‘Health Equity’ Fellowship from Medicine Journal Discriminates Against White Applicants

A “health equity” fellowship program hosted by a health policy journal specifically excludes white applicants. 

Health Affairs, which describes itself as “the leading journal of health policy thought and research,” hosted a “health equity” fellowship program that excluded white applicants on the basis of their race. 

Called the “Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees,” the program seeks to “advance racial equity in health policy and health services scholarly publishing.”

More specifically, the goal of the program is to “increase the quality and quantity of racial equity-related research published in the journal authored by members of racial and ethnic groups that have historically been underrepresented in scholarly publishing.”

The program, which has been archived, engages in anti-white discrimination under the guise of “health equity.” 

Under the section “Application Eligibility,” the site explains that in order to be considered  applicants must “Identify as American Indian/Alaskan Native, African American/Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, and Hispanic/Latino.”

Though the fellowship does not provide financial compensation, fellows are given a number of professional opportunities. The description explains that fellows will be given “one-on-one mentorship from health equity researchers who have published in Health Affairs,” as well as “One-on-one guidance from Health Affairs editorial staff to increase the likelihood that the fellow’s submitted manuscript will be accepted for publication in Health Affairs or another journal.”

Fellows will also receive a “Free one-year membership to Health Affairs Insider, an all access digital pass to everything Health Affairs including special educational opportunities designed to support their research and career advancement.”

“Mentors work with fellows to make manuscript submissions by fellows more likely to be published in the journal,” it also notes.

The discriminatory fellowship is just one aspect of Health Affairs’s health equity agenda. The journal’s position on health equity is articulated in a blog post from Alan Weil, the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs. 

“Where there is racism, only anti-racist systems can generate equitable results. Dismantling institutional racism and building equitable systems takes time, effort, and courage,” the post reads.

Weil goes on to say, “We acknowledge our part in the long tradition of treating race and ethnicity as explanatory variables in quantitative analysis without situating those results in the context of racism and white supremacy.”

“We are aware that racism is a systemic phenomenon and that eliminating individual prejudices and biases, even if it were possible, would not be enough to dismantle racist structures.”

He also references Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein, who lauded Health Affairs as “the bible of health policy” over a decade ago, apparently signaling the journal’s prestige.  

Breitbart News has reported on the wide-reaching movement, encapsulated by the term “health equity,” to embed racial preferences in the health care system.

Health Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. 

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com