I just want a good doctor and the color of your skin is immaterial!)Race and the Medical Profession: How Increased Diversity Could Influence the Way White Americans View Black Doctors

Race and the Medical Profession: How Increased Diversity Could Influence the Way White Americans View Black Doctors: Dr. Dale Okorodudu (Courtesy of UTSW). An unpleasant experience I had many years ago on an airplane initially left me angry. But it has since come to shape my thoughts on race and how increased diversity in the medical profession could influence the way white Americans view black men like me. When I was 20, I boarded a flight from St. Louis to Houston for a trip home from college. The temperature was cool, so like a typical student I was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Shortly after finding my seat, a middle-aged white woman sat next to me. We exchanged pleasantries, as strangers on a plane often do. But then, over the course of the two-hour flight, this woman began to belittle me. She criticized the way I was dressed and told me that I didn't speak well. What stuck with me the most was when she said, 'Nobody will ever take you seriously. You'll never be successful.' I remember asking myself: Is this what some people think when they see a person who looks like me? I've often reflected