I think it’s hard to be racist whilst working in the NHS, when a full fifth of your colleagues are from BME backgrounds (1). Many of the friends I’ve made through work are first or second-generation immigrants. We’re all as good as each other. Earlier in my medical training I operated on people from all backgrounds; inside we’re all the same.
Without immigrant workers the NHS would have collapsed during COVID-19. Those individuals have been on the end of racial slurs (2). When you’re employed to provide free care for all it’s difficult to turn people away if they insult you. Discrimination by managers has been reported by 15% of BME staff, and bullying by 29% (1, 3). Sadly BME staff are also more likely to be on the end of disciplinary hearings, and less likely to be in managerial positions (3). There are questions over whether the NHS is institutionally racist, and inquiries are starting as BME NHS workers have born the burden of COVID-19 exposure, and subsequent mortality (4, 5).
When we hear racial insults and discrimination in work we call it out when we can. But sometimes they get missed, or staff let it slide. ‘They’re drunk’. ‘They’re old and out of touch’. ‘It doesn’t matter’.
Reading and hearing from Black Lives Matter, I’ve learnt more about the effects of these words. The effects of turning the other cheek all the time. How we become complicit by not calling it out (6). Listening to the BBC Rugby Union podcast on race really brought it home (7).
Outside of work my exposure to racism is very different. I was fortunate to be born in western country, white, to affluent(ish) parents, with good education. I grew up in a country town. My primary school was all white. My first secondary school had a handful of non-white kids. The second school I went to was even whiter. I remember farmer’s sons perpetuating racial stereotypes. These were kids who had never had interactions outside of their small world. We were the kids playing rugby where racial slurs would fly around. Is that stuff still going on? The BBC podcast suggests so.
I remember my grandmother informing me as a small child I would be disowned if I married a non-white person. She came from another time, grew up with staff, from a family wealthy enough that they didn’t need to work. These are the excuses we make. By making excuses we allow it to continue. That isn’t right.
Have a great week,
The Shrink
News:
- Metro Bank looking to buy RateSetter – do two wrongs make a right? (8)
- Morgan Stanley have thrown their weight behind a V-shape recovery (9)
- With inflation falling will the triple lock have to become the double lock? (10)
- Sellers are now pushing up house prices as the property market wakes up (11)
- Suicide of young trader after racking up losses on Robinhood (12)
- 65% of allotments have disappeared since WW2, and lockdown is creating waiting lists (13)
Opinion:
- I’ve been spending far too much time on WSB, reading data-driven DD posts like this on bankruptcies and their effect on the market (14)
- Meanwhile this article at CNBC argues we’re not in a bubble and valuations are accurate (15)
- While this article at Moneyweek looks at the risks of inflation (16)
- Finumus on Google (17)
- Igniting Fire returns to their process (18)
- One Million Journey is transferring his investments to index funds (19)
- Michael at Foxy Monkey looks at whether we will have to pay to save (20)
- The IT Investor looks over Scottish American Investment Company (21)
- Dr Fire provides his crib notes for Investing Demystified (22)
- Ermine is spending (23)
- ERN has a guest post for part five of his options writing series (24)
- The DIY Investor UK posts his full year results for SSE (25)
- Indeedably has been going two years! (26)
- Young people are using lockdown savings to pay off their credit card bills (27)
- Monevator’s weekend reading has a comparison of US and UK wealth vs income (28)
- While this week they also have some great lessons from Walter Schloss (29)
- And cover the potential consequences of negative interest rates (30)
- A Way to Less compares salary sacrifice and post-tax pensions (31)
- Path to Life 2 explores QE (32)
- The GFF has some ways we can capitalise on COVID to save the planet (33)
- The FI Fox runs numbers on the Buffet Barbell strategy (34)
- Firevlondon has a great post on ESG investing (35)
- Life after the daily grind on choices (36)
- The Savings Ninja gets a dream job, and a big move (37) – Massive congratulations
- The Banker on FIRE opts for a different viewpoint – how to lose your job in 10 years (38)
- And looks at some approaches for your 40s (39)
References:
- http://www.nationalhealthexecutive.com/Health-Care-News/nhs-must-tackle-systemic-racism-as-report-shows-staff-discrimination-on-the-rise
- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/nhs-heroes-and-targets-of-racists
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/nhs-staff-racism-bme-ethnic-england-data-a9340601.html
- http://www.irr.org.uk/news/institutional-racism-in-the-nhs-intensifies-in-times-of-crisis/
- https://medfiblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/19/positives-and-negatives/
- https://indeedably.com/complicit/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p08gh94p
- https://www.ft.com/content/4eda8fe4-a100-4b0c-b38a-7ac9f4df4aa8
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-15/morgan-stanley-economists-double-down-on-v-shape-global-recovery
- https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-8422807/Triple-lock-pension-guarantee-threat-inflation-falls.html
- https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8419729/Buyers-return-lockdown-fuel-rise-house-prices.html
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/18/young-trader-dies-by-suicide-after-thinking-he-racked-up-big-losses-on-robinhood.html
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53097572
- https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/h945ly/dddd_retail_investors_bankruptcies_dark_pools_and
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/19/the-stock-market-may-be-pricey-but-its-nothing-like-the-genuine-market-bubbles-of-the-past.html
- https://moneyweek.com/economy/inflation/601534/a-years-worth-of-inflation-in-a-single-month
- https://www.finumus.com/blog/google-skynet-hedge
- https://igniting-fire.com/2020/06/14/revisiting-the-race-for-fire/
- https://www.onemillionjourney.com/global-index-funds/
- https://www.foxymonkey.com/pay-for-cash/
- https://www.itinvestor.co.uk/2020/06/scottish-american-investment-company-built-for-resilience/
- https://drfire.co.uk/investing-demystified/
- https://simplelivingsomerset.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/ermine-egging-on-the-economy/
- https://earlyretirementnow.com/2020/06/17/passive-income-through-option-writing-part-5/
- http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/2020/06/sse-full-year-results.html
- https://indeedably.com/deuce/
- https://youngmoneyblog.co.uk/debt-covid19/
- https://monevator.com/income-or-capital-growth-us-uk/
- https://monevator.com/walter-schloss/
- https://monevator.com/negative-interest-rates/
- https://awaytoless.com/the-benefit-of-salary-sacrifice-pensions/
- https://pathtolife2.com/2020/06/20/unlikely-topic-of-conversation-1-quantitative-easing/
- https://gentlemansfamilyfinances.com/2020/06/20/6-months-6-ways-to-save-the-planet/
- https://thefifox.wordpress.com/2020/06/18/investing-strategy-the-barbell-approach/
- https://firevlondon.com/2020/06/18/how-sustainable-is-your-investing/
- https://lifeafterthedailygrind.com/less-choice-not-more-makes-for-a-happy-life/
- https://thesavingninja.com/something-happened/
- http://bankeronfire.com/how-to-lose-your-job-in-10-years
- http://bankeronfire.com/pedal-to-the-metal-how-to-build-wealth-in-your-40s
The FIRE Shrink 
Thanks for including us in your links. Your comments about race are also well-made and subtly realistic.
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The NHS is very interesting because most of us only get fleeting glimpses of it and don’t get the full picture.
My opinion is that BAME/ethnic minorities are more present in the NHS than the rest of the workforce and as you say, without them the NHS would have collapsed with Coronavirus.
The contribution made by these people is often ignored – not just in the NHS but in the care sector too.
I’ve even heard of a nursing home resident complaining about the foreigners working there – but the truth is that the locals don’t want to work for low pay and the low status. They also complained about their kids never visiting (so go figure.)
Is the NHS institutionally racist? I would hope that it’s not more racist than anywhere else – which is a sort of least worst option isn’t it?
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Re the Moneyweek article at Ref 16 – food & non-alcoholic drinks make up less than 10% of UK CPI and is currently (May 2020) running at 2.6% PA.
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Ooooopps, I should have said 1.8% PA – it is alcohol & tobacco that is running at 2.6%. My bad.
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Nice post. Enjoyed reading your perspective. Thanks for the shout out also.
My usual approach is to consider whether taking a stand is a productive approach. Often, it is anything but.
That being said, not taking a stand can be even more counterproductive.
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I heard someone use the term, ingrained racism, and I prefer that to institutional as I think the issues lie with people rather than process. That said, systemic change is needed and I like the message of your piece.
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