We told you yesterday about Tamika Cross, M.D., an OBGYN from Houston who had a pretty upsetting encounter with a Delta flight attendant while on a flight from Detroit recently. While attempting to help a fellow passenger in dire need of medical attention, the attendant was skeptical of Cross’s medical credentials and questioned whether or not she was a real doctor in front of passengers.
In case you missed some of the shenanigans, here is an excerpt of how it went down according to Cross’s Facebook page:
She said “oh wow you’re an actual physician?” I reply yes. She said “let me see your credentials. What type of Doctor are you? Where do you work? Why were you in Detroit?” (Please remember this man is still in need of help and she is blocking my row from even standing up while
Bombarding me with questions).
I respond “OBGYN, work in Houston, in Detroit for a wedding, but believe it or not they DO HAVE doctors in Detroit. Now excuse me so I can help the man in need”. Another “seasoned” white male approaches the row and says he is a physician as well. She says to me “thanks for your help but he can help us, and he has his credentials”. (Mind you he hasn’t shown anything to her. Just showed up and fit the “description of a doctor”) I stay seated. Mind blown. Blood boiling.
In the end, Cross’s help was needed, and the flight attendant ended up being apologetic for her behavior. She went as far as to offer the physician free skymiles. Cross refused them and said, “This is going higher than her. I don’t want skymiles in exchange for blatant discrimination. Whether this was race, age, gender discrimination, it’s not right. She will not get away with this….and I will still get my skymiles….”
After Cross’s story went viral, a hashtag was created to show #WhatADoctorLooksLike. Countless Black women doctors shared images of themselves and made sure to direct the images to Delta Airlines since they had yet to make a public statement in response to the controversy. The best they’ve done so far is respond with a tweet:
The images are quite inspiring, as well as a big middle finger to people, like that flight attendant, who think only White men look like and can be doctors. Check out the posts below and on the following pages.
