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It's come to my attention that we on the City are often very inconsistent as to what biases we will accept, and what kinds of "stereotyping" we take for granted. For example... the shit storm of a thread prompted by a single joke about hysterical black woman syndrome. Wow! Just looked at that this morning... and I gotta say... holy Jesus (hey, zeus!) what a mess. On the one hand, you have the ethical provider, with a no-tolerance policy... (but nobody likes someone who likes to point out the rules...) On the other, you have folks saying "well, we've seen it... and no, we don't treat patients differently..." But I challenge you.... how can a stereotype NOT influence how you view someone? The second you know they are (let's keep the original group here) a black woman, you're going to have that little joke pop up in your head... and consciously or unconsciously, the way you interact will be influenced. Doubly so if you happen to be a different race than said black woman. We could get into comparative racial psychology, if anyone wishes... that's a tangled web all unto itself, my friends. But wait! There are those who purport that just knowing someone is in a certain group won't change how they interact with that person... and then turn around and DO THE VERY THING THEY SAY THEY WOULDN'T. Want to know what group I'm referring to? Fire personnel. The second some of our illustrious posters hear that someone is a member of the fire services, or a person steps up to defend their group, whom they perceive as being unjustly attacked, some of us jump both feet forward and go so far as to cast PERSONAL ASPERSIONS on that individual. Wait! I thought we said we didn't make broad assumptions, just because someone was a member of a particular culture? Hmm.... it appears that we do. I know a lot of us have an axe to grind and feel that the fire system in the US is holding back some of the development of EMS. This is true. The system is rigged. There are injustices. But to point fingers and play the blame game with individual peons who are within that power system, who really have no influence over how it all works? That's just plain stupid. It's like those of us who become frustrated because minorities cry "unfair!" with regard to academic opportunities and job opportunities... yea, there are some institutionalized biases that most of us don't even see, and boy, don't you feel attacked when someone points the finger and says "You have all this privilege because you're white, so YOU (as an individual) suck!" Sure. There may be some advantages conferred by being a member of a certain race or culture. But is it MY fault that the school systems in the ghetto suck? Well, my friends... simply insert "firefighter" for "white" and "EMS" for "minority".... take a good hard look at this parallel, OK? Recognize your biases. Own them. Illuminate where they are influencing your arguments. But don't pretend you don't have them, as that's hypocrisy at its finest. Wendy CO EMT-B