[Onelifetogive]

“You know, Pauline,” he said, “there are a lot of times when I go to a patient’s room for the first time and they ask me, 'Are you transport? Are you here to wheel me to radiology?’” I can remember Eric shaking his head as he spoke. “They never assume I’m one of the doctors.”

If "Eric" attributes this to racism, "Eric" is not very smart. It bears NO RESEMBLANCE to racism. It is a matter of statistics. If a white guy in medical garb walks into your hospital room, statistically he is likely the doctor. If a female walks into your room, she is likely the nurse, if a black guy walks into your hospital, he is likely an orderly.

To correct the erroneous impression that is disturbing "Eric", hospitals need to fire most of the orderlies and replace them with white orderlies. They also need to hire many black doctors. Since there are not many available, we would have to import them from overseas.

[cpanter]

Great post. You are absolutely correct.

Too bad the Ny Times gains nothing by these set of facts you mention though...