Vice President Kamala Harris says her running mate, Tim Walz, is going to help her "unify this country." As governor of Minnesota, however, Walz explicitly divided people, holding training sessions for teachers and military veterans that were segregated by race, the Washington Free Beacon found.
In 2022, for example, Walz's Department of Education held restorative justice "trainings and sessions" for teachers and other school officials. Participants were explicitly divided by race, with the agency establishing a "People of Color Affinity Community" for "people who personally identify as Black People, Indigenous People and People of Color." The agency advised "White Allies" to "attend other circle trainings."
Between September 2022 and June 2023, meanwhile, Walz's Department of Veterans Affairs held a series of training sessions advertised to non-white veterans as part of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Ending Veterans Homelessness Work Group. A flier for the sessions said the group was created for homeless veterans who "identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and/or Woman." A straight white male veteran could attend—but only if he were doing so as a "stakeholder or ally" to non-white, non-straight, or female veterans. Participants were paid $50 an hour and up to $2,500 total, according to the flier.
"The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs can’t offer up to $2,500 to any minority or female veteran who has been homeless, while offering it to white male veterans who have been homeless only if they are willing to call themselves 'allies' of the minority and female veterans," University of San Diego law professor and U.S. Commission on Civil Rights member Gail Heriot told the Free Beacon. "That’s still discrimination. It still violates both the Constitution and Title VI. I’m not sure why that’s so difficult for state agencies like this one to understand."
Walz's embrace of racially divided programming is at odds with the Harris campaign's "unity" message. It also contradicts Walz's purported image as a rural, everyday Midwestern dad. Vogue has called Walz a "genuinely nice guy" who is "overflowing with Midwestern-dad energy," while the Washington Post touts his "Midwestern dad vibe."
But Walz's administration—particularly its Department of Education—operated more in line with America's deep-blue coastal states than with the nation's heartland.
Under Walz, Minnesota enacted ethnic study curriculum requirements that call on fourth-graders to "identify the processes and impacts of colonization and examine how discrimination and the oppression of various racial and ethnic groups have produced resistance movements." His segregated teacher trainings advanced similar themes.
An FAQ page for the 2023 iteration of Walz's restorative justice teacher trainings spelled out the racially segregated structure in clear terms. The trainings were split into two "communities," one for "People of Color" and one for "White Allies."
"Both trainings are introductory Circle 1 trainings," the page states. "The difference is that Circle [1]—Building Community is open to anyone. Circle 1—People of Color Affinity, Building Community is, as the title suggests, is an affinity space for People of Color."
"Please note: Circle 1 People of Color Affinity, Building Community is reserved for people who personally identify as Black People, Indigenous People and People of Color," the page goes on. "White Allies may attend the other Circle 1 training."
In 2024, the Walz administration allowed some white attendees into the non-white "community"—with conditions. This time, "individuals who do not identify as BIPOC but embrace restorative practices in pursuit of equity may also participate," the instructions said. The document still noted that the session was "specifically for participants who identify as People of Color (POC), facilitated by POC keepers."
An Aug. 2020 Minnesota Department of Education manual also instructed agency staffers to hold racially exclusive events, such as "a space only for people of color to discuss the impact on them of the death of George Floyd, while white staff talk with each other about their response to the death."
The Biden-Harris administration has pushed similarly divisive racial programming. Its Department of Veterans Affairs, for example, offers race-based training programs and workshops that exclude white veterans.
Neither the governor's office nor the Harris-Walz campaign returned requests for comment.
Walz's administration has also infused health care policy with racial ideology, as the Free Beacon reported last month.
In May 2023, Walz signed into law a bill that established racial quotas throughout the state's health department, from a requirement that two members of a pregnancy task force be "Black or African American" to rules governing the composition of a "health equity" council.
The legislation created race-based membership requirements for five separate committees—the Community Solutions Advisory Council, the Health Equity Advisory and Leadership Council, the Equitable Health Care Task Force, the Task Force on Pregnancy Health and Substance Use Disorders, and the African American Health State Advisory Council—while setting up additional race-conscious programs. Legal experts who reviewed the quotas told the Free Beacon the programs were patently unconstitutional.