Grey’s Anatomy, Season 17, depicted the inner workings of a hospital during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic began in March of 2020, and hospitals all over the country struggled with how to address their mass influx of patients and shortages of supplies. These difficulties were portrayed through the stories of surgeons at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Throughout the season they addressed a number of power systems and inequalities at play throughout the United States.
Miranda Bailey, the chief of surgery, had her mother pass away from Covid-19. While she was in the hospital, Miranda and Maggie, both women of color, discussed the ways in which the black community had been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. They did a great job explaining to those who may not be aware, the lack of healthcare access to people of color and how that resulted in their unequal impact by the pandemic.
In addition to the pandemic, they addressed America’s issue of police brutality towards people of color; specifically African American men. Following the murder of George Floyd by policeman Derek Chauvin, there were a large number of protests breaking out across the country. Surgeons from the hospital went to protests in support of the movement against police brutality. Aside from the protests, they depict Winston, pictured below, being stopped by police while on his way to Seattle. The police made him step out of his vehicle and searched each piece of luggage in the back of his car. Once they found no reason to keep him, they drove away, leaving him to clean up his clothes which were strewn all over the side of the road.
Each of these instances did a great job depicting power structures at play and the constant Othering of the African American community in America. African Americans have historically had less access to resources which affected them throughout the pandemic. Additionally, black people in America are constantly viewed as Other, as dangerous to society. For many of these reasons, they are the target of hate crimes and police brutality which were shown throughout tough conversations and heartbreaking scenes in Season 17 of Grey’s Anatomy.
I believe Shonda Rhimes, the producer, wants to shine a light on these topics that can be difficult to talk about. The series ended with a neurosurgeon leaving to work with a foundation to bring to light the inequalities in America’s healthcare system. This neurosurgeon explains how before his experiences during the pandemic he was an ignorant white person and he wants to educate himself and use his platform to help others. I believe Shonda used him as an example for all of us to work on ourselves and do what we can to address these inequalities.
Resource:
https://people.com/tv/greys-anatomy-recap-police-brutality-racial-injustice/