A "white male" zoning official was ousted from his position last week after refusing to use a black woman's preferred title of "doctor," earned from her Ph.D.
The heated discussion between official Tony Collins and Dr. Carrie Rosario, an associate professor of public health at UNC Greensboro, happened towards the end of a nearly four house long Zoning Commission meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Rosario wanted to raise questions regarding a development plan close to where she was living. The topic of the discussion very quickly turned to her title though, not the development plan.
CNN celebrates the firing of a zoning official over 'white privilege' after he flubs a black woman's title pic.twitter.com/1UOkzo2mQ1
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After Collins initially calls Rosario Mrs. instead of Doctor, Rosario repeatedly corrects him with no progress.
"It's Dr. Rosario, Thank you," Rosario corrects.
"Mrs. Rosario has something..." Collins continues.
"Dr. Rosario," Rosario again corrects.
"Well, you know, I'm sorry your name says on here Carrie Rosario, Hi Carrie."
"It's Dr. Rosario. I wouldn't call you Tony, so please sir, call me as I would like to be called, that's how I'm identifying."
"It doesn't really matter," said Collins.
"It matters to me, It matters to me. And out of respect I would like you to call me by the name that I'm asking you to call me by, Thank you," rebuked Rosario.
Greensboro city council voted unanimously to oust Collins from the commission.
In a letter to city council, Collins wrote "there is no good excuse for my interaction with Dr. Rosario so I will not try to offer one. Citizens deserve better."
CNN was quick to point out that Collins is a "white male," stating that an official called Colllins' display "disrespectful" and "the product of white privilege."
"So many women can empathize having their accomplishments and credentials dismissed so easily and as she mentioned, one other guy made the same mistake, media organizations struggle with what to call people who are not medical doctors, but I think the fact he just kept dismissing her is just why it made people so angry," said Early Start anchor Laura Jarrett.
"It felt like he was trying to take her down a notch, right?" replied Brianna Keiler. "Make her maybe less of an expert, which she is an expert on public health and that should be acknowledged.
"It's hard to get your PhD, right? She talked about she had two kids at home, she was staying up late, she put in all this blood sweat and tears for this thing and then just to have it so quickly dismissed," added Jannett.
The AP Style Guide, the virtual bible for just these sorts of things, says: "Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name of an individual who holds a doctor of dental surgery, doctor of medicine, doctor of optometry, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of podiatric medicine, or doctor of veterinary medicine: Dr. Jonas Salk.
"If appropriate in the context, Dr. also may be used on first reference before the names of individuals who hold other types of doctoral degrees. However, because the public frequently identifies Dr. only with physicians, care should be taken to ensure that the individual's specialty is stated in first or second reference."
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