Watchdog Says CDC Tool Fuels ‘DEI Redlining’ For Free Zones, Calls For Change

FIRST ON FOX: The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), a conservative legal group, is calling on the Trump administration to remove race from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) “Social Vulnerability Index,” which groups say is used by liberals to direct funding to communities based on race.

WILL refers to what was happening as “DEI redlining” in its letter to the Trump administration at the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They say the tool helps localities prioritize Black and Hispanic neighborhoods over White neighborhoods because of racial differences, without any other factors, such as poverty.

“In the name of ‘racial equity,’ local officials are prioritizing certain areas of the country for public safety, park improvements, closing public swimming pools, broadband access, safe drinking water, and disaster relief,” the letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC Acting Director Jim O’Neill. “And these governments point to the CDC’s SVI as a reason to spend their money on race.”

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Among the various examples the group highlights is Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s state parks department, which states on its website that the Milwaukee Parks Foundation “works to reduce or eliminate racial disparities by investing in and operating parks that rank high on the Milwaukee County Park Equity Index.”

Meanwhile, inter-office communication from 2024 found by WILL, updates officials on the “Parks Equity Index,” the Milwaukee Parks Foundation reveals that the “CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index” is part of a “combined data analysis” aimed at helping to make decisions easier in the department.

“In other words, parks in white neighborhoods are de-prioritized, while parks in non-white neighborhoods are prioritized,” WILL said in his letter to HHS and the CDC.

To illustrate the real-life consequences of this, a Conservative Law group pointed to a public pool that was closed a few years ago in a local town that is 90% White. According to local media reports, the pool needs about $600,000 to repair, but WILL said that would likely be impossible since the community ranks low on the parks department’s “Racial Equity Index.”

The Milwaukee County Parks Department has come out with a study that shows it is considering closing the lake, or transferring it to be run by a public-private partnership like other lakes in the area, according to local outlet Urban Milwaukee.

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“According to the County of Milwaukee, Hales Corners includes 128 of 153 parks in Milwaukee County, with a score of 3 out of 10 and an SVI score of 0.33. Therefore, children and families in Hales Corners will lose their swimming pool, which has been a public sport since 1968,” because the residents are predominantly white. “Race-based SVI encourages the use of race for its own sake, or at best, as a proxy for other factors already listed within SVI.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Milwaukee Parks Department for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

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WILL has cited many examples of legal cases ruling that such practices are unconstitutional, including the recent Students for Fair Admission case that led to the overhaul of affirmative action laws in higher education.

Outside of Milwaukee, WILL also highlighted the examples of the California Community Development Program, run by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, a conservative legislative group that claims it uses the CDC’s SVI index to help prepare for, and respond to, natural disasters. Connecticut’s “Drinking Water State Revolving Fund,” which helps maintain public water systems, was listed as well, giving a “Social Vulnerability Index score to each project.”

Cook County, Chicago, was also among those on the list. Their “Comprehensive Broadband Planning Initiative” clearly states on its website that it “prioritizes communities with the highest Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) in Illinois.”