House Republicans want to punish medical schools with DEI programs

Conservatives have sounded like modern-day segregationists in their crusade to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which are designed to help schools and workplaces equip students and employees with tools to succeed in an increasingly diverse world. And the latest target of House Republicans’ push to ban these programs is medical schools.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., introduced a bill Tuesday that would prevent medical schools that provide DEI programs from receiving federal funds. The ironically named EDUCATE Act (short for Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth in Education) has dozens of Republican co-sponsors, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Ronny Jackson of Texas. If passed, the measure would effectively block medical schools from promoting diversity or teaching courses essential to understanding how patients from different backgrounds might require more tailored medical assistance.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Murphy said the bill would bar what he called “racist teaching,” which he claimed includes lessons about “intersectionality,” “colonization,” and focuses on disparate health outcomes for Black and brown people. He also said the bill would bar “racial discrimination,” which he suggested includes things like scholarships for nonwhite students and student-led organizations for marginalized groups (like these). In fact, merely having a diversity, equity and inclusion office could result in a school losing federal funding under Murphy’s law. 

This bill may not even come to a vote in the House, there’s no way it passes the Senate, and I’m fully confident President Joe Biden wouldn’t sign it. So what we have here appears to be what they call a “messaging bill.”

So let’s discuss how dumb the message is.

Here in the U.S., we live in a multiracial society. Ignoring that fact — or openly defying it — doesn’t make Americans any safer. In the medical field, a focus on diversity and giving consideration to how social forces affect various groups differently has been shown to improve outcomes for patients, for the communities they come from and for society as a whole. The Department of Health and Human Services has an entire institute that can explain how the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion contributes to better overall public health. 

Murphy and his fellow Republicans ought to talk with experts and (ahem) educate themselves, rather than hurting people with their ignorance. Because contrary to what Murphy has claimed, DEI policies don’t “sacrifice the excellence and quality of medical education,” but killing them does.