http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/ Online community where you connect, re-connect and stay connected with Africans and friends of Africans in MN Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:07:06 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-842 makbelly Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:51:33 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-842 Racial profiling is never a good thing. However, in this particular example, government bureaucracy and profiling got in the way of doing things the normal way. But, the normal way in this case may not have been the best solution for this lady. I believe that this lady received better care and treatment for Alzheimer at the psychiatrist hospital than if she had ended in a nursing home. furthemore, a psych ward in a psychiatric hospital is a just a section in the overall hospital used to contain decompensated individuals temporary till they get better and then returned to the main unit. I find it very hard to believe that this lady spent 15 years in a "dirty" psych ward. Psych wards are not designed to commit the mentally ill Infinitely. While your story is written and appears to be compassionate, it nonetheless reinforces the negative social stigma that has been imposed on the mentally ill for centuries. Would it have been any better, if the lady had been comitted to a cancer hospital for 15 years instead of the nursing home ? Your story also doesn't tell us how they finally revealed her identity. Obviously some govt. bureaucrat somewhere must have cared enough to continue searching for her true identity even after 15 years ! Racial profiling is never a good thing. However, in this particular example, government bureaucracy and profiling got in the way of doing things the normal way. But, the normal way in this case may not have been the best solution for this lady. I believe that this lady received better care and treatment for Alzheimer at the psychiatrist hospital than if she had ended in a nursing home. furthemore, a psych ward in a psychiatric hospital is a just a section in the overall hospital used to contain decompensated individuals temporary till they get better and then returned to the main unit. I find it very hard to believe that this lady spent 15 years in a “dirty” psych ward. Psych wards are not designed to commit the mentally ill Infinitely. While your story is written and appears to be compassionate, it nonetheless reinforces the negative social stigma that has been imposed on the mentally ill for centuries. Would it have been any better, if the lady had been comitted to a cancer hospital for 15 years instead of the nursing home ?
Your story also doesn’t tell us how they finally revealed her identity. Obviously some govt. bureaucrat somewhere must have cared enough to continue searching for her true identity even after 15 years !

]]> http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-811 IBé Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:02:25 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-811 @Northern Kenya...I know what you mean. That is exactly what I asked myself. She did have a daughter she was estranged from. According to the daughter, she and her mom had a fallout and she thought her mother had moved back to Columbia. But I know what you mean....I don't care what you thought, 15 years not finding out where or how you mom is doing, is wrong anyway you look at it. @Northern Kenya…I know what you mean. That is exactly what I asked myself. She did have a daughter she was estranged from. According to the daughter, she and her mom had a fallout and she thought her mother had moved back to Columbia. But I know what you mean….I don’t care what you thought, 15 years not finding out where or how you mom is doing, is wrong anyway you look at it.

]]> http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-808 Northern Kenya Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:00:04 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-808 and where the hell was her fam? and where the hell was her fam?

]]> http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-807 Nelima Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:22:17 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-807 Ibe this is a disheartening story. Thanks for sharing. Ibe this is a disheartening story. Thanks for sharing.

]]> http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-792 The Galley Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:56:52 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-792 Human, all too human.... Human, all too human….

]]> http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-price-of-not-looking-american/#comment-788 Mameneh Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:54:02 +0000 http://minneafrica.wordpress.com/?p=1823#comment-788 That is America for you. That is America for you.

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