Coca-Cola staff were advised in an online training seminars to not be as white’
Coca-Cola raised a few eyebrows this week when it promoted an online training program that encouraged its employees to “try to be less white” in order to fight racism.
The slides from the training workshop that was shared on the internet this week contained ways to lessen the whiteness.
A Coca-Cola sign is displayed on the outside of a Coca-Cola distributor on Tuesday, February. 9th, 2021 within Bedford, Ohio. (AP)
The suggestions on how to “be less white” included: “be less arrogant, be less certain, be less defensive, be more humble, listen, believe, break with apathy,” and “break with white solidarity.”
Another slide informs viewers that to be able to tackle the racism of society, they must know “what it means to be white, challenging what it means to be racist.”
White people, in the United States and other western nations, tend to be “socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white,” another slide states.
The article continued: “Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white.”
The conference is bound to cause discord, with some praising the business, while others threatening to protest this event.
The legal counsel of the Court and Center for American Liberty founder Harmeet Dhillon, who shared the slides on their Twitter account, said that the slides appeared “like blatant racial discrimination.”
In a letter addressed to Fox Business, the soft drink maker said that the slides that are believed to be part of a Coca-Cola education course “are not part of the company’s learning curriculum.”
“Our Better Together global training is part of our learning strategy to create an open and inclusive work environment. It’s comprised of a series of vignettes that are only a couple of minutes long,” the company said.
It also noted that the training is open to all on LinkedIn and covers a “variety of subjects, including topics on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
“We will continue to listen to our employees and refine our learning programs as appropriate,” the company stated.