Federal agents charged with investigating money laundering, public corruption, counterterrorism, and narcotics trafficking at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) were pulled from their critical duties to endure woke training that directs them to operate in a culturally inclusive environment and speak up for multiple social identities. The drills focused on equity, diversity, inclusion and justice and instructed agents from the specialized IRS Criminal Investigation (IRSCI) unit to question how much they know about different cultural norms and mores and challenged them with the following inquiries: “Are you prepared adequately to accommodate different cultural expectations and practices?” and “Can you deliver cultural inclusion behaviorally?” The course’s introduction, titled “Cultural Inclusion is About Justice,” was provided by a black transgender professor who asserts in an academic article that the high impact of “whiteness” oppresses trans college students.
Judicial Watch obtained and reviewed material from the controversial special training presented to IRSCI agents as part of mandatory continuing professional education for all staff. A source connected to the Washington D.C. field office provided slides from the specific presentation in that division, which has dozens of agents that investigate crimes throughout the capitol area, including Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Federal agents—as well as the special agent in charge of the D.C. office—working on high-profile probes involving bribery, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks and dismantling the country’s major drug and money laundering organizations were reluctant to be yanked from their important work to participate in the woke training. “They want us to consider people’s race,” said a veteran investigator whose identity cannot be disclosed. “Criminals don’t discriminate. White collar criminals are mostly what IRSCI goes after.” And they are a diverse bunch, according to government sources interviewed by Judicial Watch.
Nevertheless, in this heated environment of political correctness many government agencies are implementing official woke initiatives under a Biden executive order to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government. That includes subjecting government workers to similar equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice training as well as establishing special programs to help the targeted audience. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formulated a strategy to “advance equity for marginalized and underserved communities” that, among other things, directs federal prosecutors to ignore maximum sentencing under the law to “avoid unwarranted disparities.” The Department of Labor has dedicated $260 million to promote “equitable access” to government unemployment benefits by addressing disparities in the administration and delivery of money by race ethnicity and language proficiency. The Treasury Department named its first ever racial equity chief, a veteran La Raza official who spent a decade at the nation’s most influential open borders group. The list goes on and on.
The IRSCI training is part of that expansive woke agenda. Criminal investigators at the nation’s tax agency were taught about cross-cultural competence in a section that questioned their cultural behaviors, values, biases, preconceived notions, and personal limitations. “Do you understand the worldview of your culturally different customers/colleagues without negative judgements?” one slide asks. “Can you develop relevant and sensitive intervention strategies and skills with your culturally different customers/colleagues?” Keep in mind these are federal law enforcement agents investigating the perpetrators of serious crimes, not public relations, or human resources representatives. It is difficult to understand how they benefit from this type of training, which also featured a “cultural perceptions” discussion that covered how Mexicans and Taiwanese describe people in the U.S. Answers include rushed, reserved, hard-headed, unemotional, independent, and self-indulgent.
A slide focusing on projection bias includes a quote from the Dalai Lama, the infamous Buddhist monk and Tibetan spiritual leader who recently ignited global outrage after kissing a child on the lips at an event in northern India then asking the boy to suck his tongue. Adjacent to the Dalai Lama’s banner is a deep quote from a diversity, equity and inclusion strategist who claims to be an expert on cultural, racial, religious, gender, generational and sexual orientation. Her message to IRS criminal investigators is “I am not culturally different from you. I am culturally different like you.” Cultural exclusions are discussed in a slide featuring a photo of a black woman who claims wearing her hair naturally was the only thing that defined her in the office and another black woman who refrains from conversations in the office about famous black people to avoid a negative affiliation. A Latina woman says that she tries “not to be regularly seen with other Latinx employees on staff” to avoid a negative association.
