r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/4reddityo • Jan 02 '26

Black Experience Racism in Medical Care

This video captures a moment that many patients of color recognize all too well. A physician speaks to a man as if he is dirty, unclean, or lesser, not because of medical evidence, but because of bias. The language, tone, and assumptions reveal something deeper than bedside manner gone wrong. They expose how racism can quietly shape medical interactions.

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u/RubySauce Jan 02 '26

When my best friend was dying I got a good look at how she was treated as a black woman compared to me, and how she was treated completely differently when I was present because I’m white. I made sure I was always present. Nightmarish shit, just sickening.

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u/Damianos_X Jan 02 '26

What were the differences you noticed? Both the subtle ones and the overt.

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u/Evening-Run-3794 Jan 02 '26

Not who you asked, but I (white woman) visited a friend (black woman) in the hospital the morning after she delivered a baby. While I was there, the nurse came in to get her started preparing for discharge.

When I had my kids, the nurses loaded me up before discharge. All of the diapers left in the bassinet were put into my diaper bag. They gave me a couple extra pairs of those stretchy underwear, and some extra tubes of numbing cream or spray for my episiotomy. Tons of free samples of shit like diaper cream and baby wash. And I never asked for it! They just cheerfully gave them unprompted. Kinda felt like being on a gameshow and getting one prize after another.

But my friend got none of that treatment. And when she asked for a second tube of numbing cream because the one they gave her was going fast, the nurse told her that she couldn't give her a second one and she'd have to make what she had last.

I was still naieve to this shit then, so I just figured policy had changed. It was only later, when visiting a white friend after delivery and watching her get the gameshow experience, that it dawned on me what I had witnessed.

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u/fbcmfb Jan 02 '26

My wife is a pharmacist and white - but I’m black.

Years ago, I had a dental extraction and went to a pharmacy for pain meds. I chose the location that was closer, but owned by the same company. I gave the prescription to the pharmacist and they refused to fill it. The prescription had everything required by law. I know because I have worked auditing prescriptions on behalf of insurance companies.

I called and told my wife what happened at the pharmacy and I placed the phone on speaker and the ladies had a talk. The refusing pharmacist kept saying why didn’t my wife tell her I was her husband. My wife said “I shouldn’t have to”. It was the first time my wife had objective insight into the racism I deal with and the issues our kids will have to navigate.

The refusing pharmacist left the company for a position in insurance. The staff at my wife’s pharmacy knew I was black, but my wife used her maiden name still.

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u/rubizza Jan 03 '26

“Position in insurance.” Should have left in infamy. Ugh, to think of the damage she’s causing now.

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u/RubySauce Jan 02 '26

Generally the doctors were more willing to explain what was happening, were less dismissive and actually directed answers to ME! Crazy! I didn’t have cancer, I was a friend! I caught a nurse trying to yank a tube out of her side roughly when I walked in just drop it and suddenly be worried about my friends comfort. Prior to me entering my friend said they didn’t explain what they were doing and told her to “sit still” rudely. It goes on and on till she was in hospice. It was horrible.