When you choose to go to school or take a job it is on you to be a productive member of society in that position. That position does not allow you to mistreat people or be dismissive. 

It doesn’t matter if you are working in a blue-collar job or a white-collar one, it is your responsibility to society to do that job without racism, homophobia, sexism or any other prejudice. 

You do not get a pass because of your standing in the world. If anything that should make you more responsible. 

Recently, I went to a doctor’s appointment at UC Davis Medical Center and took my daughter with me. This appointment was to try and discover why I was experiencing back pain. 

At UC Davis, you first see a resident doctor; this is someone who has a medical degree, but cannot yet practice on their own. The attending physician then comes in to verify the decisions the resident doctor made. 

When the attending physician entered the room, she started speaking to my adult daughter. I informed the attending physician that I was the patient. The attending physician turned and said I was darker than my picture, so she assumed that my daughter was the patient. 

I informed her that I am Mexican and have the ability to tan. At this point, my daughter started defending why she is a lighter-skinned Mexican than I am. 

Once again, the attending physician went into length about how I was darker than my picture on file. My daughter started feeling embarrassed and ashamed. At this point, I became agitated with the situation. I explained to her that I was the patient and asked what further steps I needed to take for my health. 

I was frustrated and ready to leave the office without anything being handled. Due to the pain in my back, I figured it was best that I stayed. I did what was asked of me and left. 

The next day I was upset and my daughter was really struggling with the whole situation. 

I decided to make a formal complaint against the doctor. When I made a complaint with the UC Davis patient relations, they took the complaint and informed me someone would be getting back to me in regards to my complaint. 

After I filed a complaint against the doctor, the next day the doctor called me to discuss it. The doctor informed me that she had never had an issue like this. I was willing to drop the complaint, but then she started back in on my skin color. I asked her if she realized that Mexicans have the ability to tan?

I truly do not want to have to make this statement, but if I had been a white person with a beautiful bronze tan, the doctor would have walked in and asked where I had vacationed to get such a beautiful color. Instead, when the doctor walked into the room, she automatically dismissed my age and decided due to my skin color that, I was not the patient. Never once did the doctor ask why I was darker if I had vacationed somewhere or if I started working outside, instead she just wanted to comment on how light-skinned my daughter was and how dark I was compared to my picture.

Mexicans come in all colors. There is beauty to the skin. It adapts to the sun and conditions. My mom was fair-skinned and had hazel eyes. I am the darkest child she had. My entire life, people have made comments about me being different. There is nothing wrong with being different or the ability to tan. 

Instead of the doctor calling and explaining she may have a naive view of Mexican skin color, she made the choice to continue to attack and defend her reason for choosing to speak to my daughter and not me. This was condescending and ignorant.

Not only did she offend me, she hurt my daughter. As a mother, I will do all to protect my child, no matter her age. A person of the profession should know that you do not look at skin.

Also, with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the doctor is required to verify who the patient is and if she is allowed to speak freely. These are steps she never took. The doctor entered the room and became confrontational based on my skin color. 

I then said to her either one of two things happened at this appointment. Either she didn’t realize she was coming in to see a 50-year-old patient and wasn’t prepared, or she judged me based on my skin color from a photo. 

The doctor informed me that she has been doing this for 25 years and never had this happen. I informed her I had been doing it for 50 years and never had this happen. 

The problem is that the doctor has been allowed to get away with this type of behavior because of her standing in the world. She is a doctor, so people are afraid to say that this is not appropriate. 

This world is difficult. You are not better than someone because of the position you hold.