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Crossing The Invisible Line To Join The Human Race Recently, I looked in the mirror, I saw a person that had evolved from thinking with fears and doubts in my childhood to a professional working in health. I was feeling good about overcoming most of my childhood fears; I was reminded of some new fears that I had acquired during my graduate school. These fears continued to nag me then even though I had received my training as a physician.
You see as a physician, I was trained to understand the physical anatomy of all human beings so that I could help anyone to heal and maintain their bodies regardless of their background. As an Asian American who migrated from India , I believed my education and experience had made me objective and unbiased toward people from other cultures. At least that is what I thought before I started getting news from the local media. Everything that I saw in the media portrayed certain populations through a limited perspective.
In particular African American / Hispanic men are portrayed with stereotypical views that only highlight their negatives and not their achievements, values or family life. Because of these perceptions, I kept my distance from African American men while studying for a Master’s degree in public health at UNC in Chapel Hill . When I saw them walking toward me, I became suspicious and I would clutch my purse and would never look them in the eyes.
Did I feel good about it? When you have any queries relating to exactly where in addition to how to use , you are able to email us at our own page. As a non- practicing Indian physician in US, did it matter if I had taken the Hippocratic Oath of Professional Ethical standards? I felt badly about my attitude but nevertheless continued to be suspicious of minorities. And I’m not alone. I was forced to face my fears early one morning while traveling from Chapel Hill to Atlanta . I had a flat tire on the highway at 3:00 am. I had never changed a tire prior to this incident. Suddenly a car stopped behind my car.
My first reaction was to lock the door and have the cell phone ready to dial. Three Hispanic men knocked on the window and said that they might be able to help. I was reluctant to open the door and then the gut feeling was to trust them to change the tire. They helped as if it was the right thing to do when someone is stranded on the road. I thanked them for their kind support and time. The incident has changed my life perspectives on others’ cultures. That was the moment a light went on in my brain, and I thought to myself that these were the people I have avoided.
But here they are who walked towards me and helped. I have never felt guilt overtake me so strongly. I was guilty of not being open minded. There is substantial literature that shows African-American males continue to be victims of racial profiling regardless of their economic status or education. The assumption by immigrants from other countries is that most or all African-American males are engaged in unlawful activities. Negative images and stereotypical biases of this group portrayed by the media have increased the assumptions as African American males in particular being a threat to society.
The next thing I knew, I was taking courses on cultural diversity, learning the culture of different cultures in US, and boldly starting dialogues with them.
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