The country’s largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin Corporation, required white male executives last year to attend a diversity program that slammed them for their race, according to documents obtained by Manhattan Institute fellow Christopher Rufo.
Lockheed Martin sent 13 employees to attend three days of Zoom sessions. The trainings were organized by White Men As Full Diversity Partners, a consulting group that views it as its duty to “awaken” all of “the white male[s] who represents the insider group.”
Employees were told to participate in a “free association” exercise and document their perception of what connotations come to mind for the phrase “white men.” The men who ran the group, Jim Morris, Mark Havens, and Michael Welp, listed the words “old,” “racist,” “privileged,” “anti-women,” “angry,” “Aryan Nation,” and others.
To begin, the diversity trainers led a “free association” exercise, asking the Lockheed employees to list connotations for the term “white men.” The trainers wrote down “old, racist, privileged, anti-women, angry, Aryan Nation, KKK, Founding fathers, guns, guilty, can’t jump.” pic.twitter.com/7FI7uqegJs
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 26, 2021
The people who led the sessions told the employees they were benefiting from learning about white men and their issues. The consulting group claimed white males inherently have “[a] tendency to rugged individualism” and are materialistic. The Ku Klux Klan were mentioned in the same breath as America’s founding fathers.
Subsequent to being stereotyped about characteristics, the consulting firm listed several statements that supposedly indicate white privilege if affirmed. Below are some of the statements.
- “My voice is usually heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.”
- “I can go into a hairdresser or barber shop and find someone who can cut my hair.”
- “I can dismiss another’s voice with little or no consequences when he or she is the only member of their group.”
- “My culture teaches me to minimize the perspectives and powers of people of other races.”
The next portion of the training revolved around employees reciting “male privilege statements,” followed by “heterosexual privilege statements.” The final document for employees to examine was called “I’m tired phrases.” The idea is that all oppressed minorities would say these sentences hypothetically. Below are some of the ones in this category:
- “I’m tired of being told how ‘articulate’ I am.”
- “I’m tired of the expression ‘illegal aliens.'”
- “I’m tired of the assumption that I won’t tip at restaurants.”
- “I’m tired of people assuming that I am a sports star because of my income.”
Shortly after Rufo publishing his report, the company issued a statement.
“Lockheed Martin has robust employee training programs focused on our core values of doing what is right, respecting others and performing with excellence,” the statement read. “Like many corporations, we employ multiple vendors and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of training programs to ensure they are aligned with our values, applicable laws and regulations, and incorporate employee feedback and best practices.”
Lockheed Martin Corporation has released a statement in response to my report about its "white male" reeducation program.
The statement is pure corporate gibberish—and fails to address the company's woke racism. The U.S. Senate must respond with an immediate investigation. pic.twitter.com/kxXj75yIoD
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) May 26, 2021
