Mostly Black Federal Health Workers Targeted On Right-Wing ‘DEI Watch List’

Black federal health workers have expressed fear after a right-wing group published the ‘DEI watch list,’ which published the images, names, and public information of numerous workers across different health agencies.

NBC reported that the website is being shared among several private group chats of federal health workers across agencies and social media links, as stated by a government worker. The majority of the website’s employees are Black workers from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the American Public Health Association, discovered the website on Tuesday 4th, February, after a federal health worker sent it to him. “This is a scare tactic to try to intimidate people who are trying to do their work and do it admirably,” he said.

What is the DEI watch list?

The DEI watch list includes information about workers from different health agencies. It has details such as workers’ salaries and what it calls “DEI offenses,” like donating to Democratic candidates, screenshots of social media posts, using pronouns in their bios, and engaging in a DEI effort taken away from a federal site. At one point, the website describes them as “targets.” 

The website says it is “a project of the American Accountability Foundation” (AAF), a conservative watchdog group. The organization’s president, Thomas Jones, said its mission is to track down senior civil servants in the federal government who promote the “pernicious influence of the DEI ideology” in their agencies.

Federal healthcare workers feeling threatened.

The website comes after “threatening” memos sent to public health workers from HHS, including Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees, urging staff workers to stop engaging in activities, jobs, or research associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Afrotech reported that a CDC physician found the tone in the memo “aggressive,” and it asked employees to report co-workers who do not abide by these orders.

Federal healthcare workers feel scared and threatened by AAF. One federal worker told The Guardian, “What AAF does not understand is that health equity is key to ensuring that cancer patients from all backgrounds have the best possible chance to beat this terrible disease.”

Image: Getty/J David Ake