Sad ...but true

I work for a non-profit corporation and I am ashamed to say in 2007 there is still alot of racism in the cooperation. you would think witht all the Fair labor and Equal Opportunity laws that this can still go on, but it does. I can pretty much call by name all of the black employess (that's how few of us there are) :(

I work as a Nutritionist at WIC (Women Infants and Children) Program, and we see a lot...13 year olds giving birth...the youngest on record was 9. Yesterday I had a rape victim who was homeless, over-diluting the formula to make it last longer AND she is breastfeeding her child (who is a product of the rape), I get smoking and drinking mothers who are pregnant AND eating cornstarch, dirt, clay, etc....A girl came in the 3rd week I was working there, 5 months pregnant, staying with a friend, and had only been eating potatoes because she is under house arrest, can't get a job, and had eaten potatoes and water only for the last couple of weeks...At 5 months it was her 1st WIC visit, and she had not seen an OB yet....A 42 year old pregnant woman, so stressed she was pregnant (cause she lost her job cause of it) and wanting to give it up....A mother with triplets came in for a breast pump last week....making them her 5th, 6th, and 7th child, and the father of the triplets said..."no way jose" and doesn't want to have anything to do with her or the babies he helped create. Another mother came in with a 7 month old girl, and burst into tears cause she'd been rejected for foodstamps AGAIN, and she can't work the hours cause she needs to take care of her baby...but needs work B/c Daycare is too expensive....All Iasked was how she was doing, and there are the tears....I have about 6 boxes of tissue in my office, and we keep it on stock for all the trouble these women go through....I am sick of these deadbeat "men/boys" who are impregnating these women with 1, 2, and 3 babies, and leaving them high and dry...We get foster babies, and girls under age 18 with 4 kids from 4 different men. One girl who came in last week was 18 with 2 children and pregnant again....She had miscarried before, had her 5 year old when she was 12, and God knows when she miscarried another child. The best thing about her family is that her children were the most well-behaved, beautiful, smart kids i'd met/seen since working there....we get a lot of nasty attitude people too. Others so poor they are very dirty, their children are dirty, and sometimes they smell so bad, I couldn't breathe....its never funny to me, I get sad....I have tears....I caught one of my pregnant clients at the bus stop with her cigarette blowing smoke...I told her she was busted......I've been working there since 8/24/07 by the way.
I could go on for days....

I used to work for the Dept of Children and Family Services. The kids I worked with were in a special program for kids that had abused other kids sexually. All of these kids except 2 had been molested. The stories I couldn't believe!
1. My youngest was 9 and had been in the program since 6.
2. All my boys had been anally penetrated.
3. I had one boy who's father was his also grandfather. This man had his own 12yo daughter living as his wife and got her pregnant - wasn't even sending the child to school. She in turn molested her son (and allowed her girlfriend to do the same). So of course the little boy (who has mild retardation from the incest) goes to school and knocks a boy to the flor and starts humping him!
4. A 12yo in the program since 7. When they went to the house to get her she was dancing on a table for her dad and his friends.
5. A boy whose father who messed him up so bad he literally dug in his butt and pulled out sh*t and proceeded to smear it on the walls when he was upset.
6. A 15yo that raped his 3yo niece actually breaking her hyman - and is now in jail!

God I could go on! but I won't! Actually, I can't!

I used to work for a non-profit organization. I left because my supervisor (who was recently hired)was very much intimidated by an articulate, confident, educated, well-liked (by the staff) black woman. She thought she would make my life miserable, but God had other plans. I resigned and do you believe she had the nerve to be shocked!!!! She thought I would stay and take the harassment because she felt she was doing me a favor. Can you imagine that racism is very much alive and well in 2007, and I think it is such a shame.

Oh yes, the man who receieved the Nobel Prize (Dr. Watson) and shared it with Mr. Crick for the discovery of the alpha helix shape of DNA back in the 60's-and is one of the heads of the Human Genome Project, dedicated to mapping the hundreds of thousands of the genes in the human genome-still beleives in his heart that people of African Descent are not as intelligent as people of European descent. He said this LAST WEEK in the UK, yes, here it is: 2007!

I learned of this yesterday, and of course he was boycotted, and even was asked to "retire" his post as Chancellor of a major Lab he helped build from obscurity...and now he has recanted his meaning of his statement but never said he was misquoted. I was surprised to hear him say that no evidence has proved this inconclusively...being a scientist and all. That being said, and knowing that most people in the science and research field won't agree to ANYTHING unless it is proven conclusively, repeated and validated....so of course I have to question his general feelings of people of African descent...I have to question his heart....and the sad thing about it... is this feeling is general among many people of European, Asian, and oh yes....even AFRICAN DESCENT....So what do we do?

Keep proving them wrong Bumble!!!! We have some of the most amazing sisters here on this site and I am so happy to "know" all of you!

As an over-the-road truck driver, I deal with racism and sexism on a daily basis. Even though there are a lot of women "pushing the big rigs", I still have to prove that I do this job as well as the men. I travel to almost all 48 states in the continental U.S. and it's sad to see the homeless. Why is the government spending so much money on the war when we have this going on over here? Also, unfortunately, I see a lot of young ladies (even young girls) involved in prostitution and drugs. Some are so desperate to make money, they will even come to your truck at night (not knowing who's in it) and try to solicit themselves. It's sad because I have two teenage girls. If you try to talk to these girls and tell them something to help them out, some of them will cuss you out! (You're just mad cuz I make more money than you,etc)... All I can do is pray for them...

I know! Now in Maine, the school board there has agreed to give BC to middle school kids. In one place, I am like-thats good for preventing teenage pregnancies (esp. the 11, and 12-year olds who come to WIC). But then everyones all pissed because they, like I also feel that it should be left up to the parents...who think its encouraging teenage sex....So on one had, its helping those already having sex prevent (hopefully, cause they are young and dumb and may not use the BC effectively-and render it useless) pregnancies, but on the other hand...we really need to educate these young girls about sex and why you should wait!

I remember when I was young, it was like, not cool to be a virgin....but now, I wish we could have had more support like it is now on being proud to be a virgin until you are married.....These girls don't realize until its too late how hard it is to take care of kids...much less take BC which alters your hormones and body chemistry or whatever....ALL I can say is WTF is going on today?

I don't think making BC available to these girls encourages them to have sex. Most young children still have the invinsible mentality. If the parents are doing their jobs at home it doesn't matter what's presented outside, they will go with what they are taught. The clinic I attended as a teen had a program called "Code Carla." You could get any gyn-related service there without notifying your parent. If they had to call you for something they would ID themselves as Carla. I was still a virgin until 16 and only got on BC pills because I had a super irregular cycle. I was able to talk to my mother about anything though so I didn't have to hide it. Same thing went for smoking weed. Almost everyone I hung with in high school did it. It just wasn't for me (until college but that's a story for a diferent day! LOL!). Basically I'm saying my parents had more influence over me than my friends. Not out of fear either, but becasue they were always available and always real - no sugar coating. They would let me know if they disagreed with a decision I made but realized that they had to trust they gave me the ammunition growing up that would make me a productive citizen and not a heathen!

Boy if we all had parents who were willing to keep it real like yours....My mom never did. I can't blame her for my own mistakes, but even though she looks younder than her years, at the time she seemed so out of touch and not understanding of what I was going through back then....boy was I wrong!...She too had lost her virginity at 16 too, and had an abortion like I ended up having...I mean all the stuff she told me she had gone through (she waited until I was like 18-19) I went through the same thing. And we both regret she that she didn't work up the nerve to let her own embarrassment and pain go to tell me at a much younger age that she was more in touch than I thought. I will probably let (my boys and my girls) know what happened to me. Shoot I think the best thing I did for my little brother and little sister was to tell them and be real to them...They still tell me how knowing my issues helped them....they are both 25 and 21 respectively....But as you can see...it can be a vicious cycle if parents continue to sit on their laurels and let kids know WHAT to really expect....The more kids know the reality and see it whether it be knowing a parent or sibling who lived through it yet struggled through it emotionally, you can break a lot of generational curses....Yes my grandmother went through a lot pregnancies out of wedlock (5X) and was never married.....But the schools are frustrated of having to basically do the jobs they feel parents should have been doing from day one-but many aren't for some reasons I can understand (embarrassment), but for other reasons I may never understand...but whats worth more? Dealing with the embarrasment of your own PAST...or the potential embarrassment of being a grandmother of a baby 9, 10, 11, 12 years older than its mother? Its not even a big deal anymore if your 15, 16, 17 year old gets pregnant...And yes, you should see the faces of these "babies" who come in my office with their bellies stretched with no clue about mixing formula correctly, much less tracking feedings...especially when they can barely add and subtract. They are so young and underdeveloped physically, that over 90% have to have c-sections....Would you like to be the Dr performing that surgery? What about if you have a child that age when you can remember when YOU were just bringing her into the world? ANd so you can understand the frustration of the medical, public health, social work and educational professional communities.....

same here! my mother put both my sister and I on the pill "just in case" (even though we told her we weren't doing anything) she worked in the medical field and seen so many cases of pid, std's etc in teens and although she did not "promote" sex she wanted to make sure that if we chose that route (which she also had educated us about std's, using condoms etc) that it would not result in a teenage pregnancy. She also was very open with us and we could be the same with her and it helped alot. I agree with you Bumble I think that what you are taught at home is a major influence on the decisions you make away from home-BUT also I think as parents we sometimes forget the things we did/went thru in our teen years and tend to be a little more "judgemental" on our children...and even though you may do everything exactly by the book-it is still your childs decision what they choose to or not to do so all you can do is support them if they do fail (as we did also)

You are right about that Soon....