Trump Shuts Down CDC's 'Critical Race Theory' Seminars After CDC Disobeys Order
President Donald Trump has cracked down on the Centers for Disease Control reported decision to disobey a directive defunding federal diversity training seminars that utilize critical race theory.
On Sept. 4, Trump’s administration announced its decision to cancel and defund training seminars within federal agencies that teach government employees critical race theory.
Critical race theory is a theoretical and interpretive philosophy taught at various universities that instructs individuals to see racism as something that has infected every aspect of American culture.
Additionally, CRT assumes that those problems can primarily be solved through social activism and a reorganization of society.
Despite Trump’s order, the Discovery Institute’s Christopher Rufo, an investigative reporter, revealed the CDC was purportedly moving forward with a 13-week critical race theory program.
Rufo released via Twitter CDC diversity training documents that he said were given to him by a disgruntled whistleblower.
The documents claim that “racism is a public health crisis” and imply that “systemic racism” — a theory heavily criticized for its vague definition — is responsible for “police killings of unarmed Black and Brown men and women.”
They also push the notion that values such as a “focus on the individual,” the “myth of meritocracy” and the “myth of American exceptionalism” are “societal barriers to achieving health equity.”
According to Rufo, the final session of the seminar was set to teach CDC employees how they could become activists promoting the tenets of critical race theory.
On Tuesday, Russ Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said the training had been canceled.
Glad to report, per @POTUS’s directive, this training is being cancelled immediately. https://t.co/5Fd9ynKYtQ
— Russ Vought (@RussVought45) September 15, 2020
Trump confirmed in a later tweet that the seminar had, in fact, been “STOPPED.”
It is STOPPED! https://t.co/ni3D4bqQ16
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 16, 2020
When the administration first announced its decision to defund critical race theory seminars, Vought explained in a memo why the president had made this decision.
“It has come to the President’s attention that Executive Branch agencies have spent millions of taxpayer dollars to date ‘training’ government workers to believe divisive, anti-American propaganda,” Vought wrote.
“For example, according to press reports, employees across the Executive Branch have been required to attend trainings where they are told that ‘virtually all White people contribute to racism’ or where they are required to say that they ‘benefit from racism.’
“According to press reports, in some cases these training[s] have further claimed that 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,” added the memo, which was issued at Trump’s direction.
Vought also asserted that these training seminars were a clear example of “un-American propaganda.”
“We can be proud that as an employer, the Federal government has employees of all races, ethnicities, and religions. We can be proud that Americans from all over the country seek to join our workforce and dedicate themselves to public service,” he said.
“We can be proud of our continued efforts to welcome all individuals who seek to serve their fellow Americans as Federal employees,” Vought continued.
“However, we cannot accept our employees receiving training that seeks to undercut our core values as Americans and drive division within our workforce,” he said.
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