Twice in the past 7 days, the nursing profession has made headlines. The first was regarding a nursing student at Indiana State University. She posted a video to give her opinion surrounding the Beyoncé country music controversy. Click here to see the response from the American Nurses Association.

“I’m sorry, but if you’re Black, you’re not country,” the woman says in the video. “I don’t care. And I meant that in the nicest way. I know you were raised in the country or your grandparents were, I guess — your great granny and grandpas — but they was picking. OK? They wasn’t planting. Just keep that in mind. They wasn’t making money. They was getting sold for money. You ain’t country.”

The second, was the story of a nursing leader being fired from Emory University Hospital after advocating on behalf of the staff after they expressed long standing acts of prejudice against black nurses.

I have never and will never understand the point of racism. I’m befuddled as to what people feel they gain from operating in that manner. It is truly a toxic complex. From a professional standpoint, the presence of these mindsets in the healthcare space are directly responsible for many of the health disparities that are present in the United States. Imagine that…people stay sick or die because we cannot show one another human decency. I just find it tragic.

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law.” – Romans 13:8 NASB 2020

“But I tell you that for every careless word that people speak, they will give an account of it on the day of judgment.” – Matthew 12:36 NASB 2020

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40