Walt Disney Companys Employee Training Curriculum Is Steeped in Critical Race Theory, Say Shareholder Activists; Anti-racism Audit Proposed
Washington, D.C. – The National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) urged Walt Disney Company shareholders to vote for a proposal that seeks to shine light on the company’s employee training materials, claiming that Disney’s “antiracism” curriculum is in itself racist and saturated in critical race theory (CRT).
The proposal will be considered at Disneys annual shareholder meeting, which will be held virtually on March 9, 2022.
“Disney has long been the industry leader in all things woke. So it’s no coincidence that the House of Mouse is foisting wildly offensive and objectively racist CRT-style trainings on its staff,” said Justin Danhof, Esq., executive vice president of the National Center, who will be presenting the proposal. “Our proposal simply asks Disney’s board to conduct an audit and assess the risks involved in conducting such demoralizing and dehumanizing workplace practices. This is something the company’s management should have done in the first instance. Investors have every right to be concerned about the destructive elements of CRT harming Disney’s business, employee morale and productivity. They can voice those concerns by voting for our proposal.”
FEP submitted the proposal to the Walt Disney Company in response to allegations that Disney-branded employee-training materials teaching so-called “antiracism” in fact do the opposite of what they proclaim and instead promote discrimination within the workplace. For example, the word “white,” designating the white race, remains in lowercase in these materials, while “black,” designating the black race, is capitalized. White employees are told to “not question or debate Black colleagues’ lived experience,” but are not, meanwhile, encouraged to share their own indisputable lived experiences, but only to “[a]cknowledge and listen with empathy.” The programming explicitly declares that at Disney “It’s Equity, not Equality.” Additionally, the materials include a section on “White Privilege” and recommend articles such as “How White Women Can Be Better Black Lives Matter Allies.”
“Everything that Disney does makes Disney worse,” said FEP Director Scott Shepard. “Just as its performative claims about fighting racism and sexism really introduce racism and sexism, its dealing with foreign countries is also rife with hypocrisy and falsehood. Somehow Disney found the courage to cut off its movies to Russia – where it does very little business. But in China, where it does a great deal of business despite Uyghur concentration camps and the conquest of Hong Kong, Disney doesnt care. All of this makes for a pretty clear stance, but its pretty much the reverse of what Disney pretends to take.”
The National Center is encouraging Disney shareholders to vote YES on its proposal to conduct an audit of Disney’s antiracism trainings. The proposal can be found on page 83 of the Walt Disney 2022 Proxy Statement.
To schedule an interview with a member of the Free Enterprise Project on this or other issues, contact Judy Kent at (703) 477-7476.
Launched in 2007, the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project focuses on shareholder activism, the preservation of free markets that respect shareholder and other property rights, and the confluence of big government and big business. Over the past four years alone, FEP representatives have participated in over 100 shareholder meetings – advancing free-market ideals about health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, food policies, media bias, gun rights, workers’ rights and other important public policy issues. As the leading voice for conservative-minded investors, it annually files more than 90 percent of all right-of-center shareholder resolutions. Dozens of liberal organizations, however, annually file more than 95 percent of all policy-oriented shareholder resolutions and continue to exert undue influence over corporate America. FEP also lodges lawsuits in defense of shareholder rights and free markets, participates in regulatory proceedings and contributes to legislative and regulatory reform aimed at reining in out-of-control corporate executives, protecting the corporate world for people of all viewpoints and backgrounds and pushing corporate America back to its genius and its job: business, not left-wing activism.
FEP activity has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Variety, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Drudge Report, Business Insider, National Public Radio and SiriusXM. FEP’s work was prominently featured in Wall Street Journal writer Kimberley Strassels 2016 book The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech (Hachette Book Group).
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors. Contributions are tax-deductible and may be earmarked for the Free Enterprise Project. Sign up for email updates at https://nationalcenter.org/subscribe/.
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