*Black female doctors have taken to Twitter en masse to post pictures with the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike. The movement is in response to the woman who said her medical credentials were questioned on a recent Delta flight.
Tamika Cross, a black female OB-GYN in Houston, posted her ordeal on Facebook in a message that went viral on Thursday. She documented the response she received from a flight attendant when a doctor was sought to assist another passenger who had fallen ill.
“She said to me, ‘Oh no sweetie, put ur hand down, we are looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical personnel, we don’t have time to talk to you.’ I tried to inform her that I was a physician but I was continually cut off by condescending remarks,” Cross wrote. She went on to explain how the attendant allegedly continued to question her by asking, “What type of doctor are you? Where do you work?”
Cross went on to write that her offer to help was ultimately dismissed after a white male approached and said he could assist. She wrote that the attendant eventually expressed her regrets but Cross said an apology wasn’t enough.
“This is going higher than her… whether this was race, age, gender discrimination, it’s not right. She will not get away with this,” Cross wrote. “I’m sure many of my fellow young, corporate America working women of color can all understand my frustration when I say I’m sick of being disrespected.”
She was right…and many of them took to Twitter under the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike:
#thisiswhatadoctorlookslike #deltaimadoctor #allmyblackgirlmagicdoctorfriends pic.twitter.com/SVKUBCOU2v
— Ije O (@jeamakao) October 13, 2016
I’ve had many not believe I was their doctor. Doctors come in a races, colors, ages, genders, shapes and sizes. #thisiswhatadoctorlookslike pic.twitter.com/DtskHFJkND
— Regina Bailey (@DrReginaMDJD) October 13, 2016
@Delta, train your staff that this is #WhatADoctorLooksLike. Confront #ImplicitBias, #EverydaySexism, & #EverydayRacism. #TamikaCross pic.twitter.com/JQJzFXcO5F
— Marleny Franco, MD (@MFrancoMD) October 14, 2016
Dear #delta #thisiswhatadoctorlookslike ?#retweet pic.twitter.com/sATnkj1tEo
— drshon❤️#hood2hooded (@drshonw) October 13, 2016
#WhatADoctorLooksLike pic.twitter.com/8SNzhRl0jl
— Fanele Mdletshe (@fanel_2) October 14, 2016
@Delta #thisiswhatadoctorlookslike pic.twitter.com/TDEA3jptNv
— Tamara G (@tamzies27) October 13, 2016
#Thisiswhatadoctorlookslike #Whatadoctorlookslike pic.twitter.com/LqyPLRQKtL
— Nzinga Harrison, MD (@naharrisonmd) October 13, 2016
#thisiswhatadoctorlookslike #deltaimadoctor #whatcredentialsshouldicarry pic.twitter.com/alhPvnWA9N
— Ije O (@jeamakao) October 13, 2016
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