The city of Seattle held what it called voluntary training restricted to only one race, a Twitter user revealed in a series of Tweets that included a copy of an email inviting only white employees or those who identify as white to attend.
In the email posted on Twitter, the city said its Office of Civil Rights was hosting a “long-scheduled citywide RSJI training on Internalized Racial Superiority, a training for white people, to additional white City employees,” Twitter user Karlyn Borysenko (@DrKarlynB) reported.
The training was held on Microsoft Teams and city employees who identify as white were asked to join the training on June 12.
While the city made it a voluntary training according to the email in the Tweet, it said that many employees were taking the day (paid or unpaid) as part of a “day of reflection and action.”
"And here's the thing: There can be arguments made for some training that helps create better work environments for all employees. Full stop. BUT not when that training is for one specific race of employees. It doesn't work. And I dare anyone to provide me data showing it does," Borysenko said in her Twitter thread.
The email continues noting that the training would be an opportunity to “learn, reflect, challenge ourselves, and build skills and relationships that help us show up more fully as allies and accomplices for racial justice.”
Some in the Twitter thread denounced the training, like the_cool_table (@thecooltable3), who said “Ridiculous.”
Another, ZeeTeeAy (@ZeeTeeAy) pointed out that it looks like the city isn’t acting legally with this training. “The irony is that it’s violating the civil rights laws by excluding black people,” the user said in a reply.
"The fact that they are specifically calling out one specific race and putting them on notice seems to be discriminatory, and I hope every person who is "volunteering" to take that course sues the city for discrimination," @crissymoss said in her reply.
Twitter user James Lindsay (@ConceptualJames) offered suggestions on how to get through the training, “Ask questions about the implications. Like, “So if I become ‘anti-racist,’ am I still a racist? How do I stop being racist? How does this program make me not racist?” Again, you’re there to learn, so sound like it. SLOOOW learner. Try to see if they’ll say you can’t.”
Ashey From Cali (@Ash_Bash_2014) wrote, “Why can’t the city leaders take a course in COMMON SENSE?”
Others made jokes, like Robert Spain (@computerfix3r) “Just identify as Vulcan and that the class is illogical.”
The Seattle training also caught the attention of journalists with the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, and other publications, including Seattle’s CityJournal.
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