A Black Georgia nurse says a patient kept asking where she was really from. This continued even after she had given the same answer more than once. In response, she pushed back on what she saw as a racist assumption. Meanwhile, many commenters shared similar experiences of their own, though some questioned whether the patient was simply being curious.
In the video, posted to TikTok by Alisha, who goes by @therealrnbarbie, she recounts the exchange directly to the camera. “My patient asked me where I was from. I said Georgia.”
She says the patient wasn’t satisfied with that answer and continued to press her about where she was originally from. The Georgia nurse says she held her ground and answered the same way each time. She closes the account with a pointed reply she gave the patient. “There is still racism alive because we originate from everywhere, ma’am.” She adds, “I didn’t come from Africa because I know that’s what you’re asking me.”
The Patient Wanted Her Origin Story
Some commenters imagined how they would have answered the Georgia patient. “I would’ve told her I was from Wakanda and that prince T Challa was my dad,” one commenter said.
A number of viewers pushed back on the assumption that being Black means being from somewhere else. “Asking a black American where they are from when we’ve been here over 5 centuries is crazy,” someone shared. Another pointed to their own family’s long roots in the country, writing that their family had been in America since 1402 and questioning why people assume every Black person must be from Africa.
Several nurses and healthcare workers of color related specifically to dealing with comments like this on the job. “They try to put you in a box with their micro aggressions, making it JUST uncomfortable enough while they get to say whatever they want because they know we still are going to do our jobs. It’s so annoying and disgusting,” one wrote. Another described a similar exchange with a patient who stopped using the call bell entirely after being told to “ask your ancestors.”
Not every commenter read the question as inherently racist, though. One pushed back directly, arguing that asking about someone’s background doesn’t automatically point to prejudice. “My patients always ask me what nationality I am as well. It doesn’t point to racism. You could be from a variety of places. Sometimes it’s just to have a conversation,” they wrote.
For many Black people, videos like these are another example of the microaggressions they encounter in everyday life. Repeatedly having your identity questioned or being treated like you need to explain where you belong can wear on a person, an exhaustion echoed by several commenters.
