The Salvation Army is defending a woke “anti-racism” training guide it sent to employees and donors that discouraged “colorblindness” and advised white staff members to “apologize for being white.”
The internal racism guide was leaked earlier this month, and was supposed to be an attempt to redirect the conversation about racism, according to a Salvation Army spokesperson.
However, the guide included recommendations that white people within the organization “lament, repent, and apologize for biases or racist ideologies held and actions committed.” It also encouraged staffers to stop being “color blind.”
The guide also called on Salvation Army donors to reflect on how “Salvationists have sometimes shared in the sins of racism and conformed to economic, organisational and social pressures that perpetuate racism,” according to National Review.
“The subtle nature of racism is such that people who are not consciously racist easily function with the privileges, empowerment and benefits of the dominant ethnicity, thus unintentionally perpetuating injustice,” the guide claimed. “For instance, devout Christians who naively use racial epithets or a well-intentioned Sunday School curriculum that only uses white photography and imagery.”
The organization denied, in a statement, that it was trying to “indoctrinate” employees or donors.
“The Salvation Army has occasionally published study guides on various complex topics, including race, to help foster positive conversations and reflection among Salvationists,” the group said.
“The hope is that by openly discussing these issues, we can encourage a more thoughtful organization that is better positioned to serve those in need,” it continued. “These guides are solely designed for internal use. No one is being told how to think. Period.”
The organization also denied that the anti-racism guide instructed people to “apologize for their skin color.”
“Those claims are simply false, and they distort the very goal of our work,” its statement said.
