'Discrimination has no place in our society and certainly not in our federal government,' says Do No Harm Chair Dr Stanley Goldfarb
Flashback: Kamala Harris seeks to define 'equity vs. equality'
Vice President Harris, who has secured the Democratic nomination for president, made fighting for "equity" a large part of her role within the Biden administration.
An analysis of more than 80 "Equity Action Plans" released by federal agencies in accordance with President Biden's executive actions on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) revealed that the Biden-Harris administration embedded more than 500 DEI actions into the federal government.
Do No Harm, a nonprofit group aiming to keep identity politics out of the medical field, found more than 200 DEI-focused measures tied to conducting research and tied to grant-writing, procurement and contracts. Meanwhile, DEI-related staffing expansions, DEI-focused training and outreach focused on minority communities accounted for close to 200 of the DEI-focused measures found by Do No Harm, as well. The remaining actions fell into an "other" category, which included measures such as the implementation of "racial equity" meetings and initiatives aimed at "reimagin[ing] many of our food and agriculture programs from an indigenous perspective."
Thirty-six of the more than 500 actions that Do No Harm cited were directly related to medicine and health care policy.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and President Biden arrive at a campaign event at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
"Discrimination has no place in our society and certainly not in our federal government," said Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chair of Do No Harm. "This report documents hundreds of examples of harmful identity politics leading to government programs that treat people differently based on their race or sexual orientation."
Multiple Biden-Harris administration programs that sought to provide benefits based on immutable characteristics, such as race and sex, faced legal challenges in court and were ultimately forced to shut down.
For example, a federal judge blocked a Department of Agriculture program that gave preferences to farmers based on their sex and race, ruling that it discriminated against White male farmers. Meanwhile, a separate program aimed at providing restaurant owners with economic relief following the COVID-19 pandemic met a similar fate because it provided preference to candidates on the basis of gender and race.
Multiple diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives implemented by the Biden-Harris administration have faced legal challenges, and in some cases, have been forced to expand their benefits to candidates of all races and sexes. (Fox News Digital)
In addition to these programs, a federal judge also ruled recently that the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency can no longer refuse assistance to White applicants.
After Biden selected then-Sen. Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential running mate in 2020, the now-Democratic nominee for president argued that "there's a big difference between equality and equity."
FLASHBACK: KAMALA HARRIS HAS REPEATEDLY PUSHED ‘EQUITY’ VS. EQUALITY MESSAGE AS VP
"Equality suggests, ‘Oh, everyone should get the same amount’ … Equitable treatment means we all end up at the same place," Harris said in a video she shared on social media. At the time, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican, said that Harris' explanation of equality versus equity sounded "just like Karl Marx." Cheney is now a Harris surrogate.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, sits with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for a town hall at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on Oct. 21, 2024 in Royal Oak, Michigan. Cheney joined Vice President Harris for stops Monday in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. (Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
Harris echoed this messaging during a Black History Month event in February 2021.
"We must be clear-eyed about the fact that, yes, we want everyone to get an equal amount — that sounds right — but not everyone starts out from the same place," Harris said at the event. "Some people start out on first base; some people start out on third base. And if the goal is truly about equality, it has to be about a goal of saying everybody should end up in the same place. And since we didn’t start in the same place. Some folks might need more: equitable distribution."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
