Pregnant Woman Requests All White Delivery Staff

Haha. Like to see her try that in NYC. I don’t know if any of our delivery staff was white. Well the doc was, I guess, though I wonder if Jews would count as white to this lady.

Nope, this doesn’t surprise me either. Though why doesn’t she homebirth and then she can make sure everyone wears hoods too?

Was the woman black or white or asian? YOu never told us. Would you be as outraged if she had requested that no whites be present or is it okay to be racists in some cases but not others. “Call a spade a spade” is a racist saying by the way.

The “spade” reference does not have its roots in anti-black sentiment. One might want to avoid it due to the misunderstanding that it does, though. Spend a few minutes looking up what you’ve “heard” before making snarky comments. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/call-a-spade-a-spade.html

A friend of mine in the medical field heard about this and offered a slightly different take: she once dealt with a patient who wanted only “white” doctors. Wouldn’t let a black nurse help him disrobe. Turns out in his younger days, he’d been QUITE the little racist, and had a series of highly offensive racist tattoos. He’d since come around but hadn’t taken the time/didn’t have the money/whatever to remove the tattoos. He figured letting anyone who they referenced see them might compromise his medical care (I can see where he might think that). Wander if this mom has a racist tatt on her hoo-ha or something? (Okay, that’s more evil wicked laughter from me…but still)

Just writing to support bettywu in saying “calling a spade a spade” predates the racial use of the term, and should not be considered racist.

Thanks for pointing that out, Bec. Anyone can be racist. The point is that if the SOLE reason for doing/not doing something is based on the color of someone’s skin, it’s racist. I am black, and if I made that same whites-only request, it would be racist. If I made a no-whites request, again, it would be racist because it’s informed only by my feelings about skin color.

And “calling a spade a spade” is not a racist phrase. A quick Google search will explain…

Mistress - thanks for the support. I actually was using it to be sarcastic in reference to the “I don’t want to cry racism at every turn” part. It was meant to show racism exists rather than to BE racist. Sometimes sarcasm bites you in the butt - sorry about that y’all!
And Ali, you proved my point right there - the old “reverse racism” argument always has to come from somewhere, and it’s ridiculous. As Twintown points, yes, an Asian person who asks for all Asians, a black person who asks for all blacks, etc. - it’s all wrong. But that doesn’t mean it has to be brought up at every turn as though there are all sorts of “reverse racists” out there.
Racism exists in all shapes and colors, and it’s ALL wrong.
By the way, Mistress - I’ve heard the “Jew you down” thing too - must be an upstate NY thing? Regardless, it makes me shudder every time I hear it too.

Eric, if you purposefully seek to use language to provoke a shocked or negative response, just so you can say “ha, ha, you’re so stupid, you don’t know what the word really means!” it does not make you racist. It may make you an obnoxious asshole, but not racist.

The ignorance, it staggers. Not my job to inform you of how many misinformed premises it took to ask that question. I suspect you don’t honestly want an answer.

I had no idea about this, probably because the spade thing is a fairly recent development in the history of the phrase. Anyway, I did advise my husband, who adjuncts at a university, not to use this phrase in front of class. He had no idea either. We grew up in the Midwest and have never heard of racist tones with it. Good to know…

“Spade” is indeed a term that was used disparagingly for black people, as far as I know mostly in the mid-29th century. You wouldn’t hear it much these days, but it turns up here and there. Hence the conflating of that word, and “calling a spade a spade” which is older and unrelated, as others have pointed out.

My mother in law actually used the term “Jew him down” in front of me once, in, yes, upstate NY. I didn’t know that was an upstate thing? It disgusts me. You want to know the origin of the Jews-and-money stereotype? It’s that in some parts of Europe in an earlier age, we weren’t permitted to work in most professions. Those were reserved for Christians. We were allowed to handle money, though, because that was considered dirty. And of course, it enhances the bigotry and hate to assume that Jews all have lots of money and gold, doesn’t it? All I want to know is, where’s mine, baby?

Scorpio, my intent isn’t to provoke a shocked or negative response. I wouldn’t go out my way to use language that some people are confused about. My only point is I refuse to intentionally go out of my way to NOT use the language that people are confused about. Also, I don’t want to rub people’s nose in the fact that they don’t know the meaning of certain words. As for being an obnoxious asshole, I’ve been called that without any question of the language I’m using

Very funny link Mistress.
‘She wondered aloud why she had never met me before, as she “goes out of her way to know all the people of color in our town.” ‘
What a pretentious thing to say! That’s like the people that, when challenged, say “oh I have lots of [insert other race] friends!”

I would bet that there are some women who practice Islam who won’t let non-Muslim male doctors perform obstetric or gynecological services. I agree with their right to seek out services that can comply with their perceived need. This is a rather sensitive issue. This is about you, and your vagina, and who can (and can’t) see it or touch it.

That said, I think it is the responsibility of the patient to find a place where they will comply with the patient’s “ground rules”. If the patient can’t find such a place (a hospital or doctor who will keep their ‘naughty bits’ away from ‘the wrong people’) … if the patient can’t find such a willing professional institution, then tough luck. If it is such a “deal breaking” issue, you can always give birth in a ditch or on a sidewalk. I’m not trying to sound “extreme” in proposing this method and manner of delivery. On the contrary: People deliver in the wilderness and in other inopportune places all over the world every day.