Anti-DEI Laws Could Make the Black Doctor Shortage Even Worse

Red-state political agendas — and the Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action — threaten to keep promising Black students out of medical schools. by Jennifer Porter Gore Studies show Black patients’ health improves when their doctor looks like them, But with few Black doctors, the health of the community likely will suffer. By now, it’s clear: a shortage of Black doctors is shortening the lives of Black people. Stemming from Jim Crow-era oppression, politicians and activists have tried to address the shortage with plans ranging from more aid to STEM programs in Black schools to tuition-free medical schools.  But experts say new anti-diversity laws in states like Texas and Florida — coupled with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision dismantling affirmative action — are new hurdles to increasing the number of Black physicians.   And although the shortage is hampering Black community health, the issue has broader implications for the entire nation, from lost workplace productivity to increased healthcare costs.  “The cost of racial and ethnic health disparities is over $451 billion annually,” says Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a nonprofit focused on minority health. “So the cost of not having the political will to eliminate preventable...