Return to the main “Overdue Reckoning” page

As soon as we announced this discussion series, we started receiving important suggestions and resources from nurses who plan to participate! Many of these sources address the work that white people need to engage in meaningful anti-racism work. But they are important for all of us as we deepen our commitment to heal racism in nursing. We are collecting these resources here so that everyone can benefit, adding to the resources we suggested with the announcement of this series and listed below as well.

Deborah Roberts – The Elephant in the Room.

This article, written by our “Reckoning” participant Deborah Roberts, was published-ahead-of-print in Nursing2020 on October 20, 2020! (an auspicious date – 10/20/2020). The article is “open” so you can go to the journal website, read the article and share it far and wide! Nurse Roberts tells it like it is:

Nurses of color do not engage in
cross-racial discussions with their
White coworkers because speaking
about racism often triggers an
overwhelming stress response in
White coworkers who lack the
racial stamina to cope. (p.2)

Indeed, this “Reckoning” project aims to turn this around – to bring the voices of nurses of color to the forefront, and to call on white nurses to build the racial stamina to cope!

Webinar: “Why Healing from Internalized Whiteness Is a Missing Link in White People’s Anti-racism Work.”

This 1 hour 34 minute webinar is presented by Sandra Kim, founder of the website Everyday Feminism. They offer resources on a number of different topics, but their large collection of articles and webinars on social justice and racism is an excellent place for all of us to “deep dive”! One important article that focuses on the challenges in education is well worth taking in: 5 Things Well-Meaning White Educators Should Consider If They Really Want to Close the Achievement Gap

Book and Articles

Barbee, E. L. (1993). Racism in U. S. Nursing. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 7(4), 346–362. https://doi.org/10.1525/maq.1993.7.4.02a00040

Barbee, E. L. (1994). A Black Feminist Approach to Nursing Research. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 16(5), 495–506. https://doi.org/10.1177/019394599401600504

Bell, B. (2020). White dominance in nursing education: A target for anti‐racist efforts. Nursing Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12379

Benjamin, R. (2020, April 15). Black Skin, White Masks: Racism, Vulnerability & Refuting Black Pathology (vdeo & transcript). Department of African American Studies, Princeton University. https://aas.princeton.edu/news/black-skin-white-masks-racism-vulnerability-refuting-black-pathology

Blanchet Garneau, A., Browne, A. J., & Varcoe, C. (2017). Drawing on antiracist approaches toward a critical antidiscriminatory pedagogy for nursing. Nursing Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12211

Gatrall, C. E. (2020, October 29). Marie Branch and the Power of Nursing. Nursing Clio. https://nursingclio.org/2020/10/29/marie-branch-and-the-power-of-nursing/. Nurse author and activist Gatrall documents the history of Marie Branch. In the 1970s, buoyed by the momentum of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, Black nurse and activist Marie Branch took on the challenge of implementing antiracist philosophy and practice in nursing education.

Hine, D. C., & Others. (1989). Black women in white: Racial conflict and cooperation in the nursing profession, 1890-1950. Indiana University Press Bloomington.

Lewenson, S. B., & Graham-Perel, A. (2020). “You Don”t Have Any Business Being This Good’: An Oral History Interview with Bernardine Lacey. In AJN, American Journal of Nursing (Vol. 120, Issue 8, pp. 40–47). https://doi.org/10.1097/01.naj.0000694564.56696.ad (free access)

McGibbon, E., Mulaudzi, F. M., Didham, P., Barton, S., & Sochan, A. (2014). Toward decolonizing nursing: the colonization of nursing and strategies for increasing the counter-narrative. Nursing Inquiry, 21(3), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12042

Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Central Recovery Press. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=OaG4DgAAQBAJ

Metzl, J. M., & Roberts, D. E. (2014). Structural Competency Meets Structural Racism: Race, Politics, and the Structure of Medical Knowledge. AMA Journal of Ethics, 16(9), 674–690. https://doi.org/10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.spec1-1409. Read online: https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/structural-competency-meets-structural-racism-race-politics-and-structure-medical-knowledge/2014-09

Montgomery, T. M., Jawanza R. Bundy, J. R., Cofer, D., & Nicholls, E. M. (2021, February 1). Black Americans in Nursing Education – what the future holds. American Nurse. https://www.myamericannurse.com/black-americans-in-nursing-education/

Moorley, C., Darbyshire, P., Serrant, L., Mohamed, J., Ali, P., & De Souza, R. (2020). “Dismantling structural racism: Nursing must not be caught on the wrong side of history.” Journal of Advanced Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14469 (free access)

Wilkerson, I. (2020). Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Random House. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=_er2DwAAQBAJ

YSN announces its Commitment to Anti-Racism. (2020, June 18). Yale University. https://nursing.yale.edu/news/ysn-announces-its-commitment-anti-racism

Juliette G. Blount, NP

Juliette Blount is an Adult Nurse Practitioner in New York City providing Primary and Women’s Healthcare to diverse patient populations. Her website is a valuable resource for information and educational programs for providers who are committed to reducing implicit bias and health disparities for patients of color. Juliette has a Bachelors’ Degree from Howard University, received her Master’s Degree in Nursing and Adult Nurse Practitioner Certification from Hunter College of the City University of New York, and is an Alumna of the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program. She has 30 years of clinical experience in healthcare, has been recognized with awards for both Customer Service and Clinical Excellence, am active in the local Nurse Practitioner professional organization, and volunteers in her community by educating the public about becoming empowered healthcare consumers. Visit her website for a comprehensive list of health/resources.

From Josephine Ensign

A concise history of systemic* racism in the U.S.