In a move that likely surprises no one but is still both terrible and petty, the Trump administration directed federal agencies to stop anti-racism training workshops, as reported by Vox. What do these trainings allegedly entail? Open workplace conversations about issues like systemic racism and white privilege. And while these topics are not new, including in the workplace, they take on an added necessity in a time when the country is reeling from police violence against people of color, as COVID-19 disproportionately impacts people of color and protests for justice continue across the nation.
So of course, the Trump administration views these seemingly reasonable and necessary workshops as “anti-American propaganda.” According to the memo, Trump ordered these diversity training sessions to be canceled after he became aware of their existence and “millions of taxpayer dollars” spent on them. Trump also tweeted about it (of course), calling the trainings a “sickness.”
The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought sent a two-page letter to federal agencies on Friday, including the following:
“All agencies are directed to begin to identify all contracts or other agency spending related to any training on 'critical race theory,' 'white privilege,' or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests either (1) that the United States is an inherently racist or evil country or (2) that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil.”
In the same White House memo, Vought referenced unnamed “press reports” of such training sessions, in which workers were allegedly told that “virtually all White people contribute to racism,” though no specific agencies or sessions were referenced. Mind you: In terms of systemic and structural racism, virtually all white people do, or at least have, contributed to racism.
The letter argues that these anti-racism trainings "not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for which our Nation has stood since its inception, but they also engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce.”
How many of these trainings actually exist? What do they involve? How long have anti-racism trainings been happening in federal agencies? While having anti-racism trainings in all workplaces would actually be a great thing, the details on how they’ve operated at federal agencies are unclear. Without specifics, it’s hard to know how much of an impact the memo will have on diversity programs in federal agencies—but there’s a chance it’ll make a positive impression on his support base, especially as we round the corner to the presidential election.
Surprising absolutely no one, Trump also tweeted about these trainings, including a number of retweets praising him. What’s particularly interesting about the following tweet, however, is that it features Christoper Rufo, a director at the Discovery Institute (a conservative thinktank), calling on Trump to end these anti-racism programs, which he purports are “being weaponized against the American people.”
As noted above, the memo doesn’t cite a specific “press report,” but given how much Trump seemingly tunes in to watch Fox News, the timing of this segment certainly stands out.
Of course, Breitbart also got a retweet, with Trump’s addition that these trainings are a “sickness that cannot be allowed to continue. Please report any sightings so we can quickly extinguish!”