I'm sorry, did I say "fired?" Very sloppy of me. They demanded his resignation which he submitted which is not at all like firing except for the whole unexpectedly-forced-out-of-a-job-thing.
His remarks came in part from a podcast titled, "Structural Racism for Doctors -- What is it?"
Don't bother looking for the podcast on the JAMA site, it has been deleted so as to protect those who are sensitive to views that do not track with their own in perfect lockstep.
The remarks, which we have been instructed by our betters to agree were extremely offensive, were made by Edward H. Livingston, MD, the Deputy Editor for Clinical Reviews and Education for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA):
Structural racism is an unfortunate term, personally, I think taking racism out of the conversation will help.
WHAT?!?!?!
Hold on, I think I need some more exclamation points.
!!!!!
That's better.
Keep in mind, this was a podcast that was intended to be a discussion about structural racism which as everyone knows means a recitation of neo-Marxist Critical Race Theory talking points.
I guess Livingston missed that memo.
Many of us are offended by the concept that we are racist.
WHAT?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Hopefully I expressed the sufficient amount of outrage that time.
Even that was not enough for this obvious Nazi racist Nazi (and yes, I know I said "Nazi" twice). He even had the gall to tweet about it and in so doing pose a provocative question intended to invite debate.
Hint: Debate is no longer permitted.
If you would like to lodge a complaint about that, you have every right to discuss this with your elected representatives assuming you can get past the razor wire and politely armed military garrison.
The tweet was also deleted in the long-standing American tradition that everyone has the right to freely express previously approved ideas.
Was his firing, er, "resignation," enough to placate the outrageously outraged?
Not so much, no.
An apology is not enough...
Is it ever?
"Literally sick to my stomach."
Literally!
If only there were a doctor who could take care of that.
Oh, right.
I didn't listen b/c honestly didn't want to be traumatized by the content.
Traumatized!
By an opinion.
Definitely the kind of level-headed professional I want seeing after my healthcare.
Take note.
Step out of line, you lose your job.
Note taken!
Racism is real. That can be true simultaneously with the notion that "structural" racism is not, particularly if you're talking about the woke left's boogeyman of structural racism, the white male.
If it were structural, if these were truly victims of powerful institutional forces oppressing them, they would not be doctors in the fist place, residing at the top of American society in terms of both income (averaging over $200,000 a year, more than three times the average American worker) and prestige.
Here is a table of the racial and ethnic makeup of the population.
Compare that to the racial and ethnic makeup of medical school graduates.
Or current practicing physicians. (Note the color code in this chart is different from the last one.)
The reality is that there is only one race that, as a percentage of the population, is over represented and it isn't white people, it's Asians.
As for men, well, they're falling behind too in the intersectionality sweepstakes.
As structural racism goes, the American medical establishment is really bad at it.
And yet if you try to click through to listen to the podcast at JAMA you get this bit of scolding.
Comments made in the podcast were inaccurate, offensive, hurtful, and inconsistent with the standards of JAMA. After careful consideration, I determined that the harms caused by the podcast outweighed any reason for the podcast to remain available on the JAMA Network. I once again apologize for the harms caused by this podcast and the tweet about the podcast.
Cute that they'd include a nod to the apocryphal physician's oath to "do no harm."
Not so cute that this "harm" they are addressing is the harm caused by opinions, and being done to people who are allegedly emotionally well-adjusted grown-up professionals.
The reality is that the actual podcast is totally inoffensive. It is an interesting, open conversation about the complexities of racism, and the ways in which racism has existed in the past, the way economic disparities play a role, and both participants appear broadly sympathetic to the notion that there are still structural issues that need to be addressed.
It is, in fact, pretty traditionally liberal in its thinking, thought provoking, and discusses how to take material steps to change things for the better rather than just engage in indulgent virtue signalling.
You can listen to it yourself, preserved in the Wayback machine. It's only about 16 minutes long.
And yet it doesn't matter.
It never matters once the woke mob is aroused, this particular mob complaining about a system that is keeping them down as they look on from their perch atop an American society that enabled their success.
Gave it a listen, they epicly failed with a shallow self-centered take from a white guy perspective.
"...from a white guy perspective."
Uh, huh.
