FOX NEWS INVESTIGATES – Weill Cornell Medicine, a top medical institution in the United States, provides a “critical race theory” course for faculty and students which amplified negative narratives about America and was created “in collaboration” with a Hong Kong-based university which China has been exercising increasing control over.
Fox News Digital probed into a course created by The Center for Health Equity (CCHEq) at Cornell’s medical school and found radical antiracism training that extends far beyond a mission to eliminate disparities in health and facilitate diversity, equity and inclusion.
The course, which isn’t mandatory, trained attendees into becoming “woke” activists. It even amplified defenses of violent uprising – the burning of businesses – in the name of racial justice.
Cornell University, like many institutions of higher education, has accelerated its DEI since the 2020 murder of George Floyd. For example, its medical institution has outlined a plan, reviewed by Fox News Digital, to implement race-focused hiring and promotions.
“This is naked racial discrimination and… a blueprint for racially segregated health care. In proposal after proposal, attempts to achieve quotas for individuals of minority communities as opposed to providing opportunity for the best and brightest unrelated to their racial background,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb of Do No Harm said. “No institution should pursue The Cornell plan.”
The plan by the “Racial Justice and Equity Taskforce,” formulated by CCHEq leaders, also stresses how it will push equity content into 50% of its medical school lectures by 2025.
CRITICAL RACE THEORY ‘WOKE’ ACTIVISM TRAINING
Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq) Racial Allyship Training Course was created for faculty, students and researchers by some of the medical school’s DEI staff. CCHEq has said in a 2019 report that the center represents the values of Cornell University as a whole and has been involved in crafting the curriculum at the medical institution.
Its definition of “woke,” according to the course, is to be “alert to injustice in society, especially racism.” The critical race theory training was originally intended for White students and teachers at Cornell so that they can use their privilege to work “in solidarity… to help take down the [oppressive] systems.”
The course was designed to be “emotionally challenging” and “uncomfortable.”
It notably presents far-left political ideology as statements of fact. For example, the institution of medicine and science definitively claims that “White privilege” exists and includes literature which blasts the idea of succeeding on merit as a “myth.”
“Statements which assert that race does not play a role in life successes” is a “microaggression,” the literature said. Examples of offensive statements included saying things like “I believe the most qualified person should get the job” and “Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough.”
Another microaggression is “The notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant / White culture are ideal.”
The course called on students to “Decenter Whiteness and prioritize marginalized voices,” and later asks students to develop activism plans after they have adopted the DEI messages in the training.
DISRUPTING ‘WHITE SPACES’ AND POLITICAL NARRATIVES
The training called for students to reflect on a time when a White person’s voice had too much presence.
“When people exist in White spaces and see things they believe to be threatening to those spaces they often exhibit microaggressive behavior,” it said. “Think of a recent incident where there was an opportunity for a BIPOC (Black, Indigigenous, people of color) to be heard, where a White person grabbed the microphone. As an ally, how can you intervene in a situation like this?”
One of the modules instructed students how to rebut someone disagreeing with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling for the national anthem on the basis of it being disrespectful to the military.
“Joe reminds Seth [who disagrees with Kaepernick] that he has a lot of respect for the military, which is why he supports Kaepernick. He goes on to share with his friends that Kaepernick had sought out advice from veterans about the most respectful way to protest. Joe also takes care not to stress the point (to avoid defensive reactions),” it said.
‘UNLEARNING’ AND AMPLIFYING DEFENSE OF BLM VIOLENCE
The course said K-12 education was “incomplete” as it failed to teach more about deep systemic oppression BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) experience. The course said students must “unlearn,” meaning to “discard… from one’s memory” old ideas.
For example, it taught attendees to undermine most judgments they may deem on the basis of a person’s character, and to focus on understanding behavior on the basis of historical oppression.
To drive home the idea of not judging character, the course presented commentary by activist Kimberly Jones in which she expressed indifference, and even support, to burning down neighborhoods during civil unrest.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of things…[of] people making commentary about we should not be rioting, we should not be looting, we should not be tearing up our own community. And then there’s been an argument of… we should be hitting them in the pocket… But, you know, I feel like we should do both,” she said.
She proceeded to explain that the social contract theory between citizen and government was broken, and therefore she supported looting and destruction.
“So the social contract is broken. And if the social contract is broken, remember why the f—k give a s–t about burning the f—ing [neighborhood]. You broke the contract when you killed us in the streets and didn’t give a f–k.”
She went on to explain that America, as an oppressive country, is actively blocking Black people from succeeding.
“[Black people] can’t win. The game is fixed. So when they say, Why did you burn down the community? Why do you burn down your own neighborhood? It’s not ours. We don’t own anything. We don’t own anything,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, they could burn this b—h to the ground.”
“So f–k your Target,” she said, referring to the stores that were destroyed during the riots. “As far as I’m concerned, they could burn this b—h to the ground and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
The course then asked attendees to keep Jones’ commentary in mind when they viewed the next video of a Black woman on a plane.
The woman was yelling at White people about their supposed “White privilege,” asserting she was a “queen” and must be listened to. The flight attendant was, at the time, asking the passenger to allow her through so she could go to the bathroom. But the woman refused to move.
“Note that we’re not focusing on whether she was right or wrong to behave the way she did, but rather on some of the societal realities of marginalized and minoritized people that created circumstances that led to her behavior,” the training said.
“Reflecting on the circumstances that could have led to her actions does not mean she wasn’t wrong. Rather, it gives us a way to 1) Avoid judging her character, and 2) Acknowledge the role of historical and current societal racism as a dominant influence on her choices.”
It then asked students to justify the disruptive behavior on the plane on the basis of purported systemic racism.
“Can you formulate some statements that acknowledge the influence of societal racism on this woman’s circumstances as a contributor to her behavior, without judging her character or her actions as right or wrong? Pay attention to how difficult it is to avoid judging her character or whether her actions were right or wrong.”
“If you are still feeling yourself having difficulty refocusing your attention on the circumstances and not the rightness or wrongness of the behavior, think of another event and practice ‘undoing… [the] error,'” it said.
FUNDING FROM FOREIGN ACTORS
The Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq), which runs the course, has accepted tax dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services for one of its diversity agendas while simultaneously working with a foreign actor.
CCHEq created the CRT course in collaboration with the City University of Hong Kong (CUHK), an institution that China has exercised increasing control over. Cornell University has an active $10M+ contract with CUHK which spans from 2019-2029, according to U.S. Department of Education database.
China has increased control at CUHK and other Hong Kong universities, causing faculty to leave their positions in an extensive exodus, according to an article from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The positions at the Hong Kong-based institutions have been filled, in part, by Chinese nationals.
China has generally been cracking down on freedoms in Hong Kong.
“Since the imposition of the National Security Law on June 30, 2020, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has demonstrated an intent to use the law to target a broad range of activities such as… collusion with foreign entities,” according to the State Department.
After the law was implemented, almost every facet of the once independent enclave – including education – was radically transformed under Beijing’s agenda in just over a month.
Cornell University has also accepted 10M+ in foreign gifts from China.
Questions have been raised generally, especially by Republicans on Capitol Hill, about whether China has an influence in peddling anti-American narratives at influential institutions of higher learning, and in particular, whether the hostile communist actor may have interests in spreading critical race theory.
“[The] CCP is the biggest threat to America,” Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., who represents a large Asian American bloc, previously told Fox News Digital.
Steele also told Fox News she would support institutions of higher learning accepting foreign gifts registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a U.S. law that imposes public disclosure obligations on persons and principals representing foreign interests.
Hostile actors – such as China and Qatar – spend hundreds of millions on U.S. universities annually in what has been dubbed a “black hole” of influence due to 70% noncompliance with laws surrounding reporting foreign gifts and the Department of Education’s failure to enforce the law.
Cornell University didn’t respond to a request for comment.
