US president Donald Trump has called anti-racism training sessions for governmental agencies “divisive, anti-American propaganda”.
The comments were contained in a memo as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was directed to crack down on spending relating to learning about subjects such as white privilege.
OMB director Russell Vought asked federal agencies to identify spending related to any training on “critical race theory” or any material that suggests the United States or any race or ethnicity is “inherently racist or evil”.
The memo comes as the country has faced a reckoning this summer over racial injustice in policing and other spheres of American life.
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Trump has spent much of the summer defending the display of the Confederate battle flag and monuments of Civil War rebels from protesters seeking their removal, in what he has called a culture war” ahead of the November 3 election.
Meanwhile, he has rejected comments from Democratic nominee Joe Biden and others that there is “systemic racism” in policing and American culture that must be addressed.
Vought’s memo said additional federal guidance on training sessions is forthcoming, adding: “The president, and his administration, are fully committed to the fair and equal treatment of all individuals in the United States.
“The President has a proven track record of standing for those whose voice has long been ignored and who have failed to benefit from all our country has to offer, and he intends to continue to support all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed.
“The divisive, false, and demeaning propaganda of the critical race theory movement is contrary to all we stand for as Americans and should have no place in the federal government.”
Meanwhile, the father of Jacob Blake has said his “happy-go-lucky” son is optimistic for his future, despite being paralysed from the waist down after being shot seven times in the back by a police officer.
Jacob Blake Sr, speaking on a video call from a Milwaukee hotel, said that the past two weeks have been “surreal” and “like a dream” since the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and he is mentally worn out. He has driven from North Carolina to be with his son in hospital.
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Blake Sr said he has been receiving death threats, which he said he could not talk about in detail.
Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot on August 23 in Kenosha, setting off days of protests that made Wisconsin the epicentre of the nation’s ongoing debate over police violence and racial injustice.
Over three days, dozens of fires were set and some Kenosha businesses were destroyed.
On August 25, prosecutors say a 17-year-old from Illinois shot and killed two demonstrators. Lawyers say the teenager, who was patrolling the streets with a rifle, was acting in self-defence.
Blake was released from intensive care this week and “is doing a little bit better”, his father said.
Still, “from the waist down, no movement,” Blake Sr said.
“He can’t move.”
President Trump travelled to Kenosha on Tuesday and he thanked law enforcement for their efforts in quelling violence and met people whose businesses were destroyed by fires, but choose not to meet with Blake’s family.
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