WILLING to do that kind of work ... especially, as you said, in today's climate. It's considered normal and ok to react with anger and violence to things online ... rewarded even so who is going to think there is anything wrong with how they behave in such a place? There is no reason for people to work hard on themselves, to change for the better for themselves or others, in a society that allows for such behavior and rarely punishes it.
@thewebrecluse
Please tell her -some of us look for the black /mixed race female doctors knowing the obstacles thrown at her. My thought is if she ran that labyrinth of med school and internships and came out the other end -she had better training than the legacy doctors following in daddy’s footsteps. She had been challenged and rose. I’ve never been healthier than when I was able to have a variety of doctors. I find they’re more through and see things differently.
@Megalicious thank the Universe for you. We need many more like you. ❤️ Thanks for such a great and positive response. ❤️
The disgusting, hateful, racist, misogynist, delusional comments that went on and on and on ...
"I wouldn't want a doctor like you because you don't seem to have any confidence or common sense ..."
"No one is keeping you from saying your name. You do that to yourself. Grow up."
"Here is another woman finding excuses to feel sorry for herself ..."
"I have never seen anyone not use their name in an introduction before. What kind of professional are you?"
"You do this to yourself."
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