One young Black dentist faced a problem when a colleague felt comfortable expressing his bigotry. But it would have been an even bigger problem to let such overt racism slide.
Jaylon Antón Johnson, who goes by Dr. J online, called out his colleague in a reaction video that exploded on social media.
The clip serves as a reminder that professional status and a degree from a top-tier university do not insulate Black people from prejudice. That, along with Johnson’s own response to the backlash, is part of why the clip is striking such a chord.
As Johnson put it in a follow-up: “I never underestimate anyone on social media, but the lesson of the day is if you F around, you’ll find out.”
Johnson attended Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and nabbed a competitive residency at the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Ohio. He is also Black and has locs.
This caught the attention of a successful Chicago-area periodontist, Nick Amigoni, who commented on Johnson’s social media account: “You are a dentist? Dude, you are ghetto.”
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Johnson shared a screenshot of the message and issued an eloquent response that had viewers cheering. “Your words have consequences,” he said. “So, to my colleague that described me as ghetto, I want you to know that I’m still a dentist, I’m still gonna talk the way I talk, walk the way I walk, and more importantly, I’m still in one of the best residency programs in the country.”
In the end, he vowed not to change his speech or hair “just for you to feel comfortable,” adding, “I worked too hard to get here to start apologizing for things that I take pride in.”
After the video went viral, Dr. Amigoni apologized, but not before denying the whole thing and saying his account was hacked, according to Johnson.
In two September 9 follow-up videos, Johnson shared screenshots of a Facebook apology and a message, and wrote: “Hmm, I thought somebody hacked your page.”
Dr. Amigoni’s apology read, “My comment was never intended to be hate speech or racist, but I understand how using words like ‘ghetto’ to describe someone’s hair or appearance is offensive and carries racist connotations. That was a poor choice of words on my part, and I take accountability for that. It wasn’t my intent to hurt or offend anyone, and I’m taking this as a lesson to be more thoughtful about the language I use.”
Johnson ended the series of videos with words of simple wisdom for any online racists hiding behind their keyboards. “Be careful what you post,” he said, “because your digital footprint is going to follow you.”
