Skinny and white

I met the most racist man I have ever met last night at work, but at first, he looked just like you or me. He was a charmer, easy to talk to, easy joke around with, easy to like. At 3:30 a.m. the phlebotomist came to draw his blood for morning labs. She missed his vein and sent the second (better) phleb in to try. The second one came out to the desk and said the man had sent her out of his room rudely, and I shook it off and said, "Hey, come with me. I'll go in there with you. He's really not a problem". So, we went in. I said, "Hi there! I heard you didn't want to get your blood drawn?" He said, "I don't want any black people in my room and I don't want the black girl touching me." I looked at her and then to him and said, "Oh please do not talk that way here. She is the very best we have. She is very good at her job, and it has nothing to do with her skin color." He got very angry and turned red as he spat out that he was 53 years old, not born in the same generation as I was and he was a racist and proud of it. And while he was at it, he'd also like to say that both of those girls were fat and gross and was it too much to ask to get a skinny white girl in there? I said, "Skinny and white. Got it. Guess I have to go now too." He said, "No, you can stay." And then sickly said, "Why can't you draw my blood." I held back the puke in my throat and turned around but the girl was already on the elevator. I turned back to him and said, "You will not be discharged without morning labs. She was the best one here. You missed out." He told me he'd sign out AMA then. I nodded in agreement. I told him I'd happily grab that paper for him, and how about I take him down to the entrance now? (3 a.m.). He told me he'd wait for his wife. I informed him that insurance would not pay for his stay if he left AMA. He smugly said he's done it before and fought and got it paid, so he'll do it again. I took off his heart monitor, his IV, and his blood pressure cuff. I told him I would not be back in to see him. I shut the door. And I just about died. Are there really people like this still living among us? You know, not the ones that say an occasional racist joke or use a word that is offensive, but the real, the full of hatred unabashed racist? When the girl called back to see if she should come back and try to get his blood, I told her no. I told her she does a fabulous job and he wasn't worth one of the seconds of her night.

Do we have priviledge for being born white? I never thought so. In fact, I was a bit annoyed that people thought we had. Does that still exist? I didn't used to think so. I thought, this generation doesn't have anything to do with racism! Why are people still so obsessed about it? That's a thing from our history books. Now, I realize that it's not just in the history books, its now in mine. The disgust I taste in my mouth today over that scene will stick with me forever. The injustice and sickness of hate cuts through my heart.

Maybe I was wrong. Racism is not a thing of the past, and it shouldn't be tucked away quite yet. The african americans aren't just whining here. It's real. It's present. It's awful. The saddest part...it's not the first time that's happened to her.