I used to staff home care cases (so basically, like a Red Cross volunteer but paid) and I swear that I have heard every single thinly veiled request for a white aide that can possibly exist in the English language. From the elaborate "my mother had a stroke, so I need someone who speaks standard English who can tell if she starts muddling words" to "it's not me, you understand, it's just that grandma is from a different era." They were all willing to turn down phenomenally caring women from Ghana and Nigeria in favor of some disinterested nursing student who was just getting in hours until she could do "real" work. At least half the time, it was the family who was uncomfortable and throwing poor Grandma under the bus for it.

It's never too late to learn better.