Wednesday, May 12, 2021

THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: DISMAYED BY AMERICA, INSPIRED BY CHINA

BY PAUL MIRENGOFF | POWERLINE


Image courtesy of brunapazini0 from Pixabay

Leaked documents show that the Walt Disney Company has asked employees to complete a “white privilege checklist” and to “pivot away from “white dominant culture.” The documents, published by Christopher Rufo, state (falsely) that the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans are “part of a long history of systemic racism and transphobia.” The documents also cover such topics as “white privilege,” “white fragility,” “white saviors,” “microaggressions” and “antiracism.”

The documents suggest that employees reflect on the diversity of their personal and professional networks. Employees should also consider how other dimensions of their identities “give (or do not give) you access and advantage.” Furthermore, workers are encouraged to “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed.”

Employees are discouraged from questioning or debating the lived experiences of their black colleagues or from asking those colleagues to educate them about racism, since such discussions can be “emotionally taxing.” As if wallowing in unwarranted feelings of guilt and shame isn’t.

Disney has passed judgment on America. America has come up short — way short. We’re chronic racists and homophobes. We need to deal with our guilt and shame. If our racism prevents us from feeling guilty and ashamed, then we need to be pressured, and probably coerced, into experiencing these sentiments.

Disney seems like a tough grader. Is there any nation that meets its exacting standards?

Why, yes. China does.

Bob Iger, Chairman and former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has said he’s “inspired by China’s vision.” In remarks at the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR) gala in 2011, Iger stated:

We’ve also worked hard to establish a number of mutually beneficial relationships with many officials throughout China. We’re inspired by their vision and we’re grateful that they share many of our beliefs, including one about the importance of intellectual property protection.

I’ve watched China emerge into a global economic force, an inspiring source of great innovation, offering opportunities that we see as virtually unlimited, and the Walt Disney company has certainly been increasing its presence in that vast country.

China is a ruthless dictatorship. It systematically oppresses its Uighur (Muslim) population, more than one million of whom are said to be held in concentration camps.

I very much doubt that any Disney employ has killed or oppressed a minority group member. At worst, a few might have committed a “microaggression,” whatever that means.

Yet, Disney’s chairman is inspired by China and contemptuous of America and his white employees.

Is there a disconnect here? On the surface, yes.

But at a deeper level, maybe it hangs together. For one thing, Disney’s critique of America echoes China’s, as set forth recently in its recent confrontation with our Secretary of State.

More fundamentally, the Red Chinese are masters of reeducating members of the bourgeoisie. During its cultural revolution, China perfected the art of making them feel guilty and ashamed. Now, it is reeducating its Muslims.

In its own way, the Disney Company seems to be following suit.

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/05/walt-disney-company-dismayed-by-america-inspired-by-china.php

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RELATED ARTICLE

Mickey Mouse Goes Woke and Customers Don't Like It

BY RICK MORAN | PJ Media 

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

The Walt Disney Corporation has ordered all headquarters employees to attend seminars that inject critical race theory, “systemic racism,” “white privilege,” and “white fragility” into their training. The way that City Journal’s Christopher Rufo describes what’s contained in the whistleblower documents he received from several Disney employees suggests the training regimen is designed to elicit guilt and shame from white employees while falsifying history.

In truth, it’s beyond belief. Disney’s theme parks may be known as “The Happiest Place on Earth,” but you have to wonder for how long.

The core of Disney’s racial program is a series of training modules on “antiracism.” In one, called “Allyship for Race Consciousness,” the company tells employees that they must “take ownership of educating [themselves] about structural anti-Black racism” and that they should “not rely on [their] Black colleagues to educate [them],” because it is “emotionally taxing.” The United States, the document claims, has a “long history of systemic racism and transphobia,” and white employees, in particular, must “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed.” Disney recommends that employees atone by “challeng[ing] colorblind ideologies and rhetoric” such as “All Lives Matter” and “I don’t see color”; they must “listen with empathy [to] Black colleagues” and must “not question or debate Black colleagues’ lived experience.”

“Challeng[ing] colorblind ideologies and rhetoric” is only part of the healing process.

In another module, called “What Can I Do About Racism?,” Disney tells employees that they should reject “equality,” with a focus on “equal treatment and access to opportunities,” and instead strive for “equity,” with a focus on “the equality of outcome.” The training also includes a series of lessons on “implicit biases,” “microaggressions,” and “becoming an antiracist.” The company tells employees that they must “reflect” on America’s “racist infrastructure” and “think carefully about whether or not your wealth, income, treatment by the criminal justice system, employment, access to housing, health care, political power, and education might be different if you were of a different race.” (Author’s emphasis )

Not very subtle, are they? In 18th century America they were known as “levelers” — those who didn’t care what it took to achieve “equality of outcomes.” The French revolutionaries were great levelers. They used the guillotine to prove how good they were.

Now Disney — whose gigantic impact on American culture cannot be dismissed — wants to poison the minds of employees with this rot. Sadly, the wokeness is bound to seep down into the rest of the corporate culture and ruin the Disney experience for young and old alike.

Orlando Sentinel:

Recently, Disney announced that cast members are now permitted to display tattoos, wear inclusive uniforms and display inclusive haircuts. Disney did all of this in the name of allowing cast members to express themselves.

The problem is, I’m not traveling across the country and paying thousands of dollars to watch someone I do not know express themselves. I am there for the immersion and the fantasy, not the reality of a stranger’s self-expression. I do not begrudge these people their individuality and I wish them well in their personal lives, but I do not get to express my individuality at my place of business.

What’s next, is Disney going to end the rule barring on stage cellphone use by cast members as an infringement on self-expression.

Indeed, this self-described “out-of-touch white American dad” bemoans the loss of Disney’s most valuable resource: the human imagination.

Disney is in the process of taking the woke scalpel to the Jungle Cruise. Trader Sam is out because he might offend certain people. Every grown-up in the room realizes that Trader Sam is not a representation of reality and is meant as a funny and silly caricature. It is no more based in racism than every Disney caricature of an out-of-touch white American dad.

The next time I ride Jungle Cruise I will not be thinking about the gloriously entertaining puns of the skippers, I will be thinking about Disney’s political agenda. That’s a mood killer.

“You will be forced to care,” wrote Eric Erickson about the left’s assault on values. There’s no hiding from them. There is no “escape” with your family — even to Disneyland or Disney World. We are being overwhelmed by propaganda that looks to be as effective as propaganda from Kim Jong-Un’s North Korea. Conformity, “equity,” “equality of outcomes” — the groundwork for ending freedom of thought has already been laid in our schools and even where we work, where we worship, and where we play.

And even our icons like Mickey Mouse will become slaves in service to this ideology.

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 Rick Moran has been writing for PJ Media for 13 years. His work has appeared in dozens of media outlets including the Washington Times and ABC News. He was an editor at American Thinker for 14 years. His own blog is Right Wing Nut HouseFor media inquiries, please contact communications@pjmedia.com.

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