At least 58 of the top 100 medical schools in the U.S. now include mandatory Critical Race Theory (CRT)-related programs and curricula. With just over 150 accredited medical schools currently in operation, this means nearly 40 percent are already infected to some degree with “anti-racism,” “cultural competency requirements,” and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” propaganda. While we know CRT is taught in one form or another in most universities and colleges as well as in many K-12 classrooms, its proponents have now successfully invaded the once sacrosanct environment of the medical school.

The issue of wokeness in medicine surfaced in November 2022 when research posted on the CriticalRace.org website revealed details about CRT-specific programs and curricula on medical-school campuses throughout the nation. This website features an interactive map that visitors can click on to find a breakdown of CRT curricula specific to institutions of higher learning in each state, including medical schools.

A sidebar on the right-hand side of the page shows the schools that have recently been updated with information taken directly from their websites. For example, the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (UCSD) will “examine our current curriculum critically and rethink the way we present race and racial disparities” and “implement new health equity content in preclinical and clinical courses and exams.” The university vows it will “invest time in faculty training on implicit bias, microaggressions, racism, and health inequities.” Among other actions, UCSD will “develop an Antiracism Lab to dissect, explain and identify solutions to oppose racism and promote racial tolerance, equality and justice.” These actions are being integrated into a medical school that has enjoyed a reputation for excellence.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri is an example of a medical school much farther along in its promulgation of CRT. Founded in 1891 and long considered a top university in the U.S. and internationally, “Wash U” approved an “Anti-Racism statement and a school-wide Understanding Systemic Racism (USR) curriculum.” Diversity and bias training are required throughout the university’s seven schools, encompassing all faculty, staff, administrators, and students. It includes “training on systemic racism and white supremacy culture and how this impacts both education and health.”

Effort in Florida to curb CRT

Last April, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7 into law, dubbed the Stop Woke Act, “to protect Floridians from discrimination and woke indoctrination in the workplace and in public schools.” DeSantis said of HB 7: “[W]e will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida.”

However, in November a federal judge blocked the new law as the result of a suit brought against the state by a group of university professors and students. Despite this setback, the judge’s action has not stopped DeSantis’ efforts to rid Florida’s public institutions of CRT.

Some observers note that while muzzling conservative viewpoints and silencing dissenters on social media and elsewhere, the Left was quick to attack the Florida law as a violation of the First Amendment. Fox News reported that in striking it down, “Judge Mark Walker took shots at both sides for their arguments,” but he ultimately characterized HB 7 as “positively dystopian.”

The Obama-appointed Walker was “slammed on Twitter” for overturning the law and for calling professors “priests of democracy.” One user tweeted: “Our judiciary is a clown show.” Another posted: “How about they [the professors] try being ‘priests’ of calculus and basic English skills instead?”

Yet another Twitter user suggested that the ruling “was a warning that woke ideology is a dangerous foe to target.” He added: “Don’t you dare attack the new religion.”

‘Do No Harm’

Just days after the ruling, Fox News Digital called attention to a report by the organization Do No Harm that shows the lengths to which the University of Florida College of Medicine (UFCOM) is going to push CRT’s “destructive woke agenda on students.”

Do No Harm describes itself as “a diverse group of physicians, healthcare professionals, medical students, patients, and policymakers united by a moral mission: Protect healthcare from a radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology.” The group’s chairman, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, explains in a YouTube video posted on the Do No Harm website: We want to treat everyone as an individual, and in the best way possible. The radical ideology of ‘anti-racism’ is creating new barriers and bad practices that are endangering the health and wellbeing of everyone — including the people it claims to help.”

When Education Reporter reached out to Dr. Goldfarb for comment, he graciously responded with some additional thoughts:

• The woke agenda in healthcare and in medical education is particularly destructive for two reasons. First, focusing on equity in healthcare means discriminating; it means treating groups of patients differently based on nothing more than skin color. According to Dr. Ibram Kendi, the high priest of the woke religion, we must utilize current discrimination to remedy past discrimination. But patients should be seen as individuals and not as members of any racial or other group. The inevitable outcome will be increasing distrust of the healthcare system and therefore worse care for everyone.

He continued with his second reason for opposing CRT, calling out UFCOM specifically for a decline in the capability of incoming medical students due to the school’s preoccupation with diversity “rather than identifying the most qualified individuals who have performed in the most outstanding ways in their undergraduate studies and in their performance on achievement tests, [which are] good indicators of academic success in medical school. This focus on racial diversity replaces what should be the key focus on merit as the basis for entering medical school. Inevitably, this will mean a less capable healthcare workforce.”

Do No Harm’s report on UFCOM accuses the school of “indoctrinating its medical school graduates in divisive philosophies and other forms of social justice activism.” It maintains that this conditioning starts “the moment a prospective student begins exploring UFCOM, continues through the admissions process, and persists throughout the doctoral program. It further shows that UFCOM invests considerable resources into pushing CRT programs and curricula including the paid faculty and staff hired to advance them.

Do No Harm revealed that the main landing page of the UFCOM Office of Admissions displayed “a photograph of medical students with their fists high in the air, and holding a sign that reads #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives.” The report includes an image of the photo and caption, but when Education Reporter attempted to view the referenced page, it had apparently been taken down, possibly in response to the telling media coverage.

Florida colleges and universities capitulate

On December 28, Florida’s Director of Policy and Budget issued a memorandum to Commissioner of Higher Education Manny Diaz and Chancellor Ray Rodrigues requiring that each college and university system in the state provide “a comprehensive list of all staff, programs, and campus activities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and critical race theory.” The memo also demanded that details be provided on the “costs associated with the administration of each program or activity.” Diaz and Rodrigues and their departments were given a deadline of Friday, January 13, in which to respond.

On January 18, The Chronicle of Higher Education, among other news outlets, reported that “the presidents of Florida’s 28 state and community colleges” said in a statement that they would “identify and eliminate, by February 1,” any coursework or program “that compels belief in critical race theory or related concepts such as intersectionality.” The presidents affirmed they would remove “any programs, policies, or academic requirements” that promote or force students to believe “the idea that systems of oppression should be the primary lens through which teaching and learning are analyzed and/or improved upon.”

The joint statement was released at a Florida State Board of Education meeting, and admitted that the umbrella of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) was shielding “some initiatives and instruction” that “push ideologies such as critical race theory and its related tenets.”

This capitulation of Florida’s college and university presidents appears to indicate a clear victory for Governor Ron DeSantis and his vow that “Florida is where WOKE goes to die.” As Phyllis Schlafly Eagles leader John Schlafly noted: “At first glance, this seems to be a very positive development.”

While state legislators and attorneys general in many other states are taking steps to curb the advancement of CRT in education and business, Florida continues to position itself at the forefront of such efforts as this latest development clearly demonstrates. Evidently, Florida’s higher education officials recognized in a very timely manner that the governor’s demand for fiscal transparency would have revealed the presence of CRT at their institutions.

Conservative political pundits are also fueling the fire with their rhetoric against CRT. Fox News contributor, radio commentator, and civil rights attorney Leo Terrell called it “government-sponsored racism.” Writer, editor, and commentator Ben Domenech claimed on a recent Fox News Sunday broadcast that “other nations around the world are laughing at the United States for embracing the woke religion that is critical race theory.”

But those who are speaking out against CRT come from all walks of life and political viewpoints. They include former and current school board members, parents, social media activists, and some celebrities. Despite its entrenchment in the education establishment, along with deep-pocket funding by leftist donors and foundations, the climate may be ripe in 2023 for the phasing out of this divisive and discredited school of thought on university and college campuses, in K-12 classrooms, and in the nation’s medical schools.

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