Black Doctor Discrimination Greeted With Rage From The Public

Tamika Cross, a Black doctor felt humiliated when Delta Airlines flight attendants refuse to believe that she was a qualified physician.

The Roots narrated that: A Houston OB-GYN’s Facebook post is going viral after she recounted the dismissive racism she encountered on a Delta flight, where a flight attendant refused to believe that she was a doctor and refused to let her aid a man who had become unresponsive.

“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,” Black doctor, Tamika Cross said at the start of her post.

Cross detailed that she was on Delta Flight DL945 returning to Houston when she noticed someone a few rows in front of her screaming for help. A woman’s husband had reportedly become unresponsive.

The Washington Post reported that: “I naturally jumped into doctor mode as no one else was getting up,” Cross said in her Facebook post. As she was unbuckling her seat belt, she said, a flight attendant told people on the plane to stay calm, that the passenger was just having a “night terror.”

But moments later the man became unresponsive again. This time, Cross said, the flight crew asked whether there was a physician on board. She said she raised her hand to volunteer, but a flight attendant shut her down.

The Black female doctor got a response she wasn’t prepared for.

“Oh no, sweetie, put [your] hand down,” Cross recalled the flight attendant saying. “We are looking for actual physicians or nurses or some type of medical personnel, we don’t have time to talk to you.”

When someone else then paged for any physician on board to “press your button,” Cross pressed her button, to which the same flight attendant reportedly responded, according to her Facebook post, “[O]h wow, you’re an actual physician?”

When Cross confirmed that she was, in fact, qualified, she said that the flight attendant demanded to see her credentials, questioning her about what kind of doctor she was, where she worked and why she was in Detroit.

“[I’m an] 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,” Black dr., Cross responded, according to her Facebook post.

However, at that point a white man also came forward and said that he was a physician, too. The flight attendant turned back to Cross and reportedly said, “Thanks for your help but he can help us, and he has his credentials.”

Cross said that the other doctor had not shown the attendant any credentials at all—he just “fit the ‘description of a doctor’”—but she chose to keep the peace and remain seated.

But Cross’ problematic interaction with the flight attendant did not end there. According to Cross, the woman repeatedly came back to “ask for my input on what to do next about 10 mins later. I tell her we need vitals and blood sugar. She comes back to report to me a BP of 80/50 (super low, to my non medical peeps) and they can’t find a glucometer.”

Although understandably irritated, Cross said she “continued to help despite the choice words I had saved up for her. The patient and his wife weren’t the problem, they needed help and we were mid flight.”

The Guardian adds that:  After the ordeal was over, the flight attendant “came and apologized to me several times and offering me skymiles”, Cross wrote. “I kindly refused. 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.”

Washington Post writes: Patrick Hogan, a spokesman for Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, confirmed to the Guardian that paramedics were called to the plane to respond to a report that “a passenger on board had lost consciousness”.

Delta has been aggressively fielding angry comments on Facebook from customers threatening to boycott.

“As a global airline that brings hundreds of thousands of people together every day, Delta is deeply committed to treating all of our customers with respect,” the airline responded to one message, telling another, “We have been working non-stop to address this internally with the highest priority.”

The Guardian also added: Her story comes one week after a black female architect wrote a viral Facebook post about a humiliating experience at a bank in Seattle that allegedly questioned her employment and delayed depositing her paycheck. Trish Doolin said the bank called her company’s human resources department to determine whether the check was real.

“You just want to cry,” she wrote of her experience of “banking while Black”.

Delta spokeswoman Catherine Sirna told the Guardian in a statement: “Discrimination of any kind is never acceptable. We’ve been in contact with Dr Cross and one of our senior leaders is reaching out to assure her that we’re completing a full investigation.”

Cross’ story has spread on social media, with black women sharing similar stories of disrespect and discrimination in their fields.

“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,” Cross wrote.

Patrick Hogan, a spokesman with Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, confirmed to the Guardian that paramedics were called to the plane to respond to a report that “a passenger on board had lost consciousness”.

Delta has been aggressively fielding angry comments on Facebook from customers threatening to boycott.

I will be boycotting @Delta after the Dr Tamika Cross incident. A public apology is due #whatdoctorslooklike #blackwomen #discrimination

— Sarah (@iLoveSassou) October 13, 2016

“As a global airline that brings hundreds of thousands of people together every day, Delta is deeply committed to treating all of our customers with respect,” the airline responded to one message, telling another, “We have been working non-stop to address this internally with the highest priority.”

Delta also recently faced accusations that it discriminated against a Muslim couple after flight attendants allegedly removed them for making the crew feel “uneasy”. Other airlines have been accused of unfairly targeting passengers for simply “flying while Muslim”.

The Atlanta Black Star gave the following information about the incident: After a Black OBGYN was unable to assist a passenger on a Delta flight due to a disbelieving flight attendant, doctors spurred the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike.

When they go low..we go high. Stereotypes can cost a life. Love from Germany #whatadoctorlookslike #internist #cardiology #TamikaCross pic.twitter.com/KvY1SYYNaE

— Dr. SEA Initiative (@i_drsea) October 14, 2016

Her story of discrimination influenced other Black women to show off their medical professions on social media. Many doctors shared photos of themselves in scrubs and doctor’s coats sporting their natural hair.

Racism in America knows no boundaries. White racists are willing to put lives of people in danger just to satisfy their racist desires. This is terribly inhuman! Black people are faced with all sorts of racial attacks and humiliations in America. This nonsense must stop! Should a doctor be white only?