Garden Variety Racism

Racism is so entrenched it can have all sorts of daily consequences.

I was called to the hospital where my grandmother had been taken after fainting and falling. She was being checked over in the ER. Doc. came out and said he had a few questions and then I could go see her.

I answered background questions; he said her vitals were fine, she was back to herself, but they wanted to keep her for observation because I had just told him she had no history of mental confusion but she was not thinking clearly.

Oh no, what’s happening? “Well, for some reason she thinks you are a professor at MIT.” It was more likely that a perfectly sharp-witted elderly black woman would be sinking into dementia than that story she was proudly telling about her grand-daughter could possibly be true.