https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/government/2018/02/05/report-says-racism-pervasive-vermont-psychiatric-hospital/1079913001/

A new state investigation has found that African-American employees at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital have been routinely subjected to offensive comments and racial epithets by coworkers and patients. The conduct included requiring a black employee to work with a “racist patient” who made her feel unsafe, and comments from other staff members about how the same worker must have used “the welfare bus,” according to the report. The state Attorney General’s Office has argued the harassment was not severe enough to be considered illegal discrimination. The state mental health commissioner said staff at the hospital have now developed a “code of civility.” The Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital, which opened in July 2014, treats patients who have been involuntarily committed for mental illness and who might be violent or unable to control themselves. During a night shift Aug. 1, 2015, Francois was assigned to care for “a racist patient with acute dementia who was dangerously agitated around African-American staff,” according to the report, despite her request not to be paired with the patient because she felt unsafe. The patient had a swastika tattoo, frequently used racist slurs and had lunged at Francois in the past, according to the Human Rights Commission report, citing an interview with Francois. The patient became “extremely agitated,” and Francois left her post after about 40 minutes. Francois also complained about a series of comments by coworkers, including a charge nurse who used the phrase “colored people,” a traveling nurse who described an African-American employee as “nappy,” and an associate mental health worker who sang a rap song that used an epithet. Francois said coworkers and administrators at the hospital routinely mistook her for another African-American employee. Then in September 2016, Francois and another African-American employee were talking about lunch when a coworker blurted out a comment about fried chicken, the commission report states. The employee received a verbal reprimand, according to the Attorney General’s Office letter. Jeffrey Rothenberg, the hospital’s former CEO, told the Human Rights Commission that traveling nurses from across the country were surprised that patients were allowed to use racial slurs. “Mr. Rothenberg also knew that there were on-going issues about native white Vermonters who had had very little interaction with non-whites working alongside staff members who were refugees,” the report states. “When patients yelled racial epithets at their African-American coworkers, white staff members were confused on how to show support.” Mental health specialist Tim McCants, who is African-American, was working for what was then the Vermont State Hospital in Waterbury in 2007 when he found a racial epithet written on the windshield of his car. The state has no record of the incident being reported or investigated, Assistant Attorney General Melanie Kehne wrote in the letter to the Human Rights Commission. In September 2017, an employee called another unit and asked to speak with McCants by saying, “Put the little black man on the phone.” That employee is being disciplined for this and another incident, according to the Attorney General’s Office letter.

Commentary by David Cohensteinberg

This is just awful. I cannot believe white people in 2018 still refer to POC as “colored people.” No wonder black people commit so many murders and robberies. If I were a little black man and somebody called me a “little black man,” I’d want to steal somebody’s shoes and socks right off their feet in broad daylight.

The main problem I see here is that little white town in Vermont where this psychiatric facility is located is just too white. No town should be allowed to be 97% white. Because diversity is our strength! And towns that are 97% white are racist and weak.

I’m so proud of this colored woman for making these accusations against her white co-workers and patients. It takes a lot of bravery and courage for a black person to call white people “racist.” It would be so easy for a black woman to use “racism” as an excuse for abandoning her duties for 40 minutes. Especially if those duties consist of caring for a man with “acute dementia” and he has a swastika tattoo.

And white people absolutely cannot talk about fried chicken in front of black people. It’s racist. Simple as that. So is describing a black person’s appearance as “nappy.” You might as well just say the “n word.” Because it’s obvious that’s what you really mean.

But the two acts of racism that bothered me the most was this woman being confused with another black employee. Because nothing is more stereotypically racist than assuming all black people look alike. And I guarantee you that all the white administrators and employees secretly conspired to confuse her with the other black worker. There’s no way they actually looked alike. That’s impossible.

Secondly, a white person should never, ever use the “n word” while singing a rap song. That’s cultural appropriation. If white people want to listen to gangsta rap, then fine. So be it. But they need to do it in a respectful manner. Let me freestyle a few bars so I can provide an example:

Bitches ain’t shit but hoes on a stick

One hand on my 9, the other on muh dik

Niggas beware or Imma fuck yo chick

And if you care, you get pistol-whipped

When you get to the “n word” and you’re a white guy, you just have to pause for a second. Or hum it. You cannot say it. Even if you’re feeling it. You just have to restrain yourself. Because you never know if a black person is listening.