Who is Sherita Hill Golden? Johns Hopkins Medicine sparks outrage over DEI chief's hit list of privileged individuals

Recently, Sherita Hill Golden, the Chief Diversity Officer at Johns Hopkins Medicine, sent out an email to the faculty members, declaring a certain section of people as “privileged,” reported the New York Post.

Trigger warning: This article mentions discriminatory language. Readers' discretion is advised.

Now being deemed the DEI (Diversity, [Health] Equity, and Inclusion) Chief’s “hit list,” the correspondence called certain social groups, including white people, men, Christians, middle-aged individuals, able-bodied people, English speakers, middle or owning classes, heteros*xuals, and cisgender people, “privileged.”

“Privilege is characteristically invisible to people who have it. People in dominant groups often believe they have earned the privileges they enjoy or that everyone could have access to these privileges if only they worked to earn them,” her email, which was a “monthly diversity digest” also added.

As soon as Sherita Hill Golden’s email went viral after it was posted on X by @EndWokeness, it sparked mass outrage online.

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In brief, exploring who Dr. Sherita Hill Golden is

Apart from being the Chief Diversity Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine, Dr. Sherita Hill Golden is also its Vice President. As per Times Now News, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Maryland, followed by a health science master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Later, she acquired her Ph.D. in Medicine from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Thereafter, she joined the internal medicine department at the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where she did her residency. Golden also earned her fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Apart from being a practicing physician, Dr. Sherita also researched the health services concerning diabetes epidemiology and disparities in the field. She is also the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Walter Reed Distinguished Achievement Award given by the Medical Alumni Association in collaboration with the Medical School Foundation at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the 2019 Distinguished Alumna Award from the latter.

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“She's got a lot of privilege”: Internet puts Sherita Hill Golden under fire for her “privileged” individuals list

Dr. Sherita Hill Golden recently sent out a monthly newsletter via an email to the staff titled, “Diversity is the word of the Month” where she mentioned certain sections of society as “privileged.”

On it, she also defined “privilege” as “a set of unearned benefits given to people who are in a specific social group” and which works on “personal, interpersonal, cultural, and institutional levels.”

“Privileges are unearned and are granted to people in the dominant groups whether they want those privileges or not, and regardless of their stated intent,” Golden added.

However, what stirred up controversy online was the list she declared as “privileged”.

In the wake of this list emerging on the internet, people have slammed Sherita Hill Golden. While some pointed out that she too was “privileged” as she was a Black woman in a powerful position who could send out such a controversial email, others demanded her cancellation for being allegedly discriminatory.

Here are some of the comments in this regard from under @EndWokeness’ tweet.

Besides the mass outrage, certain A-listers also criticized Sherita Hill Golden. For instance, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X reposted @EndWokeness’ post and captioned, “This must end.”

Likewise, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. also took to X to condemn the DEI Chief of Johns Hopkins, saying that the “rot and racism” has “taken over virtually every institution” and it needed to be stopped now.

Notably, Golden later retracted her definition of being “privileged” via a memo, but not the list of social groups, as obtained by The Daily Mail. She even issued a mea culpa to her staff in the face of the backlash.

She clarified how the email intended to make the Johns Hopkins community more “inclusive,” but since it was “overtly simplistic and poorly worded”, had a reverse effect.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Johns Hopkins Medicine also addressed the issue and said the email stood against the “values” of the institution, in a statement to the press.