On April 27, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article written by seven academics, doctors, and students at the University of California, San Francisco. It called for the segregation of medical students on the basis of race.

There was a time when this sort of racial animus would have been immediately and forcefully condemned by every corner of society. Today, however, pursued under the guise of "equity," it gets a free pass.

Some of the article’s claims sound like parody: segregating students will serve "as part of a broader antiracism and anti-oppression curriculum"; medical education was "founded on legacies of colonialism and racism" and has "historically centered white learners and continues to perpetuate structural racism." We're also told that white people must "be held accountable without burdening or retraumatizing BIPOC colleagues"; black students should be able to speak up without having "to care for the egos of white people" or worry about "white fragility"; and more similar nonsense.

It seems like degrading white students (and Asian students) for the color of their skin has become a staple of academia in America today. From affirmative action in admissions to critical race theory and allegations of "systemic racism," to DEI initiatives and school-sanctioned racial student clubs, and even racially-segregated dorms , the old scourge of racist policies which we once beat back are merely taking on new forms.

One of the things I came to understand during my time as a pediatric neurosurgeon was that when I entered the operating room and opened up a person’s skull, I knew I was operating on the organ that actually makes the person who they are. It is the brain that gives us the ability to exercise our gift of reason, analyze the world around us, and engage with each other in our shared search for truth. My experiences in surgery quickly taught me that it is not the skin color, or hair texture, or eye color, or any other external feature that forms the essence of a human being; it is the brain and the heart, and on the inside, those all look the same.

This divisive push for racial segregation in our schools serves only to benefit those on the Left who are intent on creating strife and division in our society. In fact, there is so much material and information to learn in medical school, it has been said the first two years alone are like trying to learn eight languages at once. The sort of woke nonsense behind the push to re-segregate our schools doesn’t benefit the medical industry or society as a whole, and it certainly doesn’t benefit the students themselves when their focus should be on their medical studies, rather than politics.

Articles like these, written by accomplished academics and published in respected medical journals, are not a sign of progress but rather of regress. Over the course of my lifetime, we have made so much progress on the racial front. Only in America could a black child born to a single mother grow up to become a pediatric neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and Cabinet Secretary.

Americans of all stripes should be sickened by the new segregation that is spreading throughout our schools, and by the divisive racial ideologies that are being pushed through every single one of our institutions. For the sake of future generations of Americans, we should once again do everything in our power to get rid of them.

Our Founding documents promise us equal rights under the law, grounded in our shared equality as children of God. We have fought wars, led marches, and inspired movements to affirm this truth throughout our history. Now is no time to let this noble principle die — even if it's being sold as "equity."

Dr. Ben Carson serves as Founder and Chairman of the  American Cornerstone Institute .