By Jack Cumming
From our earliest days as a nation dominated by European settlers on the North American continent, racism, even enslavement, has been part of our cultural history. That has prevented us from a full understanding of something as basic as the origins of the health-preserving benefits of vaccination.
Out of Africa
The year was 1716. The European was Cotton Mather, a strait-laced Boston preacher. He purchased, yes, purchased an African man whom he called “Onesimus,” referring to the New Testament story in the Book of Philemon. His “slave” could have resented his indenture, but instead, he shared African wisdom with his “master.”
That wisdom changed our world. In the master’s words:
“Enquiring of my Negro man, Onesimus, who is a pretty intelligent fellow, whether he had ever had smallpox, he answered, both yes and no; and then told me that he had undergone an operation, which had given him something of smallpox and would forever preserve him from it; adding that it was often used among the Guramantese and whoever had the courage to use it was forever free of the fear of contagion. He described the operation to me and showed me in his arm the scar which it had left upon him, and his description of it made it the same that afterward I found related unto you by your Timonius.”[Source]
Who knew? Obviously, the African origin of this valuable science has been culturally suppressed all these years, decades, and centuries. Dr. Edward Jenner, an English physician, is credited with inventing the first modern vaccine in 1796 by using cowpox to protect against smallpox. This breakthrough established the science of vaccination and led to the eradication of smallpox [Source].
3-or-more
We have an example of that in senior living today. Mary Elizabeth Harmon is a remarkable thinker who grew up in Kenya. She is now the entrepreneur behind the Village Company 360 concept for eldercare. You can read her story by clicking here.
Her basic insight, derived from her African experiences of neighborliness, is that as few as three people can form a village as a caring community for mutual support. Her ideas would dovetail perfectly with the village movement, and there has been some interest shown in her project.
Let’s Collaborate
Senior living is characterized as much by divides as by collaborations. Much like the divide of Cotton Mather from Onesimus, resident ideas are listened to but seldom credited. When Kirk Mason says, “… it’s our residents that make the Manor a special place, it’s not just talk; it’s the truth,” that’s exceptional, though it should be the norm.
Likewise, one has to wonder why “villages” are considered competition for senior living instead of being an integral part of the experience. Why aren’t more CCRCs and other senior living homes sponsoring “villages” comprised of those residents who opt in and others who aren’t residents yet? Why aren’t ideas like Mary Elizabeth Harmon’s 3-or-more concept intrinsic within senior housing? It’s out of Africa.
Beyond Bias
That brings us to our long national struggle with a racial divide. Why are Black churches so much more communal than the typical pastoral model elsewhere? Is it the African tradition that Mary Elizabeth Harmon espouses and that Onesimo brought to colonial Boston? Are we still too prissy to fully embrace the humanity that defines our commonality?
When our unconscious biases blind us to the merits of others, we all suffer. Yet, we are all guilty of those blind spots. How can we not be when they are “unconscious triggers”? The only way to move past bias is through experience curated by education.
It’s A Puzzlement
Kent Mulkey wrote recently of the concentrated responsibility that executive directors are expected to shoulder 24/7/365 with little recognition for their primary importance within the hierarchical structures of corporate senior living. We take it for granted that people of dark complexion are more prominent among the menials working in senior living, while pasty-faced people are common among managers, executives, and, yes, residents.
Why, we have to wonder, are there so few rigorous programs to qualify the top-achieving, most capable people as executive directors? At one time, what’s now LeadingAge sponsored the Certified Aging Services Professional program with a learning and examination program facilitated by Amy Allen. That was transferred to the University of North Texas and eventually shut down, replaced by the Larry Minnix Leadership Academy.
Anyone could qualify through the CASP program, while the Leadership Academy is closed to outsiders. The CASP program allowed college students, perhaps those mastering human nature by studies in the humanities, to demonstrate interest and competency for entry-level leadership jobs in senior living. Might we be able to lift the overall quality of the industry by reinstituting and promoting certificate learning programs like CASP? It could be a way to ensure merit-based selection for key senior living opportunities.
There is no industry better positioned than senior living to put merit first before appearance, contacts, and bias.
