The country continues to enter uncharted waters as what are supposed to be nonpartisan government health and law enforcement agencies are politicized by the American left.
If you were to poll a group of random people and ask them what they thought of the FBI, odds are, you’d hear a great deal about the agency being used as the law enforcement wing of the Democratic Party.
Likewise for the upper echelons of the U.S. military, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies.
Despite the hard-working and honorable rank-and-file people doing great work to protect us from tangible threats, the appearance of left-wing bias has harmed these institutions — and for good reason. The trust is evaporating.
Now, even the science that Democrats claim to care so much about has become hyper-political.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, now under the direction of President Joe Biden’s appointee Dr. Rochelle Walensky, has taken time away from addressing infectious diseases and other legitimate public health risks to chime in on racism.
In fact, the CDC officially declared racism as a public health threat in a statement Thursday.
“Today, Rochelle P. Walensky MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), declared racism a serious public health threat,” the agency said in a news release.
“Adding action to words, she highlighted several new efforts CDC is leading to accelerate its work to address racism as a fundamental driver of racial and ethnic health inequities in the United States. She also unveiled a new website “Racism and Health” that will serve as a hub for the agency’s efforts and a catalyst for greater education and dialogue around these critical issues,” it said.
Walensky herself then issued a statement to needlessly throw gasoline on the fire that race relations in this country have become.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the death of over 500,000 Americans. Tens of millions have been infected,” Walensky said. “And across this country people are suffering.
“Importantly, these painful experiences and the impact of COVID-19 are felt, most severely, in communities of color — communities that have experienced disproportionate case counts and deaths, and where the social impact of the pandemic has been most extreme.”
Biden’s political appointee for an agency that has a mission of protecting public health then claimed the coronavirus pandemic “illuminated inequities that have existed for generations and revealed for all of America a known, but often unaddressed, epidemic impacting public health: racism.”
“What we know is this: racism is a serious public health threat that directly affects the well-being of millions of Americans,” Walensky said. “As a result, it affects the health of our entire nation.
“Racism is not just the discrimination against one group based on the color of their skin or their race or ethnicity, but the structural barriers that impact racial and ethnic groups differently to influence where a person lives, where they work, where their children play, and where they worship and gather in community.”
What does the CDC intend to do to alter what exists only in the hearts and minds of people?
Well, throw money at it, of course. What else is there to do if not waste money?
“With COVID-19 funding, we are making new and expanded investments in racial and ethnic minority communities and other disproportionately affected communities around the country, establishing a durable infrastructure that will provide the foundation and resources to address disparities related to COVID-19 and other health conditions,” the agency said.
This announcement, of course, has nothing to do with science or with winning the left’s beloved fight against perceived social inequities.
This is about silencing dissent to the left’s narrative that this country is irredeemably prejudiced against people of color.
The CDC has now declared racism a widespread public health threat. If you disagree with that assessment, you’ll be branded a science denier — and probably a racist.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.