$5 million handed out to find out if teaching ‘racial equity consciousness’ helps

Amid the agenda imposed on Americans under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration of racist ideology, Critical Race Theory, diversity programs and such, one of the new creations was the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute at the University of Pittsburgh.

It was to fight racism by “understanding” the “complex and pervasive ways it operates” and then teach people about a “racial equity consciousness framework” by giving them “guides, videos, articles” and more.

The founder, Ron Idoko, formerly of the school’s “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” office, has said is work is successful and that “he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from hundreds of participants and has also seen behavioral changes firsthand.”

But, according to a report from Judicial Watch, there’s “no material evidence.”

So the solution, like most solutions in higher education, is to have American taxpayers spend money, in this case $5 million, “to research the effectiveness” of the special center.

Center promoters say “it is essential because ‘systemic racism is an endemic public health crisis in the United States that has a profoundly negative impact on the mental and physical health of millions of people—focally, people of color.'”

Then, too, RECI reports “racism is a ‘social virus’ that metastasizes through a web of systems that sustains a reinforcing preponderance of racial inequities across multiple sectors of society.”

“The institute claims to teach individuals about the racial equity consciousness framework by using narrative guides, videos, articles, open discussion and collaborative activities. To develop racial equity consciousness the institute teaches how to recognize racial oppression and advance racial liberation, examine racial identities and address racial biases, embrace racial diversity, and grow racial literacy, build racial empathy, and enhance racial stamina, acknowledge racial trauma, and foster racial healing, and gauge racial inequities and champion racial justice,” the Judicial Watch report explained.

“This helps recognize histories and impacts of racial inequity, embraces the inclusion of all racial identity groups, builds compassionate connections across racial differences, and acknowledges emotional, mental, and physical impacts of racial oppression, among other things.”

It addresses “thoughts, feelings and behaviors” through what is called a “structured cognitive behavioral training,” which apparently is a therapy that “is designed to help individuals and communities actively develop and embody distinct cognitive behavioral traits toward racial equity through structured learning and practice.”

Its website explains every person newly “committed to antiracism” then becomes “a source of positive change that radiates out into the world.”

Judicial Watch reported, “Sounds fantastic but there is no concrete evidence that it is working. The research funded by the [National Institutes of Health] will focus on identifying the effectiveness of RECI training as well as other bias drills on diversity and attitudes that perpetuate systemic racism in healthcare outcomes, especially among marginalized communities.”

Among the tests to be used is Magnetic Resonance Imaging which “looks for structural brain changes before and after the program.”

So, Judicial Watch documented, “Uncle Sam will dole out millions to see if the institute actually helps combat the public health crisis of systemic racism.”