these two existences have become vastly different realities

[GoodTaste]

It was a random day just like any other when I suddenly stopped being just a Black person in America. I looked around at the sea of white faces that seemed to fill every space I entered, and I realized for the first time that I was now a Black person in medicine. The distinction may not be clear to everyone, but these two existences have become vastly different realities in my life that, though they cannot be separated, have yet to find equilibrium. I know, both from my own pursuit of a medical education and from the numerous accounts of my Black colleagues and friends, that I am not alone in experiencing this internal conflict, but knowing that fact has not made it any easier to bear.
Source: The New England Joournal of Medicine [h=1]Dilemmas of Double Consciousness — On Being Black in Medicine[/h]
It is not very clear to me what "these two existences" refer to. One appears to be the existence of being "a Black person in medicine" and the other to be the existence of being "being just a Black person in America"? Do you have the same impression, just as the author points out "The distinction may not be clear to everyone"?

 

[Tarheel]

Yes.

(The more time you spend thinking about that stuff the less time you have to spend thinking about your job.)

 

[jutfrank]

One appears to be the existence of being "a Black person in medicine" and the other to be the existence of being "being just a Black person in America"?

Yes, that's exactly what she means.