Dr. Tamika Cross, a Black woman who was discriminated against on a Delta Airlines flight in 2016, shared her story on the latest episode of Red Table Talk.
Cross’ story went viral in 2016 after she said she was belittled when trying to help a passenger during a mid-air emergency.
The episode, entitled “The Invisible Black Women Epidemic,” explores the nature in which Black women are often underestimated and overlooked. It also includes a conversation with social justice activist Tamika Mallory, who once turned to addiction in response to feeling unseen, and a pregnant college professor who was treated as an “incompetent Black woman” by her doctors.
“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 on Facebook following the 2016 incident.
Cross said one of the flight attendant’s on board prevented her from assisting a passenger who became unresponsive.
“I raised my hand to grab her [the flight attendant’s] attention. 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,” she added.
I'm sure many of my fellow young, corporate America working women of color can all understand my frustration when I say…
Posted by TK Cross on Sunday, October 9, 2016
The flight attendant proceeded to interrogate Cross, undermining her credibility while asking for proof that she was a practicing physician, including her diploma. Moments later, a white man who shared that he was a doctor intervened.
"Thanks for your help but he can help us, and he has his credentials,” the flight attendant says, despite not presenting any documentation, according to Cross.
Just a few short weeks after Cross’ in-flight experience, The Washington Post reported a myriad of other incidents involving women of color from various backgrounds who were overlooked in airplane emergencies.
In response, Cross’ story inspired Delta to no longer require medical professionals to provide credentials before assisting passengers.
"When situations like the one described by Dr. Cross arise, we have a responsibility to our employees and our customers to review the circumstances and our policies for opportunities to listen, learn and improve," senior vice president for in-flight service, Allison Ausband said in a statement, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The airline has consistently apologized to Cross and pledged to implement diversity and inclusion training in the future to frontline employees.
"I think we were able to get some things changed that were outdated with a major corporation and do things to make other medical professionals feel comfortable offering assistance when they're 30,000 feet in the air," Cross said.
In November 2020, Delta announced that their interactive diversity, equity and inclusion training program, which tackles implicit and explicit bias in the workplace, intends to reach all 75,000 employees by 2022.
“This training builds upon the educational experiences, programs and series we’ve had in place for a number of years,” Keyra Lynn Johnson, Delta’s Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer said in the announcement. “It’s our brand’s responsibility to continue driving change, and it’s the charge of Delta people to bring that mission to life.”
The full Red Table Talk episode is set to air on Thursday at 3 pm ET on Facebook Watch.
