Politics
Coca-Cola blasted over ‘be less white’ training as company says plan was to build ‘inclusive’ workplace
COCA-COLA is facing backlash after it told employees to “try to be less white” in a bid to combat racial discrimination.
Photos of Coca-Cola’s online training seminar were shared on social media this week, showing slides that featured tips on how “to be less white,” including being “less ignorant,” and “less oppressive.”
A Coca-Cola online training seminar told its employees to ‘be less white’[/caption]
‘Try to be less white’ read one slide[/caption]
The leaked training slides were met by outcries, with some people claiming that diversity training is being weaponized against Americans.
Conservative political commentator Candace Owens encouraged Coca-Cola employees to sue the brand for its “blatant racism”.
“If a corporate company sent around a training kit instructing black people how to ‘be less black’, the world would implode and lawsuits would follow. I genuinely hope these employees sue @CocaCola for blatant racism and discrimination,” she tweeted.
Former GOP Texas congressional candidate Joshua Foxworth tweeted: “If your congressman does nothing when Coca-Cola tells its employees to ‘Try to be less White’ but would rush to any available mic if this was said about any other race, can it truly be said that they represent every American in their district or just the ones the media allows.”
“This seems like blatant racial discrimination to this employment lawyer,” wrote the self-identified employment lawyer Harmeet K Dhillon on Twitter.
Donald Trump Jr. shared a meme on Twitter poking fun at the “plot twist” between an American choosing to be “less white” and the idea that “acting black is cultural appropriation”.
Another slide tells staff how ‘to be less white’[/caption]
It also went on to say children understand ‘it is better to be white’ by the age of three or four[/caption]
Nigel Farage, a reform UK leader, and Brexit leader, also criticized the training.
“So, to be less white means you’ll be less arrogant, less ignorant—I mean, the list goes on: ‘try to be less white’,” he said.
“The inference here is clear, isn’t it? That white is bad; white means supremacist; white means you look down your noses at everybody else; white means you are guilty!”
“To be less white is to…” reads one slide while listing things like “be less arrogant, be less certain, be less defensive, be more humble, listen, believe, break with apathy,” and “break with white solidarity.”
Another slide reads, “Confronting racism: understanding what it means to be white, challenging what it means to be racist.”
“In the US and other Western nations, white people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white,” another slide shared on social media read.
“Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white,” it continued.
However, a spokesperson from the mega corporation said that the course was part of a “plan to help build an inclusive workplace.”
They also noted that the “video circulating is from a publicly available LinkedIn Learning series and is not a focus of our company’s curriculum.
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“Our Better Together global learning curriculum is part of a learning plan to help build an inclusive workplace.
“It is comprised of a number of short vignettes, each a few minutes long.
“The training includes access to LinkedIn Learning on a variety of topics, including on diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
