The best overall measure of kidney function is glomerular filtration rate (GFR) as commonly estimated from serum creatinine concentrations (eGFR
cr
) using formulas that correct for the higher average creatinine concentrations in Blacks. After two decades of use, these formulas have come under scrutiny for estimating GFR differently in Blacks and non-Blacks. Discussions of whether to include race (Black vs. non-Black) in the calculation of eGFR
cr
fail to acknowledge that the original race-based eGFR
cr
provided the same CKD treatment recommendations for Blacks and non-Blacks based on directly (exogenously) measured GFR. Nevertheless, the
National Kidney Foundation
and the
American Society of Nephrology Task Force on Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Disease
removed race in CKD treatment guidelines and pushed for the immediate adoption of a race-free eGFR
cr
formula by physicians and clinical laboratories. This formula is projected to negate CKD in 5.51 million White and other non-Black adults and reclassify CKD to less severe stages in another 4.59 million non-Blacks, in order to expand treatment eligibility to 434,000 Blacks not previously diagnosed and to 584,000 Blacks previously diagnosed with less severe CKD. This review examines: 1) the validity of the arguments for removing the original race correction, and 2) the performance of the proposed replacement formula. Excluding race in the derivation of eGFR
cr
changed the statistical bias from +3.7 to -3.6 ml/min/1.73m
2
in Blacks and from +0.5 to +3.9 in non-Blacks, i.e., promoting CKD diagnosis in Blacks at the cost of restricting diagnosis in non-Blacks. By doing so, the revised eGFR
cr
greatly exaggerates the purported racial disparity in CKD burden. Claims that the revised formulas identify heretofore undiagnosed CKD in Blacks are not supported when studies that used kidney failure replacement therapy and mortality are interpreted as proxies for baseline CKD. Alternatively, a race-stratified eGFR
cr
(i.e., separate equations for Blacks and non-Blacks) would provide the least biased eGFR
cr
for both Blacks and non-Blacks and the best medical treatment for all patients.