Situation
The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, and many unnamed Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BlPOC) at the hands of police have sparked a global movement to confront and dismantle systemic racism. For centuries, BIPOC globally have resisted racism and fought for their sovereignty. Police brutality and health disparities, such as those seen with COVID-19 are just the most recent examples of how white supremacy affects BIPOC.
As white nurses, we have been complicit in racism through willful ignorance, microaggressions, silence, and an inability to discuss and understand whiteness and its role in upholding intentional systems of power that benefit white people. We believe in building a union grounded in ideals of anti-racism, and fighting for a labor movement based on fairness, equity, and justice. As such, white nurses of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) reject our complicity in upholding white supremacy and embrace an unapologetic stance of solidarity with our BIPOC colleagues.
Background
The economic structure of our country was founded on the exploitation of labor to serve the wealthy elite, and was intentionally racialized through policies designed to oppress and divide the working class. Despite the abolition of slavery in 1865, racist policies and institutions have continued in various forms to uphold race-based oppression. For centuries, systemic racism has upheld divisions in our society, entrenching socioeconomic, health, education, and opportunity disparities throughout the United States.
Protecting workers’ rights was the foundation of the modern labor movement and unionization. BIPOC workers have historically been excluded from unions by white union leadership, excluded from decision-making, and continue to receive inadequate union protections despite comprising a significant portion of union membership.
Assessment
Systemic racism has resulted in government, healthcare, community, housing, and education systems that perpetuate inequality. Racism continues to hinder BIPOC through policies that support segregation and restrict access to quality education, jobs, housing, healthcare, fair treatment within the justice system, and accumulation of wealth. These conditions drive health disparities for BIPOC, as seen in the extreme disparities in COVID-19 infections, delayed diagnoses, greater comorbidities, and worse outcomes.
In addition to experiencing systemic racism in their personal lives, our BIPOC colleagues also experience systemic racism in the workplace from hospital administrators, patients, and laterally from other nurses and healthcare professionals. Nurses of color report being denied preceptorships and charge positions, while less experienced white nurses are permitted instead. Their expertise is frequently dismissed and their skills denigrated. They report discrimination by patients and colleagues, and are often expected to serve as racial liaisons in addition to typical work duties, including but not limited to emotional labor, educating white peers, acting as racial representatives, and soothing white guilt. BIPOC are not reflected in healthcare leadership, and report not feeling supported or understood.
Although MNA can be an avenue to propel and confront the issues of racism, many BIPOC have long waited for their union to take a clear stance. They report facing barriers and delays to becoming union stewards, which impacts who engages in union activities and the demographics of both local and union-wide leadership. These patterns reinforce white supremacist power structures, resulting in disengagement within the union and weakened collective bargaining power through a division in our solidarity. The employer and wealthy elite benefit from this division of solidarity and have a vested interest in maintaining it.
Recommendation
Building solidarity and union power requires fighting white supremacy and requires nurses to become anti-racist. White nurses of MNA commit to standing with our colleagues of color and working to dismantle systemic racism within our interpersonal relationships, healthcare system, communities, and society. We stand against racism between members and systemic racism within the union. We will intentionally elevate voices of our BIPOC colleagues within the union and workplace.
White nurses of MNA commit to the following actions:
I will build authentic relationships with my BIPOC colleagues and practice intentional acts of inclusion as a foundation for building an anti-racist union grounded in fairness, equity, and justice.
I will actively listen to BIPOC colleagues and believe them when they share stories of discrimination and racism.
I will educate myself regarding white supremacy, my role in it, and how it shapes our society and continues to harm BIPOC communities today.
I will recognize the valuable work of the MNA Racial Diversity Committee, prioritize their goals union-wide, and advocate for mandated, member-driven anti-racist trainings.
I will actively engage my white colleagues in dialogue on race and racism within our own ranks, within our hospital structures, and within society as a whole.
I will interrupt racist conversations in my break room, on my unit, and within the structure of MNA.
I will endorse BIPOC colleagues for leadership positions and fully support them as they serve in roles such as union steward, charge nurse, and preceptor.
I will speak up when BIPOC nurses are passed over for leadership positions and demand their qualifications be recognized
I will stand in solidarity with hospital workers of color including Nursing Assistants, Environmental Services employees, Nutritional Services staff, and all other frontline healthcare workers.
I will commit to these actions as an ongoing process, and expand upon them to build power for a strong union through anti-racist organizing.