Who runs Raytheon? White workers asked to 'identify their privilege' in woke training manual
Leaked documents have revealed how Raytheon Technologies, the second-largest defense contractor in the United States, is asking its employees to "identify their privilege" and "develop intersectional allyship" as part of a controversial training course.
The campaign called "Stronger Together" was reportedly launched last summer by Raytheon Technologies CEO Gregory J Hayes, per leaked training documents reported by Chris Rufo, a senior fellow at the conservative think tank Manhattan Institute. The documents are said to embrace certain aspects of critical race theory while instructing employees at the weapons manufacturer to strive for "equity" over "equality" and promoting "intersectionality," Fox News reported.
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One document urges White employees to "identify [their] privilege" and asserts that cis White men are the "most privileged" and the "least oppressed." Meanwhile, another document promotes "intersectional allyship in the workplace."
The program is centered on “intersectionality,” a core component of critical race theory that divides the world into competing identity groups, with race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other categories defining an individual’s place within the hierarchy of oppression. pic.twitter.com/X82f2ZoHow
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2021
One leaked slide asks White employees to "identify everyone's race" during discussions about race at the workplace. "Someone's race or ethnicity isn't a taboo topic," the slide insists. "Talk openly about it to appeal to people's conscious values and challenge their unconscious biases." The documents also ask White people to "listen to the experiences" of "those with marginalized identities" and "give them the floor in meetings or on calls, even if it means silencing yourself."
What's more? The training material also offers tips for White people on what they should and should not say to their Black co-workers. "I can't wait for things to calm down and get back to normal" is supposedly a forbidden remark, while something like "I realize my discomfort is a fraction of what you're feeling" is encouraged, per the report.
Raytheon tells employees to "identify everyone's race" during workplace conversations. Whites must "listen to the experiences" of "marginalized identities" and should "give [those with such identities] the floor in meetings or on calls, even if it means silencing yourself." pic.twitter.com/fPMsfll43k
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2021
The document maintains that Black people are "exhausted, mentally drained, frustrated, stressed, barely sleeping, scared and overwhelmed" and also recommends an article titled '75 Things White People Can Do For Racial Justice' that reportedly demands White people to "defund the police," "participate in reparations," "decolonize your bookshelf," and join a local "white space." The slides reportedly highlight the fact that CEO Hayes has signed a pledge promising "I will check my own biases" and urged employees to sign the pledge themselves.
Conservative activist Rufo argued in a column for City Journal that the "end goal of this program" was "the rejection of the principle of equality under the law." "The company claims that the colorblind standard of 'equal treatment and access to opportunities' is not enough; 'anti-racist' policies must sometimes utilize unequal treatment to achieve equal outcomes," he wrote.
Raytheon has segregated employees by race and identity groups for black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, LGBTQ, and other intersectional categories.
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) July 6, 2021
This is a slide from a recent seminar on "Developing Intersectional Allyship in the Workplace." pic.twitter.com/70MswsabxD
During an appearance on Fox News, Rufo said it was "astonishing" that Raytheon had been "captured by this woke ideology."
"This is really astonishing because this is one of the largest corporations in the world and manufactures key defense armaments, and yet it has been captured by this woke ideology that seems to be now the dominant force, not only in education and government, but also in business," he said. "It was a joke last year that Raytheon would put the rainbow flag on a drone strike and now, that meme, that joke has become a reality," he added.
Who runs Raytheon Technologies?
Born and raised in Williamsville, New York, Hayes was a 1978 graduate of Williamsville South High School. He earned a Bachelor of Economics degree from Purdue University and became a CPA, before joining Sundstrand Corporation, which was acquired by United Technologies in 1999. He rose through the ranks to become the CEO and subsequently chairman of UTC in 2016.
Raytheon Company merged with UTC in 2020 to form Raytheon Technologies, with Hayes was named as CEO of the new company. Hayes notably served on former President Donald Trump's American Manufacturing Council in January 2017, until he resigned in August 2017.