A caregiver recently shared an interaction she had with one of her patients in Dallas, Texas. Many have reacted in shock to an expletive-filled and apparently racist outburst by the elderly woman, who was not seen on camera.
The TikTok clip, uploaded by user _sweettea, a Certified Nursing Assistant, has amassed more than 6.6 million views, with over 14K comments. While the video starts mid-exchange, the first thing the elderly woman did was to call the caregiver a “piece of [expletive].”
The caregiver, acting professionally, responds, “I’m just trying to help you.” Her patient claps back with “You’re not doing anything,” while she clarifies that she only wants to lie her down.
“You’re not trying to help anybody. Get the hell out of here,” the elderly woman said. When the caregiver said she needed to help her first, the woman upped the ante, saying, while raising her voice, “Get the hell out of here, now.”
While the caregiver tried to reason with her patient, the Texas elderly woman said, “We don’t like you, and we will not like you to help us.”
The vast majority interpreted this as racist, given the fact that the caregiver is a Black woman.
“Why won’t you let me help?” the caregiver asks. The woman then doubles down, answering, “Because we don’t like you.”
The brief interaction was briefly interrupted when the woman started to cough. The worried caregiver asked, “Are you ok?” to which the patient said, “[expletive] you. Get the hell out of here.”
Finally, the clip ends with the caregiver telling her patient that she will come back. The woman concludes their back and forth with “Get your hands off of me.”
Outburst Reactions
Many users reacted to the viral clip by bashing the woman. One user wrote, “With dementia they dont remember anything but never forgot to be racist.” A second one said, “Even when they are old a sick, they still stay racist.” A third one added, “lmao they forget everything from their past EXCEPT RACISM.”
Others were sympathetic toward the elderly woman, theorizing that her possible dementia is affecting her behavior. This was partially confirmed by the caregiver herself, since she did post a TikTok days later in which the Texas woman was being nice to her.
Meanwhile, many comments were directed to the caregiver herself, praising her ability to keep calm amid a tense and upsetting conversation.
“You’re so professional. I love that you didn’t take it personal,” one user said. A second person complemented this by saying, “Being a caregiver is a calling! Can’t take anything personal as a caregiver.” A third one added, “We love and appreciate all our healthcare professionals.”
