Trump directs federal agencies to cancel 'un-American' anti-racism training sessions, memo says

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 5 September 2020

As many Americans reckon with both historical and contemporary racial injustice in the United States after a summer of nationwide protests against police brutality, President Trump is apparently fed up with anti-racism training inside the federal government.

In a letter sent to executive branch agencies Friday, White House Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought said President Trump has directed him to "ensure that federal agencies cease and desist from using taxpayer dollars to fund" racial sensitivity training sessions, which he described as "divisive" and "un-American."

The OMB is instructing agencies to identify all contracts "related to any training on 'critical race theory,' 'white privilege,' or any other training or propaganda effort that teaches or suggests" the United States is "an inherently racist or evil country" or that "any race or ethnicity is inherently racist or evil." Once those contracts are identified, the letter says, the agencies should work within the confines of the law to cancel them.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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