As Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative works to recommend cuts to federal spending, the team recently pointed to a bizarre “antiracism” training that framed newborn infants as racists as an example of government waste and the promotion of left-wing ideologies that plagued the federal government under former President Joe Biden.
Conservative activist Chris Rufo — who has worked to expose the racism and discriminatory practices behind diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in recent years — outlined the program in a lengthy X post on Friday. The program, which was funded by the Department of Education, was one of many “antiracism” trainings used for teachers that became prevalent following the death of George Floyd.
One slide titled “Did You Know? Racial Awareness In The Early Years” argued that infants will start to become racist before turning one-year-old if they are not exposed to diversity. The slide explains that at three months, infants can begin to categorize faces based on race and typically develop preferences for faces they see the most often, which typically corresponds to their own race.
“At nine months, infants are unable to distinguish the facial features of racial groups other than their caregiver unless they frequently see images of racially diverse people. By the age of two, children are putting people into categories based on race and they are observing and internalizing power dynamics,” a DEI consultant explains in the training.
“At age three, children develop biases and begin assigning meaning to race by attributing positive traits to the dominant race. However, children can still respond to positive messaging about their own and others’ racial identities. By age 5, children of all races demonstrate social biases primarily by attributing negative traits to non-white races. At this age, children are capable of acting against racial injustice.”
The consultant then directly labeled young children as “racists,” saying, “racist idiocy is a form of racism.”
In an X post on Friday, platform owner Elon Musk pointed to the training as an example of the rot that is being rooted out of the federal government. “Funding for racist baby training is canceled,” Musk wrote.
As one of his first acts of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order that banned DEI policies and trainings within the federal government.
Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies last month informing them that all government DEI offices would be forced to close by the end of the day on Wednesday. Employees working within those agencies were informed that they will be placed on paid leave.
Federal workers were instructed to take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.
