Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Stop Funding Anti-Racism Trainings

Posted on by Sophie Robinson

In a White House memo, President Trump directed federal agencies to end diversity training programs, calling them “a sickness that cannot be allowed to continue” and “un-American.”

What We Know:

  • The directive was announced via a memo that was sent to the heads of federal agencies from Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought wrote that Trump ordered the sessions, which included teachings on critical race theory and discussions of white privilege, to be canceled after learning federal agencies are spending millions of dollars training employees in “divisive, anti-American propaganda.”
  • According to the memo, these trainings taught workers that “virtually all White people contribute to racism” or benefit from it, also adding that some of the trainings have stated there is “racism embedded in the belief that America is the land of opportunity or the belief that the most qualified person should receive a job.” Vought added that these teachings “engender division and resentment” within the federal workforce and contradict the “fundamental beliefs” of the nation, claiming that is why Trump has asked him to stop “these divisive, un-American propaganda training sessions.”
  • Agencies have been told to begin identifying trainings related to critical race theory or white privilege, as well as any training that suggests the US is “an inherently racist or evil country” or “that any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil.” It urged, if not required, agencies to investigate ways to end their contracts with those providing the instruction as soon as possible.
  • Following reports of the memo, both Vought and Trump took to Twitter to celebrate the decision. Vought tweeted, “the days of taxpayer-funded indoctrination trainings that sow division and racism are over.” Trump celebrated by highlighting the positive reactions of some supporters through retweets and by asking people to “report any sightings” of the trainings, “so we can quickly extinguish!”

  • In the decision, Trump has framed critical race theory as an insidious idea that conceptualizes white people and institutions as inherently racist, which is not an accurate depiction of the concept. Critical race theory is a school of thought that examines how race and racism are perpetuated through existing legal and cultural systems while also examining the advantages white people enjoy in social, economic, and political areas, also known as white privilege. The thinking behind critical race theory is that by examining and critiquing social institutions, it will help create a fairer world.
  • The decision comes amid one of the largest civil rights movements in American history, which has seen an ongoing nationwide reckoning of racial injustice, something the president has firmly opposed and even mocked. Critics of President Trump cite him as the source of inciting violence and division through his words on minority communities, worsening race relations in the country since he took office.
    • Trump has said the Black Lives Matter movement is a “symbol of hate” and has called those protesting police brutality “thugs.” Additionally, he’s threatened to end protests by sending US troops into American cities, saying ongoing anti-racism protests amount to “domestic terror.”
    • Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has continuously referred to the virus as the “Chinese virus” and the “Kung flu,” which critics say has been connected to an increase in racist slurs and jokes against Asian Americans.
    • Trump recently resurfaced birther conspiracy theories against Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris, echoing lies he repeatedly spread about former President Barack Obama.

It is unclear what, if anything, will replace the anti-racism training, which, according to the memo, has cost “millions of taxpayer dollars” thus far.

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