A US re-education camp to convince white men of their racism

It all started with the revelation on Twitter by Christopher Rufo, director of the Center on Wealth & Poverty at the Discovery Institute. Accompanied by documents that describe the camp, Rufo writes: “I’ve obtained exclusive whistleblower documents revealing that last year, the national laboratory sent its white male executives to the La Posada luxury resort to undergo a mandatory training called ‘White Men’s Caucus on Eliminating Racism, Sexism, and Homophobia in Organizations’.”

Last year, Sandia National Laboratories – tasked with designing America’s nuclear weapons – hosted a re-education camp for “white males,” with the goal of exposing their “white privilege” and deconstructing “white male culture”.

Rufo shared screenshots of the 3-day programme including a photograph of 13 people whose faces have been blacked out and whose identities have been hidden. Another shows a draft of written words where the presenters demanded “a list of associations with white male culture” while presenters themselves propose word like “white supremacists,” “KKK,” “Aryan Nation,” “MAGA hat,” “privileged,” and “mass killings”.

As mentioned by the American site The Blaze, we learn that the trainers “insisted” that the participants, all white males, must “work hard to understand” their “white privilege”, “male privilege”, and “heterosexual privilege”.

The three-day camp was designed so employees could expose the “roots of white male culture,” which consists of “rugged individualism,” “a can-do attitude,” “hard work,” and “striving towards success” which may sound like nice ideals but are in fact “devastating” to women and people of colour.

The presenters said “white male culture” leads to “lowered quality of life at work and home, reduced life expectancy, unproductive relationships, and high stress”  because it forces a “white male standard” on women and minorities.

According to Christopher Rufo, during one of the sessions, they were obliged “to accept their complicity in the system of white males” and to confirm their privileges and their part in “oppression”.

A spokesperson for Sandia National Laboratories told The Blaze that the company was “proud” of its diversity, but declined to confirm their participation in the curious event organised by a company called White Men As Full Diversity Partners.

“Inclusion and diversity are defining elements of the culture of Sandia Laboratories, which welcome multiple perspectives, promote different styles of work and lead to innovation in the sciences, engineering and technology for which we are known,” the spokesman responded.

At the end of this “retreat”of three days, participants were invited to write letters to women and minorities about their experience, according to The Blaze. They had to apologize for participating in “the toxic culture created and instigated by the privilege of white men”.

Rufo pleaded with the US administration to pass legislation as soon as possible to “abolish critical race theory” in the federal government.

The stereotypes of white men have multiplied in the US: The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC offered visitors to its website an infographic that listed “hard work” and “rational thought” as negative traits of white culture.

Glenn Singleton, president of Courageous Conversation, a “racial-sensitivity training firm”, claims that valuing “written communication over other forms” is “a hallmark of whiteness,” as is “scientific, linear thinking. Cause and effect”.

NMAAHC website infographic that lists all the ‘negative’ traits of whites. Screenshot