Federal workers ordered to probe their ‘unconscious bias’ on race, sexuality

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Times:

A top U.S. Forest Service executive told his employees to probe their own “unconscious bias” on everything from race and sexuality to the disabled and fat people, asking them to use an unproven assessment tool to explore their feelings.

 

The online test, which Forest Management Director Bryan Rice urged other agency directors to use as well, specifically warns of problems when it is taken “outside of the safeguards of a research institution.” Users also are told to be careful about how far to go in interpreting the results.

 

Mr. Rice, in a March 11 email to his employees, also instructed them to read a New York Times piece titled “Straight talk for white men,” which argues that white men benefit from unconscious bias. He also shared a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that shows managers are more likely to hire those with a “very white sounding name” over those with a “very African American sounding name.”

 

In an email to The Washington Times, Mr. Rice said he believed the tests would help build a better workplace for his team.

 

“The intent of using the unconscious bias material is to assist with efforts to foster a work environment where everyone is respected and valued,” he said. “The unconscious bias material can help us explore diversity and inclusion in the workplace. It was included in a discussion of diversity as part of a continuous series of collaborative discussions on a variety of topics we have on my staff that cover key Forest Service policies and values as a means of fostering continued awareness.”

 

Mr. Rice did not respond to questions about which tests he took, nor what biases were exposed by those assessments.

 

The executive instructed his employees to take two tests each, saying the “results are for you to use and think about in your own situations.” He said they would talk about the issue at a meeting scheduled for next week.

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Maybe they should just send Federal workers to Starbucks for a "conversation..."