+
A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM UPWORTHY
We are a small, independent media company on a mission to share the best of humanity with the world.
If you think the work we do matters, pre-ordering a copy of our first book would make a huge difference in helping us succeed.
GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

racial bias

Parenting

Mom calls on pediatricians to do better and encourages parents to advocate for girls of color

"The doctor said 'yes this looks like early puberty and if your daughter were caucasian we would order further testing and evaluations.'"

Photo credit: Canva

Mom calls on doctors to do better for little girls of color

It's not a secret that racial bias can sneak into medical setting. There have been studies that reveal some doctors still believe disproven beliefs like Black people have thicker skin, a higher threshold for pain or are "drug seeking" when requesting medication to manage their pain. These beliefs and others like them can become obstacles to appropriate and timely treatment.

When people think of these scenarios, they often think of these things happening to adults. Unfortunately, racial biases affect children of color as well which can delay vital treatment. A mom who goes by the screen name Nursebblay put out an urgent PSA for parents who have Black and Latina girls after her experience with her daughter's pediatrician.

Nursebblay is mom to a Black 7-year-old girl who started showing concerning signs of early puberty, which prompted the mom to schedule an appointment with the pediatrician. But to her surprise, her concerns about her very young daughter starting puberty were dismissed.


She explains that her daughter started to have increased perspiration, attitude changes and pre-pubescent hair growth. When meeting with the pediatrician about the puberty symptoms, the doctor informs the worried mom, "'yes, this is early puberty and had your daughter been caucasian we would order further testing and evaluations.' But because my daughter is Black and Black and Latina girls go through puberty really early he felt that nothing else was necessary, we were good to go."

Thankfully the mom isn't accepting of that answer and pushes to see a pediatric endocrinologist to double check. The specialist responds to the mom in an email expressing the same sentiment is expressed calling it "normal." Nursebblay replies demanding that her daughter be treated based on symptoms and not the color of her skin.

See her video plea here:

@nursebblay

As a mom I want personalized care for my children. All peoole should be treated based on the symptoms that they are having. My daughter was inly 7 years old when she started having symptoms, and we were dismissed. #parentingtips #parentingjourney #parentinghacks #tipsparenting #homeschooling #ilmuparenting #parentlife #homeschool #draisahdahlan #kidsbelike #gentleparenting #raisingkids #parentingana #parenthood #parentsoftiktok #toddlertantrums #childcare #kidsactivities #toddlerlife #labtestforkids #toodler #tumbuhkembanganak #sensoryplay #mom #prettyblackgirl #blackgirl #blackwomen #blackwoman #blackmen #blackgirlmagic #earthyblackgirl #blackgirlhairstyles #blackgirlcontentcreator #blackwomenoftiktok #blackgirlsrock #hairappointment #blackmenoftiktok #blackgirltiktokers #birminghamhairstylist #aliciakeysbraids #dreadslocks #locsoftiktok #pinkhair #blackgirltok #darkskin #brownskin #womenwithlocs #brownskingirl #darkskingirl #hispana #latinas #latinasbelike #hispanic #girlies #mexican #girly #prettygirls #citygirls #girlsbeinggirls #girlthings #womanhood #latina #latinastiktok #imjustagirlintheworld #girlproblems #imjustagirl #girlie #tallgirls #rbf #thickerthanasnicker #girlhood #girlll #girlypop #hottie #puertorican #imher #girlmath #oldermomsoftik #tallgirl #girlsnightout #girltok #girlsbelike #prettyprivilege #grils #yourworldwithin #evolved #questioned #threatened #buzzing #equally #ambitious #professionally #bouncing #klled #devastating #heavily #leapyear #grandkids #plotting #poorly #observation #disappearance #forsure #perceived #determined #thenvsnow #pandemic #terribly #procrastinating #tweak #realizing #thriving #embraced #thirty #sophomore #frostbite #tremendous #sexuality #flown #nutshell #TrendTok #TrendTokApp

After finally seeing the pediatric endocrinologist, the frustrated mom receives her daughter's results. They're abnormal. In fact the doctor wants to order an MRI and further testing to check the little girl's adrenal glands.

In her follow up video, the mom is clear that she's not using her platform to try to "take down" a doctor or the medical establishment. She's using her platform to educate parents on this bias so they can properly advocate for their children. The mom is also putting a call out for medical providers to take these situations seriously no matter the ethnicity or race of the child as things could be missed. Commenters flooded her comments with gratitude and heartbreak for their own experiences.

See her follow up here:

"This makes me so angry. This happened to us as well. Unfortunately by the time my daughter was seen her growth plates had closed. She was only 12 at the time," one mom reveals.

"As a father of a Latina girl, I really appreciate this information, thank you mom," one dad says.

"I always had symptoms and doctors dismissed it..my parents trusted doctors. They trusted their education. It's not my immigrant parents fault! Now I'm in my 20s dealing w pcos & so many side effects," another commenter writes.

"The same applies for boys...My son is 13 at 6'2" at 200lbs. The doctors only focused on his weight and finally one listened and ordered an IGF test or insulin-like growth factor. His range was that of a man in his 20's. Based on my own research if left untreated can lead to diabetes and endocrine, cardiovascular issues. Makes sense for PCOS," a mom says.

This mom isn't done advocating. In a more recent video she reveals she has taken the matter up with the hospital group's policy makers to make a systematic change on how they treat different races of children. Hopefully her advocacy goes a long was as it doesn't seem like she will be stopping any time soon.

From Your Site Articles
racial bias in medicine
More

An unjust arrest at Starbucks. A national conversation. Now? A cash reward of $1.

In April, two black men were arrested and led out of a Philadelphia Starbucks for absolutely no reason.  

On April 12, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson arrived at the coffee shop a few minutes before a business meeting. Nelson asked to use the bathroom but was denied because he hadn't bought anything. He returned to the table where he and Robinson were waiting for their associate. They were approached, The Washington Post reports, by the white manager only moments later. Her message: Buy something.

By now you probably know what happened next: Unsatisfied with whatever answer she was given, the manager called 911 and asked for help. Two men, she told the dispatcher, were refusing to buy something or leave. Nelson and Robinson were handcuffed and escorted out of the cafe by policemen. Then, they were taken to jail.  

A recording of the arrest instantly went viral, with the public responding in outrage to both the manager's actions (how many of us have sat in Starbucks for hours without ordering so much as a water?) and the police's response.    

The pair recollected the traumatic incident on ABC news:

Nelson and Robinson have now reached a settlement with the city. It's a study in healing, forgiveness, and inspiration.

Though the two men could have sued Philadelphia — especially after both the mayor and the police commissioner admitted that the situation hadn't been handled correctly — they agreed to a settlement no one expected. Each man accepted a symbolic $1 from the city. In addition, The Washington Post reports, they've asked Philadelphia to fund a $200,000 grant to support area high school students with entrepreneurial dreams. According to ABC News, the mens' arrest records will be expunged. Starbucks, for their part, will pay for Nelson and Robinson's college education as part of a mostly undisclosed financial settlement. The pair will meet with former Attorney General Eric Holder, who's assisting Starbucks in creating a training on racial bias.

The injustice was horrific. For many it brought two things into stark relief for the first time.

One: Racial bias and discrimination happen on a moment-to-moment basis in America.

While some still argue that Nelson and Robinson must have done something wrong in order to have been escorted out by police (just check the comments on any news story about their arrest), the reality is the only thing the two men were guilty of was being on the wrong end of someone's prejudice. And that kind of prejudice makes what happened to Nelson and Robinson an everyday occurrence.  

Shortly after the Nelson and Robinson's story blew up, a piece in The New York Times detailed the many incidents of racial bias that had occurred in the Rittenhouse Square area of Philadelphia — where the men had been arrested.

"Although black people account for just 3% of the residents in that police subdistrict, they made up two-thirds of the people stopped by the police in the first half of 2017, according to figures collected by the American Civil Liberties Union," The Times reported.  

Protestors at a Philadelphia Starbucks rally against the discrimination of Nelson and Robinson. Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images.

Two: We must all work to end this type of commonplace oppression.

After the president and CEO of Starbucks met with the men to offer an apology, Starbucks announced that it would close 8,000 of its stores on May 29 for "racial bias training." While one day is hardly enough time to transform the crisis of systemic racism, the training is one step in ensuring that what the manager did doesn't happen again.

"What Starbucks is doing shows an understanding that to dismiss one employee as a crazy racist is to ignore the context in which that individual learns beliefs, pushes them on others, and abuses power. Using this as a teachable moment company-wide also sets an example," author Sara Benincasa wrote in a tweet.  

Nelson and Robinson's hope? That something positive comes from such a terrible incident.

"We thought long and hard about it, and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see," Robinson, said of the settlement. "It's not a right-now thing that's good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time."

More

Starbucks' social media team sets an important tone addressing racial bias.

"We cannot deny that this is a race issue."

On April 12, two black men were arrested while waiting for their friend at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. Their crime? Waiting for a friend, apparently.

The incident, caught on film, shows the two men being placed in handcuffs by police officers while confused customers tried to ask what exactly they had done wrong. The incident sparked a lot of justifiable anger and resulted in an apology from both Starbucks, and the Philadelphia police chief, a few days later.

At NBC, writer Elon James White shared an "uncomfortable truth for white America" about the incident.

"While this incident went viral, it is only remarkable because of how unremarkable it actually is," he wrote, highlighting another Starbucks video from California showing a black man being denied access to a store's restroom, while a white man was allowed in without scrutiny.

People protesting at the Starbucks where the two men were arrested. Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images.

Starbucks announced plans to close all 8,000 of the company's corporate owned stores on May 29 for mandatory racial-bias training.

In a statement posted to Facebook, the company explained they were working with well-established civil rights advocates and anti-racism organizations to develop a curriculum for its 175,000 employees. The plan has gotten some majorly mixed reactions, ranging from people arguing that the Philadelphia location and police did nothing wrong, to those who think this is an important step in addressing the issue, to people who believe this is simply too little, too late.

[rebelmouse-image 19532655 dam="1" original_size="615x454" caption="All screenshots are from Starbucks/Facebook." expand=1]All screenshots are from Starbucks/Facebook.

Whether the training itself will be considered a success remains to be seen. Still, the company's responses on social media have an important lesson for us all.

A lot of the time, when a company finds itself in the midst of a public relations disaster, their social media teams will come up with a few canned statements to respond to criticism on social media. Starbucks took a different approach — and has been offering personal replies to dozens of people.

Responding to criticism arguing that the Philadelphia incident was just a few bad apples, the company replied, "Because systemic racism and bias is bigger than one partner, one store or one company. We are shutting our stores for this training because we recognize that we have the responsibility to be part of the solution."

Others lamented the thought of going without their coffee for an afternoon, saying that the company's response was overblown. To that, Starbucks owned up to its less than stellar history, writing, "There are countless examples of implicit bias resulting in discrimination against people of color, both inside and outside our stores," and explaining that they have a responsibility to act.

"There was no reason for the police to be called to our Philadelphia store," they wrote to another commenter.

Another commenter used this as an opportunity to highlight legitimate grievances people and communities of color might have with law enforcement. The company responded by saying there are plans to meet with Philadelphia government and law enforcement officials to ensure this doesn't happen again. While it's not a national solution, it is something.

When someone pointed out that it shouldn't have taken a viral video for the company to get serious about fighting racial bias, Starbucks responded that the program rolling out May 29 will become part of new employee onboarding moving forward.

"Maybe train your employees on how to deal with loitering in general and not make it a color issue?" wrote another commenter. The company responded, "We cannot deny this is a race issue, which is why we are implementing this training."

Generally speaking, people should avoid calling the police in all but the most extreme cases, and Starbucks made its position on that clear in one of the responses, writing, "While there are situations where a call to police is justified (such as violence or aggressive behavior), this was not one of them."

The company was rightly wary of accepting praise for doing something it should have been doing all along. "We hope this proves to be an impactful step — one of many we know we have to take."

Yes, the manager who called the police has been fired.

Racism and unconscious biases are very real, and we'd all benefit from taking a step back and examining our own.

If one good thing comes out of what happened in Philadelphia, it's the chance for those who are white — and can't possibly know what it's like to be made to feel unwelcome in public spaces or to have our existence treated as automatically criminal on the basis of our skin color — to see the "uncomfortable truth" James mentioned in his article. This isn't a one-off incident, and it's not limited to just Starbucks. This is an everyday reality for many people of color. It's on all of us to push for a better world and to work to be our best selves.

What happened to those two men should never happen again. It almost certainly will, but it shouldn't. Take a page out of the Starbucks social media team's playbook and recognize this is a cultural problem that we have a responsibility to address — and then hold yourself accountable for your actions.

Badge
Gorongosa Coffee
Gorongosa Coffee
More

Starbucks is closing 8,000 stores to educate employees on race.

After an embattled few days, Starbucks caught the attention of millions on Tuesday, April 17, when they announced that they would close 8,000 of its stores for what is being called "racial-bias training."

The training will take place on May 29, and an estimated 175,000 Starbucks employees will take part.

The announcement comes a day after Johnson gave his first public interview since two young black men were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks when a manager called the police on them. Outrage over the incident went viral, leading to responses from the city's mayor and U.S. Senator Bob Casey:

The store manager who called the police has since left the company. Johnson traveled to Philadelphia where he met privately with the two men and earned some praise for his no-nonsense apology.

"I've spent the last few days in Philadelphia with my leadership team listening to the community, learning what we did wrong, and the steps we need to take to fix it," he said in a statement announcing the store closures.

Several groups will help plan the training and monitor its progress.

It could be easy and understandable to write this off as a public relations stunt. After all, the stores will only be closed for a few hours and the exact conditions of the training are still being formulated.

However, Starbucks revealed that former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder will help plan out the training, along with NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill, and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, amongst others.

"The company's founding values are based on humanity and inclusion," Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz said. "We will learn from our mistakes and reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every customer."

One day of training won't end systemic racism — but it's another step toward progress.

Changing cultural norms about race will take a relentless pursuit of justice. It won't happen overnight and it can't be done in a few hours. That's something even Kevin Johnson himself acknowledged, saying:

"Closing our stores for racial bias training is just one step in a journey that requires dedication from every level of our company and partnerships in our local communities."

Still, the move by Starbucks sends a message that most people in the company want to do better, and those affected by racism and other forms of prejudice are increasingly being heard and seen when others speak out.

Trending Stories