I work as a nurse (LPN) at a local hospital thru a registry, which means I go where ever they need me and can use my skills. One of the people I work with asked me to bring her a copy of the book to purchase. So I did. I put it into my pocket as to not forget.
I was assigned to work in the Emergency Room Department. I was sitting behind the desk and put the book on the counter top (face up) in view of the nurse beside me and began to look for a pen in my pockets. The nurse sitting next to me asked if it was me who wrote it and I replied yes. After about a minute of her thumbing thru the book, she stood up and said "You have some nerve! The Native Americans (and stated that she was Native American) were here before ANY of YOU were here, so you should not have anything to say about it."
My response was, "Well actually, I know exactly what you mean, because I am a CARD CARRYING NATIVE AMERICAN, myself." and she walked off.
A few minutes later, I was told that I needed to report to the staffing office to see if they could use me on another floor in 45 minutes. So I did. They placed me in the NICU for the rest of the day. Shortly after arriving in the NICU the staffing office called me to tell me that the ER department had me leave their floor because of my book. In fact the ER manager was requesting that I NEVER return to the ER or the entire Hospital System (which includes 4 other hospitals in town) and was pushing to have my record posted DRN (DO NOT RETURN).
As I spoke to the staffing reps, my understanding is that it was because this one particular nurse is Hispanic and took personal offense to the book.
Were are my rights to freedom of expression? If discrimination was ever an issue, it should be me. The book is paying tribute to the multi-cultural nature of our country and a common language. She was simply assuming that it was something else. How can one person try to destroy another's right to work in a community? She could easily have my nursing career squashed in this community over a title of a book that I happened to write. How can a minority of any descent have the right over another person (minority or not)?
I happen to be blond, blue eyed and fair skinned. I have Cherokee, Seneca, and Shawnee heritage (documented). Talk about "DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER"!
Doesn't this warrant some kind of attention? Having me removed and DNR' d from the floor
violate my civil rights and freedom of speech over an opinion? If ACLU was approached on this issue, would they have a difficult choice on which side to stand, one minority (Hispanic-popular)or the other minority (Native American-unpopular)? Which way do you think they would lean?
I worry about creating too much of a wave, because I personally am a single income family and the bread winner. I cannot afford to be blackballed out of the nursing community. I have a disabled husband. I am angry.
Where do you stand?
Celia Dolan
