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National Security Research Lab Leaked Documents Called U.S. 'Institutionally Racist'

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August 20, 2020

Leaked diversity and inclusion training documents from Argonne National Laboratory, a taxpayer-funded national security research lab in Illinois, said white employees "have a particular responsibility" to change the "institutionally racist society" in the United States.

Christopher Rufo, a visiting Heritage Foundation fellow and contributing editor at City Journal, revealed the documents via Twitter on Thursday.

"We affirm our collaboration’s commitment to racial justice, and unequivocally assert that Black lives matter," one document signed by Argonne’s top executives and scientists read. "We recognize that we live in an institutionally racist society, and that white people have a particular responsibility to work to change this. We acknowledge that we, both as white individuals and as the Executive Team of a predominantly white collaboration, have fallen short in these endeavors to date."

One training document called on employees to "become anti-racist" by identifying "How [one] may unknowingly benefit from racism" and "yield[ing] positions of power to those otherwise marginalized." Another document outlining Argonne’s new approach to diversity and inclusion said equity of outcome meant "nonuniform treatment" for different individuals.

Documents from another Energy Department-contracted lab also leaked this month, revealing that the lab’s white male employees were required to participate in racial reeducation training last year.