FEMA Holds Employee Trainings on ‘White Supremacy’ As More Than 1,000 Hawaiians Remain Missing

Disaster agency's diversity presentations say 'white supremacy' is 'ingrained in nearly every system'

The federal government agency tasked with leading the response to natural disasters has its hands full as more than 1,000 Americans remain missing following wildfires that devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui. FEMA nonetheless is mandating a three-hour diversity training for employees that argues, among other things, that white supremacy is "ingrained in nearly every system and institution in the U.S."

While it's unclear how many of FEMA's 20,000-plus employees were required to complete the training, internal emails reviewed by the Free Beacon indicate that the agency’s "resilience" division was advised of a requirement to complete one of three three-hour diversity training modules between Aug. 1 and Sept. 28. "FEMA Resilience" works to "help communities across the United States equitably adapt, survive, recover and thrive in the face of natural disasters" and boasts roughly 2,600 employees, according to someone familiar. The division is led by Biden administration appointee Victoria Salinas, the agency's website says.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion trainings contend that the United States is "rooted in extreme, extraordinary violence" and demand participants acknowledge "that systemic racism and oppression exist," according to screenshots of the training obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

FEMA leaders informed staff of the training in a July email, indicating that the effort is "part of our ongoing commitment to instill Equity as a Foundation of Emergency Management." Staffers are required to take at least one course to meet their "DEI training requirement," according to the email.

FEMA's email says its equity trainings were "developed by the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management." The institute's CEO, Chauncia Willis, told the Free Beacon she delivered the training live to FEMA employees "months ago." FEMA appears to have recorded Willis's live presentation to play back to employees, with the agency using its internal "resilience equity adviser," Christopher Smith, to pause the presentation and direct employees to engage in small group discussions, a video of the training obtained by the Free Beacon shows.

"White supremacy is an ideology, a pattern of values and beliefs that are ingrained in nearly every system and institution in the U.S.," the presentation says in a section titled, "Why Start With White Supremacy and Race?" In another section, titled, "The Uncomfortable Truth," the presentation says the United States "was established and rooted in extreme, extraordinary violence."

"The established economic, justice, and social systems all require subjugation of certain groups," the presentation continues.

A spokesman for the agency said that the training in question is not required. (FEMA Resilience employees may choose among three options.) The spokesman, however, said that the agency requires two trainings of all employees: "Civil Rights and FEMA Disaster 2023" and "Including People with Disabilities and Others with Access and Functional Needs in Disaster Operations."

FEMA is facing criticism that as many as 1,100 people remain missing in Hawaii after the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history ravaged the island earlier this month. Agency administrator Deanne Criswell struggled on Monday to explain why so many people remain unaccounted for two weeks after the fire was mostly contained. "There's a lot of different reasons on why people are unaccounted for," Criswell told...

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