Black Nurses Association

[DrLeftover]

I'm sorry for my ignorance, but I didn't know such a thing existed.



Their stated mission is to :

Founded in 1971 in response to concerns regarding the growing inequities in health care for African Americans and the lack of a voice from black nurses on their issues. The National Black Nurses Association's mission is to provide a forum for collective action by black nurses to investigate, define and advocate for the health care needs of African Americans and to implement strategies that ensure access to health care, equal to, or above health care standards of the larger society.

http://www.nbna.org/





Question:

So how is this not a racist organization?

 

[Jazzy]

Racist? The answer would be no because they are not the only ethnic group doing this:

In 2003, the National Black Nurses Association became one of the five founding organizations of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations, along with Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association, Inc., National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association, Inc.; National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Inc.; and, the Philippine Nurses Association of America, Inc. This collaboration gives voice to 350,000 minority nurses. Dr. Betty Smith Williams is the NCEMNA president and a past NBNA president.

 

[DrLeftover]

And that explains that.



Standing down.

 

[Evil Eye]

Standing down.

That just means there're more racist organisations...

 

[Jazzy]

Just to make it clear these organizations are nothing more than if you joined a union at work. They have no power over minority nurses female or male. These organizations simply take the members money and if they have a grievance, they now have a source to go to for help.



I would never join such an organization as all medical professionals regardless of race deserve equal treatment in the work field.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

I would not agree with the assessment that these are racist groups. Rather, I would assert that these are groups which have been established to specifically counteract institutional racism.

 

[DrLeftover]

Based on the presumption that while such a practice did in fact occur in the past, that it still does.



Something of a self fulfilling prophecy that.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

I would not agree with that analysis, as a significant contributor to it was ethnocentrism. People who did not belong to the hegemonic group/s found themselves without sufficient means to contribute to the discourse. Having organisations, such as the one we are discussing, enables them to more actively participate in the dialogue.

 

[DrLeftover]

If the Hegemony, or the Illuminati, or even the Good Old Boys (perhaps all three being one in the same) really are in charge of everything, then the rest of us are damned going in.



And in fact, just looking around at the state of things, they can have it.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

So, It's too hard to just have one thing for all nurses, but instead there must be multiple ones just for one specific race?

That is what the problem was before. They were applying one standard regardless of culture. I am not sure why you think returning to an ethnocentric system is a desirable approach.

If the Hegemony, or the Illuminati, or even the Good Old Boys (perhaps all three being one in the same) really are in charge of everything, then the rest of us are damned going in.



And in fact, just looking around at the state of things, they can have it.

You seem to be either denying that culture exists, or that certain cultures have more influence over the discourses in society. :/

 

[Fatal Dawn]

We have similar unions in my school - Black Student Union, Hispanic Student Union, etc.



When formed out of necessity, I don't think they are racist. In theory they are designed to promote equal treatment and provide an outlet for marginalized groups.

In practice, it can become exclusionary due to cultural stigmas.

So, It's too hard to just have one thing for all nurses, but instead there must be multiple ones just for one specific race?

Every group faces different struggles, so it wouldn't quite be fair that way.



Besides they are not usually limited to its namesake ethnic groups (it'd be harder to survive that way).

 

[Sinon]

Is there a White Nurses Association?

 

[Temerit]

Is there a White Nurses Association?

No. Traditionally white nurses haven't had trouble in having their voices heard or in facing discrimination or exclusion in comparison to minority nurses. Thus representation under the ANA, NAN and other groups has sufficed for them.

 

[Sinon]

So basically it's just affirmative action?

 

[Temerit]

Not at all, it has nothing to do with employment...

 

[Sinon]

Yeah I used completely the wrong phrase there. ._. Reverse racism is apparently what I meant.

 

[Temerit]

If banding together to ensure equal rights are had and the voices of an oppressed minority are actually heard is reverse racism then yes.

 

[Scarlet Rose]

Is there a White Nurses Association?

As Mr T. identified the answer to this is in the negative. Nursing, like other specialized occupations, coincides with the creation of a sub culture. A significant part of this sub-culture is the discourse through which the practice itself is structured. Since traditionally this has been informed more by 'EuroAmerican culture' it has consequently been blinded to the ways in which people from differing cultural backgrounds perceived and experienced bio-medical encounters. Bodies such as the Black Nurses Association counter this by enabling more perspectives to participate in the discourse. There are certainly limitations in this model, such as the potential essentialization of groups, but it provides an improvement over the previous model.