A flier made by the Privacy and Diversity Office (PDO) at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has caused some controversy within the agency. The flier, although well-intended, caused division, according to sources cited by Townhall.
In order to build upon diversity awareness and inclusion within our workforce, the PDO “utilizes local Diversity and Inclusion Program Committees (DIPCs), composed of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employee volunteers.” In executing CBP’s Diversity and Inclusion Management Plan and affirmative employment obligations, PDO staff provides leadership, support, and direction to local CBP management and DIPCs.”
Images on the flier include black American figures, including Martin Luther King Jr., former President Barack Obama, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Colin Kaepernick.
In the center of the flier, there is a word cloud that includes words such as: Black, Activist , Gospel, Justice, Hip Hop, #BlackPower, #BlackLivesMatter, #Blackgirlsrock, George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick, and Michael Brown.
An email from the agency encouraged employees to “participate in local Diversity and Inclusion Program Committee activities at headquarters and various field offices in honor of National Black History Month,” Townhall also reports.
An anonymous CBP source in the Baltimore Field Office told Reuters that the flier was printed and posted within the building, causing some controversy because some of the names were vehemently anti-police.
“There’s confusion about the tone and the divisive nature of it,” the source said, because “the BLM hates us, as do Maxine Waters and Kaepernick. They’re anti-police advocates against the nation’s largest police force.”
After Border Patrol agents were falsely accused of whipping Haitians illegally crossing into Del Rio, Texas in 2021, Black Lives Matter said CBP is rooted in white supremacy and a history of slave-catching.
As part of his protests before football games, Colin Kaepernick wore socks depicting police officers as pigs. The case of Michael Brown popularized the slogan “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” because witnesses claimed Brown raised his hands before Officer Darren Wilson shot him, but the final investigation found no evidence to support those claims.
One Border Patrol agent told Townhall, “This is just another attempt by a federal agency to show how woke it is.”
It is absolutely outrageous that the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) felt it was necessary to produce its own version of woke propaganda for Black History Month, a move that further calls into question what these government agencies are doing with our taxpayer dollars. This piece of propaganda attempts to advocate for BLM’s message and agenda during a time when tensions between left-leaning groups and law enforcement are at an all-time high. Instead of using its budget to better serve citizens, CBP is instead seeking to push its own messaging. It’s outrageous that taxpayer money is being used in a way that further entrenches already tense relations. It is imperative that our government agencies be held accountable for the use of public funds, especially when it comes to such politically loaded materials.
