Black female doctors everywhere are demanding visibility online by posting pictures with the hashtag #WhatADoctorLooksLike, which they are using to validate their existence and celebrate their work.
The tweets were in response to a Facebook post that went viral on Thursday after Tamika Cross, a black female OB-GYN in Houston, Texas, documented the discrimination she claimed she faced while on a recent Delta flight. In her post, Cross chronicled how a flight attendant questioned her medical credentials after she offered to help a man who needed medical attention on the plane.
“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.”
It appears Cross wasn’t alone in this sentiment, as tons of other women stood together in solidarity with the hashtag. Black female doctors started to speak out by showing the world that black girl magic runs deeps within the medical professional world. Here are some of the responses from black women who want to show everyone #WhatADoctorLooksLike:
Before You Go
