CA Reparations Task Force Calls for Mandatory ‘Anti-Bias’ Training for Medical Students
California’s reparations task force, formed by the state legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom, has called for mandatory “anti-bias training” for medical school students across the state to become a graduation requirement. The task force also insisted that an assessment should be completed by med-students which would determine whether or not they meet the anti-bias criteria prescribed by the progressive task force.
In addition to recommending that anti-bias training become a graduation requirement for medical schools, the task force also believes that the training would be necessary for dental schools as well. Several federal and state laws already prevent medical providers from discriminating against patients on any basis, including race, sexual orientation, identity, age, and other criteria, with narrow exemptions for doctors’ religious beliefs.
“To address discrimination against African Americans in health care, the task force recommends… the completion of an evidence-based anti-bias training and an assessment based on such training to the graduation requirements of all medical schools and any other medical care provider programs in California receiving state funding and not already covered, including mental health professional programs (psychologists, Ph.D, or Psy.D), masters-level programs in psychology or therapy (for counselors, clinicians, and therapists), and programs for clinical social workers.”
CA reparations task force, Fox News
To fully attain health equity for black residents, the task force has also called for a universal, single-payer healthcare system with cost control, “with a special consideration for those who are descendants of persons enslaved in the United States.”
According to Fox News, California lawmakers previously “tried and failed” to create a universal healthcare system, and the state now offers low-income residents Medi-Cal, a version of the national Medicaid program. The task force recommended “increases to the Medi-Cal reimbursement rates to achieve parity with the reimbursement rates of private insurance.”
To support this recommendation, the task force claimed that “African American communities have suffered major gaps in health care delivery,” as a result of “discrimination, disempowerment, and neglect.” Additionally, they asserted that racial disparities in health outcomes are a result of “constant stress from chronic exposure to social and economic disadvantage, which leads to accelerated decline in physical health.” They concluded that “through implicit biases and racism, the health care system treats Black Californians differently.”
“Under the task force’s plan, the Office of Health Equity would administer an annual $115 million grant program ‘to address health disparities, focusing on social determinants of health.'”
Fox News
The task force is comprised of nine social justice warriors, known for their fealty to the progressive movement.
In 2021, Dr. Amos C. Brown, the Vice-Chair of the reparations task force and pastor at Third Baptist Church of San Francisco, wrote an article titled, “Southern Baptists need a vaccine for racism.” In the article, he condemned the Southern Baptist Convention for outwardly stating that it would not endorse critical race theory (CRT), calling the convention’s explanation as to why it opposed CRT “not only weak but false.” Brown wrote, “Despite having 175 years to reconsider and repent their racist foundation, the choice Southern Baptists made at their seminaries in 2020 continues to build on that foundation.”
The Third Baptist Church of San Francisco also happens to be the home church of Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. The church’s Twitter account has made several posts regarding reparations and COVID-19 “misinformation” from nearby Catholic churches and even lists their head pastor’s scholarly degrees in the biography section.
Task force member Dr. Cheryl Grills is a Ph.D. and clinical psychologist who has written several research papers affiliated with her alma mater, Loyola Marymount University, including one which claimed that the “COVID‐19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color.”
California’s reparations task force was created for the sole purpose of recommending new and radical ways the state can overhaul society, pushing the Overton Window ever more left.
