Department of Energy Investigates Racially Divisive Training Sessions at Federally Funded Facilities in Response to Hawley Letter

Thursday, August 20, 2020

In response to a letter from U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is launching a department-wide investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training sessions paid for by Sandia National Laboratories and held at the upscale La Posada de Santa Fe luxury hotel and resort.

According to leaked documents, during DEI training sessions Sandia employees were invited to associate terms like “Aryan Nation” and “mass killings” with “white men,” generate a list of “assumptions about people of color” including stereotypes like “have broken families,” and list examples of “male privilege” including “men can kill bugs more easily than ‘most’ women.”

The DOE’s full response is available here.

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