Commentary

UK College of Medicine’s Sneaky Woke Racial Discrimination

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • October 17, 2023
  • University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Sneaky. That’s the only way to describe what’s happening at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. The medical school knows that racial discrimination is unconstitutional, yet it’s so woke, it’s trying to find a way to keep discriminating without admitting it. Kentucky lawmakers should take note.

Some background: For more than a year, Do No Harm has filed federal civil rights complaints against medical schools that offer racially discriminatory scholarships. These scholarships are typically available to people who are “under-represented in medicine,” with a clear focus on Black and Hispanic applicants. What’s more, they explicitly ban Whites and Asians from applying, which violates the Constitution. To date, Do No Harm has successfully ended this racial discrimination at two dozen medical schools and counting.

But UK’s medical school doesn’t want to stop. Its “White Coats for Black Lives” fellowship has been designed in a way that all but guarantees racial discrimination without admitting it. (For the record: It’s named after an organization, “White Coats for Black Lives,” that’s spewing anti-Semitic hatred.) While the fellowship says that “all current first-year medical students are eligible to apply,” it also requests a personal statement designed to weed out applicants who aren’t the right race.

Figure 1. University of Kentucky College of Medicine “White Coats for Black Lives Fellowship” (archived page).

Most notably: Applicants should “describe if they meet criteria for an under-represented in medicine.” In other words, if you have the right skin color, tell us, and you’ll increase your likelihood of getting the fellowship without UK having to say it’s only for people of certain races.

The application also asks applicants to “detail service or leadership in social justice organizations and/or organizations focused on healthcare equity.” Applicants can further show their “commitment to addressing health disparities and/or healthcare inequities within the African-American community.” Once again, the goal is clearly to find applicants who are Black without being so explicit.

Scholarships and fellowships like these are usually touted as a way to tackle racial health disparities. Yet while disparities are real, the best way to ensure that everyone has the best outcomes is by focusing on merit. We need the best doctors, regardless of race. And no one needs merit-based recruiting more than patients suffering from health disparities.

The UK College of Medicine may think it’s found a legal loophole, but that’s all the more reason for Kentucky lawmakers to close it. Sneaky racial discrimination is still racial discrimination – and racial discrimination is always wrong.

Does your medical school discriminate by race to advance the woke agenda? Please let us know – securely and anonymously.