Annesia Paraison and her 17-year-old daughter Nala still can't get over what they encountered when they walked into a doctor's office Tuesday in Jersey City.
After walking into Dr. Kevin Julian's chiropractic office, they saw a sign posted at the check-in window that read in part: "Dear patients: During this time period of the Chinese Virus, please observe the six foot rule of social distancing."
Paraison and her daughter were shocked to not only see a sign like that, but at a doctor's office of all places.
"As I'm signing her in, she taps me and points to the sign, and said 'Mom, look!'" said Paraison. "Basically the sign said due to the 'Chinese Virus' and wearing face masks and so on and so on ... So I looked at her and said, 'What do you want to do? And she said let's go. That was it, we walked out."
The mom did take a picture of the offensive sign before leaving however. They did not return to the office, nor did they reach out, but they did post it on Facebook, angry about what they believe is a racist comment.
"I just feel it's very disrespectful to not use the correct medical term, and also that's a racist comment, so it's disrespectful in general," said Nala.
President Donald Trump has faced criticism for referring to COVID-19 as "the China virus," and while he has said he doesn't consider the term to be racist, the Paraison family disagrees. Mom Annesia said she's proud of how her teenage daughter reacted, but still wants accountability.
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"I was very proud that she was able to identify it and take a stand, an immediate stand," Paraison said. "I also feel like there needs to be accountability. I feel like when there's instances of racism they need to be called out, they should not feel comfortable."
NBC News reached out to the doctor and his office Thursday, but he declined to comment about the sign. The World Health Organization has advised against using geographic locations when naming illnesses, saying it has had unintended negative consequences by stigmatizing certain communities.
