#anti-racist train the trainer workshops

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/trumps-diversity-training-order-faces-lawsuit-boston-news-weather-sports/

Trump’s diversity training order faces lawsuit – Boston News, Weather, Sports

New York (AP) — Three civil rights groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federal agencies, contractors and grant recipients from offering certain diversity training that the president deems “anti-American.”

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed the complaint in federal court in Washington, D.C., along with the National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance. The lawsuit argued that Trump’s order violates free speech rights and strangles workplace attempts to address systemic race and sex discrimination.

The National Urban League and the National Fair Housing Alliance both have federal contracts and plan to apply for future ones.

The executive order “unconstitutionally forces Plaintiffs to choose between censoring speech on these important issues or forfeiting any opportunity to enter into a federal contract,” the groups argued in the complaint.

Trump’s executive order, signed last month, called out workplace trainings that explore deep-seated racism and privilege that the administration says could make white workers feel “discomfort” or guilt. The president ordered the Labor Department to set up a hotline to investigate complaints about training sessions that Trump has called “anti-American” and “blame-focused.”

Trump has said he is targeting training based on “critical race theory,” the idea that racism has permeated American history and institutions. At the first presidential debate, Trump said such training is “teaching people to hate our country.”

The directive uses a 55-year-old presidential order spurred by the Civil Rights Movement that sought to ban discriminatory practices at companies that contract with the federal government. Critics say Trump’s order twists President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 initiative into vehicle for white grievances.

“The executive order smacks of a totalitarian endorsement of white supremacy,” Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League said at a virtual press conference.

Morial called the order a “direct attack on our mission.” According to the lawsuit, the National Urban League has a federal contract that includes developing diversity and inclusion training programs for the Department of Labor’s apprenticeship programs.

The Department of Labor says the order does not ban “unconscious bias” training that discusses “pre-conceptions, opinions, or stereotypes” that people might have about others. But it prohibits training that that implies anyone is racist or sexist “by virtue of his or her race, sex, and/or national origin.”

The lawsuit, however, said the wording of the order is overly broad and is already having a chilling effect on diversity training. Some organizations have asked that words including “systemic racism” and “white privilege” be banned from training, the complaint said. It also cited the University of Iowa’s decision to suspend its diversity efforts for fear of losing government funding.

Michelle Lee, co-founder and CEO of Awaken, which provides diversity and inclusion workshops, said one of her clients — a private company with a government contract — reached out shortly after the order was issued to ask if she could omit “white privilege” from a speech she planned to give to its employees. Lee said she pushed back, saying she did not believe that language would violate the order, and the company relented.

“I did give the speech and I was extra spicy. Not only did talk about white privilege but I extended that further to talk about white supremacy culture,” Lee said.

She said another client, a non-profit that relies on government grants, has asked if Awaken planned to reformulate its training. But Lee said no professional diversity trainer would imply that any group has unconscious bias without proper context.

“Of course we are not going to stand up and say, ‘you people are inherently racist,’” Lee said.

Within the government, the Justice Department has suspended all diversity and inclusion training. The government has also canceled training programs at the State Department, Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Veteran Affairs.

The National Fair Housing Association, which currently has a contract with Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in the lawsuit that it routinely conducts internal training and discussions to address “systemic racism, unconscious bias, and racial inequities.” Those include recent “informal conversation” with employees concerning “perceptions of white people and other demographic groups in connection with the killing of George Floyd.”

The Labor Department is also using the 1965 presidential order to target companies, including Microsoft and Wells Fargo, over public commitments to expand or bolster Black and Hispanic representation in leadership roles. The government opened inquiries into both companies, warning them against using “discriminatory practices” to meet their goals.

(Copyright (c) 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

[zeeman960]

Is Your Fitness Practice As Inclusive As You Think It Is?

Many of us see fitness as a luxury, and as something that may or may not be affordable to most. As a Black woman, I saw it for a long time as something that only white people could afford.

All of the gyms and studios that I knew of had a large majority of white staff and white clients. If I searched online for a particular gym, I would rarely if ever see pictures of anyone who looked like me. Even though I knew intuitively that “white“ was the default, those images told me that I, as a Black woman, was not the demographic they were marketing to.

What this perpetuates is a general consensus according to which Black people and people of color (POC) do not have enough money to afford luxurious gyms, studios and spas.

As a fitness professional, how you market your services and the images you use are very telling of who you will attract — or rather who you want to attract.

Who Are You Marketing To?

The marketing materials of the studios and gyms I’ve worked for rarely if ever have any Black/POC represented. When they do, it’s usually a single racially ambiguous person.

While in recent years, some of the larger gyms have added more color to their marketing campaigns and their group fitness management teams, management positions above that still remain very white.

Google searches for fitness, pilates and personal training imagery result in pictures of very predominantly white folk. As discussed in my previous article titled Let’s Talk about the Lack of Black Female Representation in Fitness, if the default images are white then does that mean that Black/POC are not a targeted market?

A Few Examples

During my employment at the Harlem YMCA, for example, marketing materials specifically included Black/POC. However, in the YMCAs elsewhere in town, not so much. As a potential client, member or employee, I’d assume that I am not being targeted.

I teach Pilates, and the vast majority of studios where I work use images of white women as both teachers and students. My studio clientele is primarily comprised of white females, with a large percentage of the staff being white females as well. The only times when I’ve seen non-white representation in market plans has been when the owner was Black/POC — and even so, they tend to use the same white images in their marketing as well.

Let’s look at another example which we will call “Telltale Fitness.” Owned by a white male in his mid-30s, Telltale Fitness is a functional gym with free weights, squat racks, battle ropes, kettlebells and rowing machines, which also offers private training as well as small group training. Out of a staff of seven trainers, only one is a person of color — a Black male — the rest being white males and one white female trainer.

Telltale Fitness is located in an urban area with a mix of several races, cultures and ethnicities. Their website includes class descriptions, pricing, etc., as well as pictures of the owner and trainers, along with several pictures of the classes and clients being trained. None of the pictures represent any Black/POC except for the one Black male trainer.

Looking at this from a Black/POC point of view, my first thought is that we are not the target audience and therefore feel less welcome. If I were to join anyway, I would lean towards working with the trainer who looks like me to feel more comfortable. I would also gravitate mostly to his classes, just so I could have some feeling of community.

This is just one more example where a business’s target audience is neither reflective of its community nor is it of the world in general.

While many businesses have now begun to incorporate an anti-racism plan to combat this — a slow process in and of itself — this hasn’t fully translated into the health, fitness and wellness industry yet. Beyond marketing, this is still very apparent in the many summits, workshops and retreats with predominantly white presenters and attendees.

What Is an Anti-Racism Plan?

Anti-racism includes beliefs, actions, movements, and policies adopted or developed in order to oppose racism.

According to the Anti-Racism Digital Library [1]:

“Anti-racism can be defined as some form of focused and sustained action, which includes intercultural, interfaith, multilingual and inter-abled (i.e., differently abled) communities with the intent to change a system or an institutional policy, practice, or procedure which has racist effects.”

By its nature, anti-racism tends to promote the view that racism is both pernicious and pervasive, and that systemic, structural and individual changes in political, economic, and social life are required to dismantle and end it.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself

How can health, fitness and wellness businesses reach a broader market beyond that of white folk? The first step is asking yourself these questions as a business owner:

What has been your personal experience with other Black/POC? Have you dealt with your own white supremacy or privilege?

Does your space only include those who look like you? Does your marketing only reflect white people? If so, why?

How many of your staff members (if you have any) are Black/POC?

Are the images you use only reflective of white people? Have you looked for images of Black/POC?

Are your mission, class descriptions and staff examples of inclusion? Or do they appear very white on the surface?

What About Hip Hop Music?

I have personally been in some predominantly white CrossFit boxes, barbell clubs and gyms whose music selection was a bit of a concern. I get that hip hop music is a very popular choice: it has a strong beat, it’s catchy and memorable, and definitely easy to lift to. My concern is with the type of hip hop music played — especially when it contains misogynistic undertones and an overuse of derogatory words spoken within the Black community (i.e., the N-word).

How would you feel if the space in which you worked out played music that was derogatory against you? Can you see how problematic it may be to have white folk singing and rapping along in the presence of a Black/POC?

Music selection should be included in your anti-racism plan. I’m not saying that everything should be classical music, however your music selection be inclusive of everyone through a variety of styles.

By revamping who you address in your marketing, the images you use and the music you choose, you can create the space for Black/POC to find community, safety, representation and acceptance.

Reference

Anti-Racism Digital Library, http://sacred.omeka.net/

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Is Your Fitness Practice As Inclusive As You Think It Is? was originally published on LeFit Fitness