Over the last decade, America’s intelligence community has focused on diversifying their workforce, purportedly in an effort to foster inclusion and match the nation’s demographic makeup. While this might sounds great in theory, it’s horrible in practice. Our intelligence community is focusing on trivial matters, like what gender or race an officer or agent is. And when they do that, the people who suffer the most are average Americans.
In 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey said his agency was dealing with a “crisis” because 83% of the agents were white.
“We have a crisis in the FBI and it is this: Slowly but steadily over the last decade or more, the percentage of special agents in the FBI who are white has been growing,’’ Comey said, according to a Wall Street Journal report at the time. “I will have failed if I don’t change this.”
The agency launched the Diversity Agency Recruitment Program (DAR), aimed at recruiting more women and people of color. Through this program, Agents hold invite-only events in cities across the nation to introduce potential recruits to life in the agency.
Even with this program in place, a Department of Justice inspector general report from October 2019 found the agency did little to actually increase diversity in their ranks.
“According to [the Office of Personnel Management], law enforcement is an area where there is a critical need for civil servants who look like the people and communities they serve,” the report stated, according to Government Executive.
Data from the Office of Personnel Management found little change between FBI demographics from December of 2009 to March of 2019.
In December of 2009, 75% of the entire FBI workforce was white, compared to 74.4% in March of 2019. The number of men in the agency in December of 2009 was 56.1%, compared to 55.6% in March of 2019.
Instead of focusing on national security and protecting our nation, the FBI continues to engage in performative initiatives like this. They’re busy bowing to the woke mob who demands their workforce be diverse enough to meet the radical left’s standards.
The FBI is so busy working to diversify their staff that they run the risk of failing to perform their actual job, which is to protect Americans and our national interests. They want to hold up a piece of paper and say, “We have so many people of color and women in our agency! It’s a great honor!” It’s as if they’re forgetting their entire purpose.
To make matters even worse, the CIA is now following the FBI’s footsteps.
“At the CIA, we are striving to build a workforce that reflects the world in which we live and a workplace where all voices are heard, respected, and valued. Our national security mission demands a broad range of perspectives, ethnicities, backgrounds, and experiences,” the agency’s website states. “We’ve seen how an inclusive culture fosters new ideas, inspires innovation, and leads to success. At CIA, we don’t just leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion; we embrace and celebrate it.”
Earlier this week, the CIA unveiled a woke recruitment video encouraging Americans to “command” their “space.” The ad features a Latina CIA agent who is the daughter of immigrants. Instead of focusing on the experience which makes her qualified for the job, the agency focuses on using her to check off their various diversity boxes.
“I am a woman of color. I am a mom. I am a cis-gendered Millennial who has been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder,” the CIA official said. “I am intersectional, but my existence is not a box-checking exercise. I am a walking declaration, a woman whose inflection does not rise at the end of her sentences, suggesting that a question has been asked.”
According to the woman, she earned her position at the CIA and it wasn’t the result of “cracks in the system.”
“I used to struggle with imposter syndrome, but at 36, I refuse to internalize misguided, patriarchal ideas of what a woman can or should be. I am tired of feeling like I’m supposed to apologize for the space I occupy rather than intoxicate people with my effort, my brilliance,” she said. “I am proud of me, full stop. My parents left everything they knew and loved to expose me to opportunities they never had. Because of them, I stand here today a proud first-generation Latina and officer at CIA.”
The United States’ intelligence agencies are wasting valuable time and resources focusing on diversifying their workforce. The truth is most Americans don’t care about a person’s sex, race, creed, sexual orientation, or religion.
We don’t care if a person is male or female.
We don’t care if a person is black, white, Asian, or Hispanic.
We don’t care if a person is gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender.
We don’t care if a person is Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim.
What most Americans are focused on is finding the best people for the job. We want competent people who can protect our homeland and our interests. We aren’t interested in checking off boxes on a diversity sheet. As long as the intelligence officer is qualified and knows what they’re doing, we’re on board.
Our intelligence agencies need to stop trying to appease everyone in a quest for wokeness. Their priority should be finding intelligent individuals who are willing to go to great lengths to defend our nation.
Beth Baumann is a Political Reporter and Editor at The Daily Wire. Follow her on Twitter @eb454.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.