That consultant said this word...

[Ozwizard]

I went to the hospital to see my results from my consultant. Result of this is that I will have to have surgery that has a six to eight week recovery time. As he was explaining my condition he said that it is very common in " Negroid ladies"!!
The nurse in the room looked at me and shifted uncomfortably in her seat! And I took a second to register if he really did say that. Then I did a nervous laugh and said to him " you must not use that word" he said "what, that is what you are" " what is wrong with Negroid"? I said " stop, use another word". He said " oh I didn't know that Negroid would offend you"
Aibu that he should not have said that word?

It's only like walking on eggshells if you don't care about treating people with respect and decency.

The OP was entitled to respect. She didn't get it

Exactly. As a professional, when she asked him to stop, he should have stopped.

Its true that there are instances where white people, such as Irish travellers, have been treated poorly, you can't deny that. But I really don't think its racism in that scenario- it's more a criticism of their cultural difference. Or it is asserted that they are different to the rest of the white population, not part of it, and that is what is disliked- it's never because of the colour of their skin.
Unfortunately, black people continue to face prejudice just for being black

Flat Your comments are unnecessary and pointless, would you be offended if a said you're being an insensitive troll?

Offended the second and third time because I told him the first time not to use that word. What do you not get about this?

Oz Don't let this person get to you, they're obviously a bit bored complete loserand using you for sport. Not worth your time

I don't think flat gets it.
Surely most people would apologise and ask what to say instead but I really doubt this isn't covered as part of on going training for nhs staff, even those that are Greek (wtf :o??)

I just do not understand why when someone says they feel they have been discriminated against, or feel they are being treated unfairly- particularly when it comes to the issues of sexism and racism- that someone (in former mention instances, white people and men) have to come in stomping their feet shouting 'But I have been treated unfairly once in my life TOO, stop complaining and playing the victim!!!!'

Just accept how the person feels and if you can, try and make it better for them and learn from their experience.

Bonita
No i would not be offended.
Not once has the OP said why she was offended by this word "the first time"
It was used. She has not explained that once when being asked. You can all see that yourselves. And im not a troll, but if people post things on here then at least get to the point and explain the issue rather than skirting around it.

now beyond clear that you are goading and baiting Flat.
^
This
Agreed BonitaFangita

She found his use of the word unacceptable the first time and asked him not to use it again.
When he ignored the request and persisted in using it she became offended and that was magnified by his subsequent comments.

Is that clear enough for you Flat?

The nurse in the room looked at me and shifted uncomfortably in her seat! And I took a second to register if he really did say that. Then I did a nervous laugh and said to him " you must not use that word" he said "what, that is what you are" " what is wrong with Negroid"? I said " stop, use another word" is this clear for you FlatontheHill? Think it's time to swerve you from now on!

Do you know how long he has been working in the UK, OP? Because if it hasn't been for long, then it could well be a language issue. Several people have already pointed out that the term, along with caucasoid and mongoloid are still used as anthropological descriptors NOT related directly to skin colour, and as such he will have been taught them in medical school because they will sometimes be relevant to narrowing down a diagnosis.

Also, he may have repeated himself again because he thought you misheard what word he used ; (I assume he had a foreign accent if you thought he might be Greek?). He might even not have understood that you were referring to that specific word when you said "you can't say that", rather than to something else in what he was saying.

I understand why you were upset, but appropriate language usage does differ in different countries, as a number of people have pointed out. These days we can't expect to always be treated by someone of our own nationality/culture, who understands our ways. Having said that, I hope the nurse will have put him right, and he won't make the mistake again.

Absolutely right MrTiddles

Some people really like to deny the existence of actual racism and sexism

Yes.

Op i get it now. You were offended by the word negroid.
Why not just say that in the first instance.
English clearly not his mother tongue. Therefore i would have let it go.
Good luck with your operation.

Oh, sorry OP, I've been reading the whole thread, and forgot what you originally posted - forget what I said about him thinking you misheard.

Still, if he hasn't been working here long, I think him saying "I didn't know the word Negroid would offend you" could be indicative of him being genuinely puzzled; like I said, he would have learned the term in medical school.

I work in clinical trials and we often have to get racial data as there are a few variables that do differ depending on racial origin. GFR (glomerular filtration rate, a measure of kidney function is one of them.)
We don't use negroid as its not sufficiently descriptive and we don't use 'black' either (Australian aboriginal populations don't group with many other black populations on GFR for example.) the term we use is 'is the patient of black African origin?'

I have been called caucasoid by a doc btw. But the term isn't as loaded as negroid in my opinion.

The amount of genetic diversity in humans is actually very low. If you took a few hundred white Northern Europeans, Chinese, etc etc there's actually more variation within the groups than between them. From a genetic point of view race is a social construct. There's no big dividing line between me as a person of Irish origin and someone from Botswana.

There is absolutely not enough variation to call those three groupings sub species.

At last Flat thinks she's got it.

It's like pulling teeth.

His reaction was dissmive and flaying his arms in the air when I asked him to stop. As though I was not to challenge him on his use of the word like I was a silly women for telling him not to use the word.

Ilovesooty
Not like pulling teeth at all. Just wish the OP had got right to the point. That was hard work you know.

laurierf
We are obviously using different definitions of racism.

This will always be part of the issue when discussing racism.

I thought what she meant was quite clear at the outset.

Rtft and then it wouldn't be hard work!