There has been no shortage of medical drama series ever since television series have been airing. New Amsterdam, a show created by David Schulner set in Bellevue Hospital, began airing on NBC in late 2018 and is focused more on the bureaucracy and real-life issues in the world of medicine and less on the drama. The series is based on the novel by Eric Manheimer, Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital. This television series is only on its third season at the moment but has covered a plethora of issues that we come across in the health care industry. These issues range anywhere from the cost factors, health insurance, hierarchies, quality of care based on race/gender, drug abuse, the impacts of the pandemic on various groups (recently), and much more. One issue that was covered in a recent episode of this series was race.
Systemic racism has been a significant issue for as long as we can remember, and this isn’t something that will be easy. The creators of this episode had the protagonist, Max Goodwin, wake up and decide that today was the day he would resolve systemic racism. The episode focuses on ways that he could make the hospital a more inclusive place to work for all individuals. This episode shed light on how system racism is prevalent in a hospital setting, even for those working there. It also placed emphasis on how one white man cannot change this. The series is focused on bringing out all bureaucratic issues that are prevalent in hospital settings, and their medical director, Dr.Max Goodwin, is usually the one who will find some sort of solution to any issues that arise. This episode went a bit differently because systemic racism cannot be resolved overnight, neither can it be resolved singlehandedly by a white male. Acknowledging the issue, and shedding light on it was a huge first step in the process, but no technique taken by Goodwin put an end to this issue entirely. Simply because there is many different aspects of the issue that need to be addressed. Max handed over his job as Medical Director a colleague, a black woman, and thought that it would potentially resolve the issue of systemic racism in the hospital. The creators then later went on to emphasize that this is a larger issue when the colleague went on to explain why this wouldn’t resolve systemic racism.
This episode of New Amsterdam ties in well with The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Malcolm discusses the concept of racism widely throughout his writing in many different contexts. One instance is his discussion with his teacher. Malcolm writes about being told pursuing law as a career was not appropriate for him because he was black. Racism in different fields of work has been present for a long time now. While it was more open to the public eye in the past, it still exists today. Despite the many laws being put in place to avoid discrimination, it still exists. This made me think of how Malcolm X would react to this episode of New Amsterdam. While shedding light on the issue of system racism is extremely important, I think about how as a black activist, Malcolm X would go about approaching this issue.
The writers of the tv series did a great job of emphasizing the importance of the issue by starting a conversation about it. Additionally, they also placed importance on how a white man cannot just wake up one day and decide to “cure” systemic racism. This is an issue that needs a lot of work and effort for everyone together, but it is not just a one-man job.
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