A lecturer was seen telling Washington University of St. Louis medical students not to debate her on issues regarding ‘systemic oppression’ during an anti-racism training session, according to footage obtained by Fox News.
Kaytlin Reedy-Rogier is the lecturer who made the remarks this past semester at Washington University, where she is also a co-lead and community engagement instructor on the school’s Understanding Systemic Racism Team. In addition, she holds a master’s in social work.
In the footage, Reedy-Rogier warns Washington University medical students she would not tolerate differing views on ‘systemic oppression,’ despite saying moments earlier that she is not opposed to hearing opposing opinions.
“I have a really hard time being neutral around issues of systemic oppression,” said Reedy-Rogier. “So oftentimes you will know how I feel. This does not mean that I am opposed to hearing other perspectives. I would like to be very clear about that: I am always willing to engage in dialogue with folks that may disagree with me. Always.”
“And I will not think less of you, nor will I try to fight you or debate you. And in fact, if you try to fight me or debate me, I will shut that s*** down real fast,” she added.
Reedy-Rogier’s lesson was part of the medical school’s “Health Equity & Justice” lessons introduced in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, and the Black Lives Matter riots.
Around the same time, the medical school also committed to partnering with the Washington University Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), which would provide training to faculty on “systemic racism and white supremacy culture and how this impacts both education and health.”
In addition to warning students not to debate her, Reedy-Rogier also asked students to examine what it means to be an “anti-racist” and how they could actively be one, Fox News reported.
“We are very firm in race being a social construct, and that that [Sic] has implications for how we practice medicine. That has implications for how we understand research, and that has implications for how we understand health disparity,” the lecture said.
“And so when we are asking you all to engage in this, we’re really asking you to think about your own identities, and what that means to be anti-racist, which is an active stance in medicine that we know has a really bad racism issue,” she added.
The controversial race remarks come amid a major push by the American health establishment to push critical race theory into medicine world, including medical schools.
As Breitbart News reported, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) released new standards this summer requiring students to obtain “competencies” in “white privilege,” “anti-colonialism,” and “race as a social construct.”
The standards presented by the AAMC are significant because the organization controls medical school accreditations and administers the MCAT — the medical college admissions test.
You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.