Soul Of Louisville Speaks

The prospect of a woman holding the second highest office in the United States government started me thinking. Can women truly have it all? I mean can women really have successful careers, successful families and happiness?

Most modern day women seem to think so. Most of us become indignant when our ability to do both is questioned. After Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain appointed Alaska’s governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate, many questioned her judgment in accepting because she is the mother of five children. Courier-Journal’s writer Betty Baye in her September 4, 2008 column refers to her decision as “radical”.

“Never mind Palin's political qualifications. It's her parenting qualifications that I question,” she concludes .

A 74-year-old New York Times reader asserts in a letter to the editor that Palin cannot “do it all.” This reader’s confidence in her assertion comes from the fact that she’s a mother of five including a child with special needs.

I bristled at the criticism, because I felt they were gender based. No one inquired whether Democratic presidential candidate Senator Obama could successfully parent his two young girls and lead the free world. But then I allowed myself to think of this issue without the bias of wanting to see a woman hold high office. I thought about my own life as a new mother, wife and career woman. I concluded that this is a reasonable question to ask of Palin. Any woman who has a full time job and a family knows how tough of a balancing act it can be to master both.

I think women like the idea of having it all because it’s empowering. We do not like being confined to one role and why should we? After all women have been doing it all for years. There are many examples of women who’ve had successful careers and raised families. Senator Hillary Clinton, Mrs. Michelle Obama, and First Lady Laura Bush come to mind. Many of our mothers have been working before we were born.

With that said, I must admit that there is a high price to pay for having it all. Women with families can excel in any career, but I think it’s important they assume these roles with the awareness that there will undoubtedly be sacrifices. I’ve had to make many (mainly less sleep and less time with my husband) in order to work full time, take care of my family and pursue my writing career. I am sacrificing these things not because they aren’t important, but because something had to give. There are reports that Palin returned to work three days after giving birth to her fifth child, who has Down syndrome.

I think we can end up feeling disappointed and unfulfilled when we completely buy into the notion that because we’re women we’re supposed to be able to do it all and have it all. I feel it’s a romanticized notion that very seldom reveals its flip side –the harsh realities of the sacrifices that come along with it.

We are 99 days away from the historic US presidential election and according to a Gallup poll, Sen. Barack Obama is enjoying an eight percent lead over the Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. Obama broke away from the neck and neck race he was running against McCain after he became the Democratic front-runner in June. The Illinois senator is on the verge of making history by becoming the first Black man to lead the free world, but what will this mean for our community. Will having a Black president change what it means to be Black in America? Will having a Black president level the socioeconomic playing field?

“After 400 years of being treated as second class citizens, one Black president isn’t going to make that much of a difference.” Daniel Thomas, college instructor.

A 49-year-old Jamaican native was left to die on the floor of a New York hospital's waiting room while other patients and security  guards looked on.  Esmin Green was involuntarily admitted to the Kings County Hospital psychiatric unit in Brooklyn suffering from agitation and psychosis.   The woman was left to wait for close to 24 hours.  Her body finally gave out and toppled out of the chair  face down unto  the floor .   She laid there for an hour with her convulsing body trapped between two chairs.   Other patients in the waiting room did nothing to help.  A security guard stood by looking at the helpless woman, but did not make a move.   Another guard rolled his chair to the entrance of the waiting room, saw the woman and rolled back to his station.   Even a doctor walked by, but did nothing.  A nurse finally entered the waiting area about an hour later and used her foot to shake the woman.   By this time it was too late.   

The sad and shocking video has disturbed viewers around the country.  This crime occurred on June 19 of this year, but just started receiving attention after the ACLU brought a lawsuit against the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.   This video came to light only days before The Los Angeles Times published video on their website of a Hispanic woman dying on the waiting room floor of the Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.  The unbelievable footage shows 45-year-old Edith Elizabeth Rodriguez writhing in pain as hospital staff workers walked by and a house keeper mopped around her.   Rodriguez's husband made a desperate call to 911, but was told they could not help since the woman was already at a hospital.   Ms. Rodriguez died over a year ago.  The video was not released prior, because the Los Angeles county officials claimed it was confidential.   The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation reports that employees who left Ms. Green to die had been fired or suspended.  This is not the first time Kings County has been involved in a scandal because of neglect of patients.   King-Harbor had a long history of sub standard care and Ms. Rodriguez's death was the last straw.  King-Harbor closed its doors last year. 

No body deserves to leave this world the way Ms. Green and Ms. Rodriguez did.  The indifference by those who let them die is unbelievable, disgusting and saddening all at once.    How can people who pledged to protect life let patients die in a place where they'd entrusted their health and their lives?  Are these people so jaded that human life no longer means anything to them?  These uncaring  hospital employees need to re-evaluate the reason they chose the medical profession.  These people would be better off working on  loading docks where  they'd be entrusted with boxes and not human lives.   I do not understand the lack of empathy.  It's simple really.  Treat others the way you'd like like them to treat you or your loved ones.