After Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted, Levi Strauss tapped a “racial trauma specialist” to counsel employees.
During a riot last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, then-17-year-old Rittenhouse — acting in self-defense — killed two men and injured a third. Earlier this month, Rittenhouse was cleared of all charges.
Nevertheless, the iconic clothing company took pains to address employees’ “pain and trauma.”
“With the news that Kyle Rittenhouse was not convicted in the shooting of three individuals — two of whom lost their lives — during racial justice protests last year, this is a difficult day for many,” wrote Levi Strauss chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer Elizabeth Morrison in a letter to staff obtained by the Daily Mail.
“To help promote safety, sharing and to encourage healing, I’ll be hosting a fireside chat and Q&A with Dr. Jamila Codrington, a licensed psychologist and racial trauma specialist in early December,” she continued. “Dr. J and I will talk about the mental and psychical impacts of back-to-back social and racial justice events and trauma coping mechanisms during our discussion.”
Morrison wrote that “resources to help [employees] impact social justice, equality and drive positive change.” She noted the benefits of “getting educated and informed on the issue of gun violence” and “reaching out to your elected officials to let them know just how important common-sense gun laws are to you.”
The Daily Mail reported that Codrington holds staunch left-wing views:
Jamila Codrington is a New York-licensed psychologist who has appeared on various panels, claiming that “black people have been duped into thinking we do not matter.”
Codrington appeared on the Karen Hunter radio show in January for a discussion about how “we must decolonize our minds.”
“One of the main weapons of colonialism and white supremacy was to destroy our memory and to separate us from our wealth – our cultural wealth,” she said.
A Levi Strauss spokesperson confirmed to both the Daily Mail and Fox Business that the email was sent to all employees in the United States.
Beyond Levi Strauss, California State University, Long Beach gave students and faculty the chance to attend a “debriefing” of Rittenhouse’s acquittal, which would be attended by staff from the Counseling and Psychological Services office. University spokesman Jim Milbury told The College Fix in an email, “When there are higher-profile events and issues in the public discourse, it is not uncommon for our university to provide spaces for our campus community to discuss those topics.”
Meanwhile, Douglas Haynes — the chief diversity officer for the University of California, Irvine — told students that the trial “does not end the reckoning about systemic racism in the United States.”
“These multi-racial protests were grounded in a call for racial justice and the end of police brutality,” he wrote. “Rittenhouse imposed himself on the protests in Kenosha. His assistance was not requested. It was as much about resisting the calls of protestors as it was to defend property and render first aid.”