LinkedIn Removes Coca-Cola 'Be Less White' Training Material Amid Backlash
Social media platform issues statement after taking down racist training program
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Social media platform LinkedIn has removed the far-left training materials, allegedly leaked from Coca-Cola's staff program, that taught participants how "to be less white."
The soft drink giant is being hit with a severe backlash after materials from the racist training program were leaked online and appear to show an "anti-white agenda."
The company is accused of promoting anti-white sentiments in their online “anti-racism” training for employees, with some of the accompanying materials instructing participants to “try to be less white.”
Photos of the company's online training seminar were shared on social media over the weekend.
The images show slides that featured tips on how "to be less white," which include being "less ignorant," and "less oppressive."
"To be less white is to:" reads one slide before 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."
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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.
Political YouTuber Karlyn Borysenko, who broke the story, posted screenshots allegedly obtained from a whistleblower at Coca-Cola:
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: Coca-Cola is forcing employees to complete online training telling them to "try to be less white."
— Karlyn supports banning critical race theory in NH (@DrKarlynB) February 19, 2021
These images are from an internal whistleblower: pic.twitter.com/gRi4N20esZ
For people asking to verify this, the course is publicly available on @LinkedIn: https://t.co/T2mmXTACeJ
— Karlyn supports banning critical race theory in NH (@DrKarlynB) February 19, 2021
You can see for yourself. The Coca-Cola icon is in the top right hand corner on some of the images because they're using LinkedIn content for their internal platform.
While the company has contended that the program was not mandatory for employees, Borysenko says at least one employee has released an email backing up the claim that the training was required.
“The Confronting Racism course featuring Robin DiAngelo is no longer available in our course library, at the request of the 3rd party content provider we licensed this content from,” said LinkedIn vice president of corporate communications Nicole Leverich, reported Newsweek on Tuesday.
“We provide a wide variety of learning content, including more than 270 courses on the topics of diversity, inclusion and belonging,” the statement continued.
“We will continue to add new courses to help people learn the skills they need to be more successful in their career, including the foundational skills we all need to be effective allies and help build a more equitable future.”
Coca-Cola released a statement Tuesday denying the training was mandatory and “not part of the company’s curriculum.”
“The video in question was accessible on a third-party platform and was not part of the company’s curriculum, so it was not required,” the statement said.
“Our overall diversity, equity, and inclusion training is required and received input from employees reflecting a wide range of backgrounds, views, and expertise.”
As noted by The Daily Wire, Borysenko broke the story last week, leaking slides from the training online.
“The real story is that Coca-Cola is one of probably thousands of companies that are having their employees do these courses,” Borysenko told Newsweek on Tuesday.
“Why did LinkedIn produce content asking people to be less white?
"Why are they still hosting this? Coca-Cola is a drop in the bucket.”
Newsweek noted that despite Coca-Cola’s claim that the training wasn’t mandatory, “Borysenko said multiple employees at the company say that it indeed had been—at least until Friday, and at least one employee provided her an email she says backs up the assertion.”
“I can understand sometimes there’s miscommunication between management and employees,” Borysenko said.
"But the messaging I’ve seen does use the word ‘required.’
"Everything I’ve seen says it was part of the coursework, but then it was removed over the weekend once the news broke.”
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As highlighted by The Daily Wire, the diversity course in question was created by Robin DiAngelo, who is best known for her 2018 book titled, “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.”
In the course, DiAngelo encourages participants to “be a little less white” by being “less oppressive,” “less arrogant,” “less certain,” “more humble,” among other tips.
