For your professional ethics edification in June
Once a month the ACPE Professional Ethics Commission (PEC) posts a couple of statements from our Code of Professional Ethics for ACPE Members. Each posting is accompanied by a brief personal reflection from a member of the PEC discussing some ways this person lives these commitments.*
Betty White, ACPE Certified Educator from Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, comments:
For June, instead of commenting on specifics about our ethics standards, I would like to share some resources for learning about professional ethics as well as, create a space where we might give attention to a question I have been grappling with, “Why, racism is ethically/morally wrong?”
I would like to invite each of us to really reflect on the following Code of Professional Ethics for ACPE Members in the following statements:
- In relationship to those served, ACPE members:
a. affirm and respect the human dignity and individual worth of each person.
b. do not discriminate against anyone because of race, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, religious/spiritual tradition, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability.
c. respect the integrity and welfare of those served or supervised, refraining from disparagement, and avoiding emotional exploitation, sexual exploitation, or any other kind of exploitation.
While reflecting on the Code of Professional Ethics reflection over the last ten months and the ACPE Annual Conference a few weeks ago, many questions, concerns and thoughts have emerged about the practice and implementation of ethics. As I have reflected on sharing in this unique space, I wondered who really wants to do this hard and daunting work that lies ahead, not just for ACPE members but humanity at large.
While I am always trying to learn more, do what I believe is acceptable for the God whom I serve, students, colleagues, in business matters and others, I recognize it takes a great deal of moral integrity and love for humanity. While I, as a person of the Christian faith and Baptist tradition, try to live by the commands recorded in Matthew 22:37-40 (Message)“‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” I get the sacred text however there is a yearning for the “why?” If we the ACPE members want to be an anti-racist organization, I would invite us all to grapple with *Why* racism is ethically/morally wrong? beyond our sacred texts, intellect, and philosophy.
*Every situation is unique, and any member should not act based solely on the comments in the article but to base action on an independent review of the ethical standards applicable to his/her situation.
Resources:
Articles:
What is morally wrong with discrimination? A Kantian analysis
Podcast: 
This podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. The hosts explore how it impacts every part of society, from politics and pop culture to history, sports, and everything in between. This podcast makes all of us part of the conversation, because we're all part of the story. Listen to this podcast here.
Conference:
ASBH Humanities and Bioethics Conference | ASBH
The American Society of Bioethics is the professional organization for clinical ethics. Their conference is in October but is excellent every year.
Books:
Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century