City Of Seattle Holds Training Session For White Employees

In mid-June, the City of Seattle held a training session for white employees called “Interrupting Internalized Racial Superiority and Whiteness.” Christopher Rufo, the director of the Center of Wealth & Poverty and contributing editor of City Journal, utilized a public records request to ascertain exactly what was going on, issuing a Twitter thread to delineate what he found.

In the Twitter thread, Rufo noted, “diversity trainers informed white participants that ‘objectivity,’ ‘individualism,’ ‘intellectualization,’ and ‘comfort’ are all vestiges of internalized racial oppression.”

Rufo reported that the training session indicated that white employees speaking too much might mean whites were exhibiting “paternalism.” If white employees spoke too little, that indicated an attempt at oppression since “silence” is “violence.”

Other quotes from the training session reportedly included urging white employees to “practice self-talk that affirms [their] complicity in racism” and working on “undoing your own whiteness.” Trainers reportedly requested white employees to “let go” of “comfort,” “guaranteed physical safety,” “control over the land,” “social status,” and “relationships with some other white people.”

Rufo continued, “Then they go through a flow chart that outlines how white people ‘cause harm to POC,’ ‘show up small and inauthentic,’ and are unable to access their ‘humanity.’” He added that the invitation for the training session was addressed to “white City employees.” The goal of the session was ostensibly to enlighten attendees that they have “complicity in the system of white supremacy” and must be held “accountable to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.”

Rufo added, “How do you know when you’ve successfully ‘interrupted your whiteness’? –When you ‘implicate yourself’ in racism. –When ‘other white people may be angry.’ –When you have stopped your ‘white normative behavior.’”

First, diversity trainers informed white participants that "objectivity," "individualism," "intellectualization," and "comfort" are all vestiges of internalized racial oppression. pic.twitter.com/qrZwHZgx1H

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2020

What's next?

The City of Seattle diversity trainers encourage white employees to "practice self-talk that affirms [their] complicity in racism" and work on "undoing your own whiteness." pic.twitter.com/CJxNEcIeh2

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2020

Then they go through a flow chart that outlines how white people "cause harm to POC," "show up small and inauthentic," and are unable to access their "humanity." pic.twitter.com/jcJppWXe0k

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2020

As @DrKarlynB first reported, the invitation for this training was strictly segregated to "white City employees."

The goal is to teach them how they have "complicity in the system of white supremacy" and must be held "accountable to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color." pic.twitter.com/kPbppFYDtM

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2020

In the 2019 King County Public Health HCHN Racial Caucusing Report, under Race Caucusing Objectives, it stated: “White people participate in affinity caucusing in order to: Work through guilt, shame & other barriers that hold white people back from engaging in race conversations and doing racial justice work; Ask questions and explore ideas that help white people learn about racism without having to learn at the expense of people of color; Hold each other accountable for actions and behaviors. Build relationships; Gain tools to talk about racism, white supremacy and privilege, and Remind white people that work needs to be done to dismantle racism every day.”

Under People of Color Affinity Group Questions, it stated: “What is something you have stopped/started doing do minimize the negative impact of your internalized oppression/inferiority in you work place? Who in your life makes it difficult to speak up/out and how/why? How are you intentionally decolonizing your mind? Where in your life do you continue to support institutionalized racism even though you are aware of your actions? Why? Why is it important to understand the intra-/inter-ethnic bias and prejudice we exhibit among POC in your work place?”

So far, the City of Seattle has refused to provide the names of the diversity trainers, the budget for the program, or the video of the session.

I'm going to keep pushing—because this is exactly the kind of thought-policing they want to implement everywhere.

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2020