Via The College Fix,
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine on Wednesday rescinded an email sent recently from its diversity, equity and inclusion chief that called white, Christian, English-speaking people privileged, among several other “social identity groups,” according to screenshots of the memo posted on X.
Others listed on the privileged list included: able-bodied people, heterosexuals, cisgender people, middle or owning class people, and middle-aged people.
The January 2024 memo was sent Dr. Sherita Golden, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s chief diversity officer and a professor of medicine, who listed “privilege” as the “diversity word of the month.”
It was sent to employees, according to End Wokeness, the X account that posted the screenshots.
The DEI memo stated in part that “privileges are unearned and are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want that privilege or not, and regardless of their stated intent.”
The post on X went viral — viewed more than 29 million times in the span of 24 hours — and was widely ridiculed.
The top comment stated:
Another popular response stated:
The post even prompted a reaction from Elon Musk, who stated:
The backlash prompted Golden to apologize for her memo, a screenshot of which was also posted on X by the End Wokeness account.
She called her letter “overly simplistic and poorly worded” and retracted the memo, which she acknowledged was “hurtful.”
In a statement Thursday to The National Desk, a Johns Hopkins Medicine spokesperson said the memo did not represent its values:
Johns Hopkins is no stranger to advancing DEI, with anti-racism and racial justice trainings and a recommended reading list of progressive, pro-critical race theory books, for example.