Segregating medical students by race is demeaning and insulting: Bill Jacobson
Cornell University law professor Bill Jacobson reacts to an article in The New England Journal of Medicine suggesting the racial segregation of medical students on Varney & Co.
The "racialization of medical education" has created a "national emergency" because many of America’s future doctors are being inundated with critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), according to the founder of CriticalRace.org.
CriticalRace.org, which monitors CRT curricula and training in higher education, has expanded its Medical School Database to include all 155 accredited U.S. medical schools. Findings revealed a staggering 70 percent provide mandatory or voluntary CRT-related coursework or training for students.
"The extent to which CRT/DEI and related programming has worked its way into medical schools is truly shocking and worrisome. Racial and other activism should not be the focus of medical education," William Jacobson told Fox News Digital.
Jacobson, Clinical Professor of Law at Cornell Law School and founder of the Legal Insurrection website, founded CriticalRace.org’s sprawling database that has also examined elite K-12 private schools, 500 of America's top undergraduate programs and military service academies.
CriticalRace.org, which monitors CRT curricula and training in higher education, has expanded its Medical School Database to include all 155 accredited US. Medical Schools. (iStock)
"The ideological capture of over two-thirds of medical schools demonstrates that CRT/DEI has become a part of the fabric of medical education, We are training future doctors to look at patients through a racial lens, with potentially frightening consequences for society," Jacobson said.
"It's often said that collapse happens slowly, and then very suddenly. Medical school education is slowly collapsing, but it's not too late," he continued. "We need to stop the CRT/DEI medical agenda before that collapse becomes irreversible."
CriticalRace.org also found that over 50 percent of medical schools mandate CRT-related coursework or training, while nearly 40 percent mandate such trainings for faculty and staff. The subjects of mandatory trainings and coursework are worded differently by institution, using terms such as "anti-racism," "cultural competency," "diversity, equity and inclusion," "equity," "implicit bias/anti-bias," and CRT.
Critical race theory (CRT) has emerged as a polarizing topic in recent years. (Robert Gauthier)
Last year, the group uncovered that 58 of the 100 most prestigious medical colleges and universities have some form of mandatory CRT-related student training or coursework. CriticalRace.org since expanded the study to include all accredited medical schools listed in U.S. News & World Report Best Medical Schools.
The database of 155 accredited medical schools indicates that 108 have some form of mandatory or voluntary student training or coursework and 66 have offered materials by left-wing authors Robin DiAngelo or Ibram Kendi, whose books explicitly call for discrimination, according to Jacobson.
CriticalRace.org believes its findings prove medical institutions are increasingly focused on the "racialization" of medicine and the nation’s future doctors could be more concerned about a patient’s race than previous generations.
"Unfortunately, the medical establishment, from the American Medical Association on down, is on board with the racialization of medicine. The groups that should ensure that medical education and care focus on individual patients, not political struggles, have not only abandoned the medical ship, they are helping sink it," Jacobson said.
CriticalRace.org details the exact curricula and trainings at each school, along with contact information and an overview of every university. Jacobson feels the Supreme Court's recent ruling striking down affirmative action, while in the context of school admissions, applies equally to patient care.
"The racialization of medicine almost certainly will end up in the Supreme Court. Two Supreme Court Justices recently cautioned that ‘in the event that any government again resorts to racial or ethnic classifications to ration medical treatment, there would be a very strong case for prompt review by this Court,’" he said.
As a result, many institutions have offered statements about the ruling. CriticalRace.org performed a "segmentation analysis of these responses based on the substantive content presented within those statements. At the outset, it should be noted that all 38 medical school individual responses either convey outright disappointment or disagreement with the SCOTUS ruling or, alternatively, reaffirm the school’s diversity or social justice admissions goals notwithstanding the ruling," the group wrote.
"The racialization of medical education and medicine constitutes a national emergency, and needs to be addressed by governors and state legislatures, as the current federal government and medical establishment is on board with the CRT agenda," Jacobson said.
CriticalRace.org previously found that at least 236 colleges or universities of 500 examined have some form of mandatory student training or coursework on ideas related to CRT. Defenses of CRT-associated materials have ranged from outright denying CRT is being taught, to claiming that the underlying ideas are key to creating an inclusive educational environment.
CriticalRace.org is a project of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to campus free speech and academic freedom, which also runs the Equal Protection Project.
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