BY PAUL MIRENGOFF | POWERLINE
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.
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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.
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 House. For media
inquiries, please contact communications@pjmedia.com.