Newly leaked documents from Seattle Children’s Hospital have sparked outrage after revealing that the hospital segregated its gastroenterology staff by race during mandatory diversity training in August 2022. The training, which was part of a larger effort to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), divided participants into three racial groups: White, Black, and “non-Black people of color (POC).”
The training sessions, which spanned four workshops, were intended to explore “racial identity development” and encourage “race-consciousness” among staff. White participants were tasked with “divesting” from their “Whiteness” and reflecting on “repressed racial memories,” while Black participants were asked to consider how they resist internalizing anti-Black messages. Non-Black POC participants were told that Black individuals face greater susceptibility to structural racism than other people of color.
The training was overseen by Roberto Montenegro, a child psychiatrist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, who advocates for a “social justice lens” in his work. The involvement of external diversity trainers, including Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility, has further fueled criticism of the training as promoting a divisive and ideological agenda.
Stanley Goldfarb, founder of the organization Do No Harm, condemned the training, calling it “ideological indoctrination” that could polarize both healthcare professionals and patients. “There’s no evidence that they will improve health care, but rather serve to further polarize patients and physicians,” Goldfarb stated.
The incident is part of a broader controversy surrounding the implementation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and DEI programs in professional settings, particularly in healthcare. Critics argue that such initiatives could compromise the commitment to impartial care by encouraging racial bias among medical professionals.
Seattle Children’s Hospital has not yet responded to the leak, but the training’s revelation has ignited a nationwide debate on the place of DEI and CRT in healthcare and other critical sectors.
