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

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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M.E Hart, an attorney who has provided diversity training for businesses and the federal government for more than two decades, defended their utility. Rather than increase tensions in the workplace, like the OMB memo argues, Hart told The Washington Post they can improve morale and cooperation. Read the full OMB letter here and more at The Washington Post and The Associated Press.