Jump to content
Required Reading for any Longhorn ×

Nurses Videotaped Making Racist Comments to Dying Woman

Doc Reeves

By Doc Reeves
in Daily Texan

 Share

Recommended Posts

Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

Posted
Posted

 

Welp. This is fucking shitty. 


https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3zymv/indigenous-woman-recorded-nurses-making-racial-slurs-to-her-right-before-she-died

 

An Indigenous woman recorded her dying moments in a Quebec hospital via Facebook Live on Monday while two nurses made racist comments about her. 

Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven, had gone to the hospital in Joliette, a city 50 kilometres northeast from Montreal, for stomach pains. 

In the video, which circulated online but is no longer publicly available on Facebook, Echaquan can be heard screaming for help and saying she was being overmedicated. Two nurses speaking French can be heard towards the end of the video saying Echaquan is only good for sex and would be better off dead.

They also question her life choices and one asks, “What would your kids think to see you like this?”

“Who do you think is paying for this?” they also ask.

Echaquan died shortly after. According to her family, she suffered from ongoing heart problems, so they suspect she had an adverse reaction to morphine.

The 37-year-old’s death is now being investigated, according to Quebec’s Integrated Health and Social Services Centres.

In a statement to VICE News, the public health authority said the comments heard in the video are “unacceptable” and confirmed one of the nurses has already been fired.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault also confirmed on Tuesday that a coroner’s inquiry is taking place, as well as an administrative probe. He told reporters that the treatment of Echaquan was “not acceptable.”

But he still didn’t acknowledge the existence of systemic racism in the province. Since June, the premier has firmly held the belief that systemic racism does not exist in Quebec. 

"I really don't think that we have this kind of way of dealing with First Nations people in our hospitals in Quebec. Yes, there is some racism in Quebec. We're working on that," Legault said Tuesday.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada issued a statement condemning the incident.

"It was with disgust that we heard a nurse, a woman who was supposed to care for her, utter racial slurs rather than come to her aid,” the statement said. “It makes us wonder how many other Indigenous women are being subjected to this sort of abuse in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.”

Karine Echaquan, Echaquan’s cousin, told Montreal Gazette Echaquan had recently started videotaping her hospital encounters because she was experiencing racism often. 

Many family members learned of Echaquan’s latest hospitalization via Monday’s Facebook Live and Karine said she rushed to the hospital as soon as she saw it. Echaquan had already died by the time Karine arrived.

“It’s horrible. Even when I went to sleep, I could still hear her screams in my mind,” Karine said, adding she had to break the news to Echaquan’s eldest daughter, who is 19.

The news comes almost a year after a commission investigating the treatment of Indigenous peoples in public services in Quebec was released. The report offers damning insights into systemic racism across sectors, including health care, youth services, and law enforcement.

“It is clear that prejudice toward Indigenous peoples remains widespread in the interaction between caregivers and patients,” the report says. “The situation is such that the patients brace themselves and devise strategies to decide how to deal with the racism...they will encounter when they walk into an emergency room.”

According to the report, racism ranges from unfair stereotyping of Indigenous patients to non-consensual drug administration. 

Ghislain Picard, the Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, condemned the false stereotypes that underpin tragic events like Echaquan’s death.

"We recognize the filthy prejudices that continue to exist today, like the one that we don't pay for anything and live on government handouts," Picard said, the CBC reported.

“We know this because there is a video of this tragedy, and you can clearly hear the nurses insulting Joyce because she is Atikamekw, because she is Indigenous."

Atikamekw Nation issued a statement with condolences to the family and said Echaquan likely received inadequate treatment. 

“Discrimination against Indigenous people in public services is unfortunately still far too prevalent,” the statement says, adding Echaquan’s video “reveals disturbing condescension and racist remarks on the part of caregivers.” 

Crown-Indigenous Services Minister Carolyn Bennett called Echaquan’s death “heart-wrenching.”

“Every week we are hearing stories like this,” Bennett said. “If you can't utter the words ‘systemic racism’ then you're probably part of the problem.”

Echaquan’s death is the latest example of anti-Indigenous racism across Canada. Mi’kmaw communities in the country’s East Coast are currently facing intimidation and threats for asserting their legal right to fish. Several instances of police brutality targeting Indigenous peoples have also been reported this year, including the violent assault of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam by Alberta RCMP. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

From the quotes, the things they said were clearly inappropriate and fairly unbelievable, but I don't see racism.  


Canada is incredibly horrible to natives. Like, Australians to aboriginals horrible. Every time someone says “the USA is going to shit, I’m moving to Canada” I’m like “have you ever lived there?”

  • Hook 'Em 3
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, immortal13 said:

This. I re-read to make sure I didn't miss something. The comments quoted were assholish but not necessarily racist 

Implying she was only good for sex is almost exclusively a dig on natives in Canada.

 

-like implying black people are only good for picking cotton here.

Edited by Doc Reeves
  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
elfenix

elfenix 34344

Posted
Posted

another article:

Quote

Mary Hannaburg, vice-president of Quebec Native Women, said the video is a "very hard thing to hear and to listen to."

"The statements that are made are not going to be tolerated. Those are of a racist nature," she said. "We will not tolerate racism in any given form toward Indigenous women."

maybe they didn't publish the racist statements or maybe those statements are racist within the context of how canada treats first nations, or maybe it's racist because others aren't treated poorly:

Quote

Ghislain Picard, head of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, said what unfolded at the hospital is part of "too long of a series of dramas experienced by Indigenous women in public services."

"I don't know if she was a victim of abuse, but I do know that she was a victim of racism by the nurses who had to care for her," he said.

"We know this because there is a video of this tragedy, and you can clearly hear the nurses insulting Joyce because she is Atikamekw, because she is Indigenous."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-atikamekw-joliette-1.5743449

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31622

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:

Implying she was only good for sex is almost exclusively a dig on natives in Canada.

 

-like implying black people are only good for picking cotton here.

Fair enough.

Without that context, the statements could be made to any carelessly unhealthy "welfare queen" type.  Not that they should ever be made in a hospital setting by professionals, if ever.

The "who's paying for this" is an odd dig given healthcare in Canada.  Maybe first nations don't pay into their healthcare?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31622

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, Doc Reeves said:


Canada is incredibly horrible to natives. Like, Australians to aboriginals horrible. Every time someone says “the USA is going to shit, I’m moving to Canada” I’m like “have you ever lived there?”

Anyone with "Indians" is pretty much horrible to them.

Any nation or region with an easily identifiable minority population (ie ethnic) is horrible to them.

Racism is the default state of humanity.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Fair enough.

Without that context, the statements could be made to any carelessly unhealthy "welfare queen" type.  Not that they should ever be made in a hospital setting by professionals, if ever.

The "who's paying for this" is an odd dig given healthcare in Canada.  Maybe first nations don't pay into their healthcare?


Medical care is completely free to First Nation people. (With some exceptions to specific Nations, I believe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gmr548

gmr548 16617

Posted
Posted
Not necessarily...could have simply been due to the fact that she had a lot of kids.
The intellectual dishonestly of simply blowing off what would seem to be a pretty important piece of cultural context is astonishing. I could understand wanting more information, but just dismissing it off hand is phenomenally intellectually lazy.
  • Hook 'Em 2
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Huckleberry

Huckleberry 33120

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, gmr548 said:
11 hours ago, immortal13 said:
Not necessarily...could have simply been due to the fact that she had a lot of kids.

The intellectual dishonestly of simply blowing off what would seem to be a pretty important piece of cultural context is astonishing. I could understand wanting more information, but just dismissing it off hand is phenomenally intellectually lazy.

"But it wasn't racist to tell the slave he's only good for picking cotton, I mean he actually picks cotton!"

Yep, intellectually weak as hell. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Enchubben

Enchubben 5512

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

I spent a good bit of time over there, definitely a weird dynamic going on there. 

Have some relatives that are Canadian and spent ALOT of time there over the last 20 years. I have witnessed much more racism and hate in Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario then I have in my years of living in Texas. And the amount of hate towards Americans has increased dramatically over the last decade. I can't even imagine the attitudes/behavior in BC.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
CowboyFred

CowboyFred 1152

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Zepol87 said:

Have a few nurses in my family and hear the who paid for this argument alot. Not sure of the indigenous racism in that area but my gf is from Alaska and says the natives there get shitted on by everyone

not making a dig at you or your family of nurses but are the nurses complaining about who is paying for the care of the patient?  Does it fucking matter?  Is their pay lowered because "oh fuck, that dude from last month couldn't pay his bill so now the hospital is docking us"?  That's a pretty fucked up stance to take being that you're supposed to be "saving lives."  

Also fuck the nurses in this video and hope they're fired and medical licenses revoked.  get fucked

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
crash_davis

crash_davis 23118

Posted
Posted

imagine if a bunch of surly assholes were docs and nurses operating on other surly assholes. imagine the shit that would be said when surly assholes are in lala land on anesthesia.

this is my expectation of every surgery. i'd be surprised of crass, rude, inappropriate shit wasn't said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Doc Reeves

Doc Reeves 6434

Posted
  • Author
Posted
30 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

imagine if a bunch of surly assholes were docs and nurses operating on other surly assholes. imagine the shit that would be said when surly assholes are in lala land on anesthesia.

this is my expectation of every surgery. i'd be surprised of crass, rude, inappropriate shit wasn't said.

If you find yourself in a position like this, you need to move hospitals. I dead serious. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Enchubben said:

Have some relatives that are Canadian and spent ALOT of time there over the last 20 years. I have witnessed much more racism and hate in Quebec and parts of Eastern Ontario then I have in my years of living in Texas. And the amount of hate towards Americans has increased dramatically over the last decade. I can't even imagine the attitudes/behavior in BC.

Fuck Quebec, and Canadistan. They hate us because they're a second fiddle country with an identity crisis.

Had a kid tell me their university system was better than ours, and Harvard wasn't as hard as most of their schools...  I was on a ski vacation, drunk, and  stoned so I just laughed, and walked to the other side of the bar.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
workswithseed

workswithseed 2122

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, crash_davis said:

imagine if a bunch of surly assholes were docs and nurses operating on other surly assholes. imagine the shit that would be said when surly assholes are in lala land on anesthesia.

this is my expectation of every surgery. i'd be surprised of crass, rude, inappropriate shit wasn't said.

Sorry about the operation, sir. We Slorched it up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...