Opinion: A patient called me a racial slur. Unfortunately, my experience is universal.

By Amanda Joy Calhoun, Boston Globe

Racism from patients is a violent rite of passage for Black doctors. So are the excuses and dismissals from White colleagues.

About a year ago, a patient called me a “nigger” for the first time.

I was working an extra weekend shift as the only doctor on-call. It was a sunny day in New England, and seemingly calm. Until it wasn’t.

“Code gray. Code gray,” announced the neutral voice through the hospital speakers. “Code gray” signified a behavioral emergency. A patient was at imminent risk of harming themselves or others. Or already had. My work phone rang. “Dr. Calhoun, we need you in the adolescent unit,” a nurse said. I was already on my way.

The patient was a red-headed teenager. For several weeks he’d exhibited severe behavioral problems during his hospitalization. He’d just broken a window with his fist because playground time was over and he did not want to come back inside. A crowd of mental health staff, including psychiatric nurses and mental health techs, gathered around him. They took turns attempting to de-escalate the patient as he hurled out insults and curse words in return.

I approached him, smiling: “Hello, I’m Dr. Calhoun—”

“Get away from me, you nigger,” he hissed, nursing his bloody wrist.

The all-White staff, who moments before had been firm about setting behavioral limits with the patient, were silent. I held my ground, and my deep brown eyes met his bright green ones. “I will not tolerate racism in this unit, and I expect an apology,” I said, resolutely. I continued to care for the patient, but I felt demeaned in a way that curse words and rude language — both common in hospitals — had never accomplished.

Read more about the prevalence and impacts of racism in American medicine.

In her piece, Dr. Calhoun mentions “weathering,” the accumulation of stress from exposure to racism.

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