Coca Cola implements training for employees to be less white

[Stevicus]

That's exactly what you are doing, whether you realise it or not.

Coca Cola explicitly stated the video in question is NOT part of their training. That couldn't be clearer. The Corporate PR department speaks for the company and will not lie about a thing like this, for fear of legal action and damage to the brand.

So the headline item in this fake story of yours is a pack of lies.

The same statement also said: "The training includes access to the LinkedIn Learning platform on a variety of topics, including on diversity, equity and inclusion. The video in question was accessible on the LinkedIn Learning platform but was not part of the company’s curriculum."

So, it was there, made available and accessible by the Coca-Cola Company for it's employees. Therefore, they clearly "implemented" it and made it available, even if it wasn't officially part of their mandatory company curriculum. The statement implies that it was there but apparently wasn't required. That doesn't make the headline false. The only real question here is whether it was required or optional, but I see that as a relatively minor point - not one that justifies your precipitous charge of it being a "pack of lies." That's just way over the top.

Even the statement from Coke implied that the main part of the story was essentially true, even if it contained a minor inaccuracy.

And yes of course it is furthering a culture war. Why do you imagine this headline is so popular in the far right press? It's because it allows people to feel justified in jeering at attempts to redress the racial balance in society. And that in turn allows people who are a little bit racist to feel that that's OK.

I think you're missing the forest through the trees here, which is a common misperception when people try to address historical and current injustices which have existed in America since before this nation even existed. I don't like the term "culture war," as I think it's a misnomer and doesn't seem to accurately reflect what's going on. I'm also not fond of the term "political correctness," either, although what I see is that the various attempts to redress racism and other injustices in society is that it has become corporatized and sanitized. I think it's a product of insular corporate groupthink, which is why it falls flat and becomes vulnerable to jeering and mockery by the right.

 

[PureX]

Racism is caused by corporate elites and the ruling class, yet this "training" is basically the elites deflecting blame and attempting to put it back on the lower classes.

Well, racism is not necessarily "caused" by the corporate elites but it is clearly exacerbated and exploited by them. And this does smell of them deflecting responsibility.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The USA seems to be unique in having had a bitter civil war based mainly on recognising black rights. This still colours many people's prejudices.

America isn't a black and white issue. There is a strong emphasis on black people, but what of everybody else being repressed? The Natives, for example, get **** on still, are five times more likely to be killed by police, amd we have very little awareness of it. Covid has made it embarrassingly obvious many do not accept Americans of Asian descent as American and they are subject to attack. Hispanics have faced efforts trying to have their language banned from use in government buildings, and they are often assumed to be illegal immigrants.
But, instead, the Evangelical Left views black people as their version of the Jews, and this is another example of their version of original sin and assuming all are guilty by default.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

This is racist.

It's pathetic that we are going from a point of not judging by skin color but by contents of character, to just judging by skin color and judging everyone based solely on that.
It really is no different than the Evangelical original sin and how we're born into and guilty and deserving of Hell.

 

[Subduction Zone]

You can get a 44-ounce fountain drink at convenience stores for just over a buck - although sometimes they lower the prices in summer. Sometimes, the fountain drink machines at these stores can be an utter madhouse with people of all ages lined up to guzzle down huge cups of soda. But it's not just Coke; they have quite a variety of flavors and brands. Some people like to mix up different flavors in the same cup.

And I don't think that I have ever used on of those. I am not a huge pop drinker. When I have a Coke it is an occasional treat. They would go broke if customers were like me. I first bought a Mexican Coke fifteen or twenty years ago and I will have between 2 and 5 a year. I have bought a few more recently because sometimes I make pork carnitas and my recipe calls for the Real Thing. In other words, Coca Cola made with sugar and not corn syrup.

 

[Subduction Zone]

America isn't a black and white issue. There is a strong emphasis on black people, but what of everybody else being repressed? The Natives, for example, get **** on still, are five times more likely to be killed by police, amd we have very little awareness of it. Covid has made it embarrassingly obvious many do not accept Americans of Asian descent as American and they are subject to attack. Hispanics have faced efforts trying to have their language banned from use in government buildings, and they are often assumed to be illegal immigrants.
But, instead, the Evangelical Left views black people as their version of the Jews, and this is another example of their version of original sin and assuming all are guilty by default.

Not even close. When I see such a claim alarm bells go off for me. And that is from either side. For a white person one is just as likely to get killed by a police officer as by a black person:

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-29/race-and-homicide-in-america-by-the-numbers

People shot to death by U.S. police, by race 2021 | Statista

The difference is that like it not the vast majority of police killings are justified. Very few cases of black people shooting white people can be justified (self defense is a justification).

Let's not use bad examples because it harms one's arguments. Is racism a problem in America? Of course, but bad arguments only allow those that disagree with you to score undeserved points.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

Except on this occasion is it right wing lies, put out to keep the "culture war" going...... and get in a tiny bit of dogwhistle racism into the bargain.......

(Russia Today reported this story with great enthusiasm, I see.)

I meant more the use of academic material like DiAngelos in non-academic settings for corporate purposes...
And HR policies and departments (not the good ones, but all too many I see...)

I had trouble finding out how much of this material was used by Coca Cola, but admit the version of their statement I read made it sound more like everything was being overstated, rather than simply being bunkum.

In any case, thanks for the info.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Coca-Cola has employees take training on how to 'be less white' to combat racism

I think things like this are a bit of a smokescreen, especially since most liberals and progressives have allowed Corporate America to set the tone and direction of the narrative on this and many other issues. They've outsourced "enlightenment" to a third party vendor, and this is the result. Racism is caused by corporate elites and the ruling class, yet this "training" is basically the elites deflecting blame and attempting to put it back on the lower classes.

That had me going, because I truly believed for a second that Coca Cola would be stupid enough. I'm always too quick to doubt the intelligence of others. Gets me over and over.!

I'm glad that I read this post before replying: --> Coca Cola implements training for employees to be less white

 

[Amandi]

I can understand people not liking the wording of "less white" but I would have to see the whole presentation leading up to that statement for me being up in arms about it. I am guessing one of the slides before that one defined what they mean by "less white."

 

[Watchmen]

This is what every large corporate human relations department does with its time when it's not too busy figuring out new ways to weed out job applicants based on whether their resumes can be reliably interpreted to mean they're 'not our kind of drinking buddy'. They typically team up with in-house marketing and PR.

Seriously, these 'sensitivity trainings' are just the way every large American corporation virtue signals they're better people than the other better people in the world. Much better, in fact, because they just threw racism once again into the prominent pile of sensitivity training they give each and every one of their employees at least two or three times a year, in most cases.

There have been follow up studies usually done around six months later by independent researchers that have failed to ever find even one of these trainings changed anything in how people behaved.

But giving these sessions is a rich little industry because they're so useful now and then in documenting the corporation's noble purpose, high ethical values, and all that other PR crap that flies out the window when the topic of shareholder profits comes up in the executive meetings.

Everyone does it, and I'm guessing it's not just here in America.

If you really get so upset about this sort of thing that you think its a shame and something should be done about it on the order of a hill to die on, then try to remember to check out abstinence-only sex education in American high schools.

Same thing, mildly better results. Best not tell your 17 year old daughter she can go on a date without bringing along some condoms, though. That so often just doesn't work out for the better, even with both teens ramped up and supercharged to hold out against nature until marriage.


There is no getting around it, folks, if you do not understand fundamental human nature well enough to reliably see it when it's up close and personal, then you are a lost lamb in this world today. And usually a lamb someone is going to sooner or later figure out how sacrifice on the alter of their profits.

Just thank your daughter if she didn't go big belly at 17, despite her superior training that cost her school several thousand dollars. That was all to her credit, not to her school's several thousand dollars.

Welcome to PR 236: Introduction to Virtue Signaling for Professionals.

You’re throwing a lot of shade at corporate America, deservedly so, but let’s not forget that many governments compel this sort of training as well. Businesses are required by law to do similar trainings in many states.

 

[Sunstone]

You’re throwing a lot of shade at corporate America, deservedly so, but let’s not forget that many governments compel this sort of training as well. Businesses are required by law to do similar trainings in many states.

What's the 'shade' remark all about? I do appreciate the information about the laws. That's valuable to me. Thank you for that.

I waste too much time with my own BS, don't need more for the flowerbed this spring. If you respond to this post, start with tying in your shade comment to my post in such a way as to show you were not pettifogging me. That is if you want me to continue reading past however many words I'll need to notice you're not doing that..

 

[Watchmen]

What's the 'shade' remark all about? I do appreciate the information about the laws. That's valuable to me. Thank you for that.

I waste too much time with my own BS, don't need more for the flowerbed this spring. If you respond to this post, start with tying in your shade comment to my post in such a way as to show you were not pettifogging me. That is if you want me to continue reading past however many words I'll need to notice you're not doing that..

You were critical of corporate America’s virtue signaling and I said you were right to say so. I thought of throwing shade simply as being critical. And I agreed with you. Sometimes it’s ok to throw shade. Some people and organizations deserve it.

But in any event, I don’t give two ****s if you read my posts or not.

 

[Shaul]

Why is this news? Everyone knows Coca Cola uses artificial coloring.

 

[Stevicus]

I can understand people not liking the wording of "less white" but I would have to see the whole presentation leading up to that statement for me being up in arms about it. I am guessing one of the slides before that one defined what they mean by "less white."

The article touched upon defining "less white" in one of the screenshots:

It is interesting that oppression, arrogance, and certitude are considered "white" qualities, although I do find these qualities all across the internet and in real life.

 

[Stevicus]

That had me going, because I truly believed for a second that Coca Cola would be stupid enough. I'm always too quick to doubt the intelligence of others. Gets me over and over.!

I'm glad that I read this post before replying: --> Coca Cola implements training for employees to be less white

When I posted the link to the original article, at the time, the Examiner had reached out to Coca-Cola for comment but had not received it yet. A while later, they edited the article to reflect Coca-Cola's statement which acknowledged the existence of this training program and that employees were given access to it, even while claiming that it wasn't part of their official training curriculum. So, the focus and thrust of the OP was essentially true, even if there's still a question as to whether they required it or if it was optional.

 

[Stevicus]

It's pathetic that we are going from a point of not judging by skin color but by contents of character, to just judging by skin color and judging everyone based solely on that.
It really is no different than the Evangelical original sin and how we're born into and guilty and deserving of Hell.

When I was younger, the Civil Rights movement was quite prominent and known to most of the populace. At the time, the primary message was that of equality, freedom, and justice - with the central idea that "skin color doesn't matter." I think it started to go awry when Reagan got into office, and this shifted the focus towards ultra-capitalism and reigniting the class warfare which subsided greatly during WW2 and the decades following it.

Even if it was purported to be "color blind" and based solely in the capitalist ideology, it still encouraged the dog-eat-dog, take-no-prisoners approach which dominates our nation's economic and political philosophy today. What some people refer to as "political correctness" was never something that originated organically or at the grass roots level; it was contrived in corporate boardrooms and imposed from the top down some 20-30 years after the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing. How or why liberals were so easily duped into going along with it and believing it to be a good thing - that's a mystery. But then again, they got duped into so many things during those years, all the while abandoning many of the high-minded ideals they claimed to uphold a few decades earlier.

 

[Brickjectivity]

It is more widespread, There is an example in the UK in the campaign before the vote on staying in or leaving the European Union. The "Remain" side focussed on facts, the "Leave" side focussed on emotions. A senior minister campaigning to leave the EU said that people had "had enough of experts."

Interesting! I was in a thread about Brexit, though I have no real skin in that game. The remain group is focused on monetary benefits of the trade group. The leave group is focused on being a separate country and strongly dislikes EU government for reasons that are not monetary. There were two Leave campaigns, and one of them published dishonest numbers having to do with the DHS service. That very much angered the Remain side. The other Leave campaign used cutting edge technology to find disaffected voters to contact and convince to vote to leave. See the Brexit movie which dramatizes the Leave campaign, its strategies and internal squabbles. You will enjoy it.

 

[Secret Chief]

You will enjoy it.

Thanks for the recommendation. However, for me, "enjoy" and "Brexit" do not go together.
My only other comment is the Remain side also highlighted non-monetary aspects of membership, such as employment rights, justice and freedom of movement. (I personally would say that the Leave side focussed on outright lies and deceit).

 

[Brickjectivity]

I don't know. I suspect that here are several reasons.
But one of them in relationship to religion and its connection to overall ideology, it is the idea that the USA is special, because it is "ordained by God" as the best country in the world. You don't even have to use God. If you take for granted that you can't doubt that is the greatest country in the world and thus you are in effect doing your life correct, you don't need to change and when there is something that doesn't work, is always everybody else, who are not doing in the correct manner.
Note that it is not the only reason. There are more, but as far as I can tell, it is one of them.

Note that this is not unique to this American version. Any ideology who don't in effect allow for self-doubt, but explains any failure as everybody else's fault, ends up being closed off to change.

Regards
Mikkel

Most countries have gone through that "We are the best by God" thing, but I think USA has had it pretty bad. I think this will subside as we get further away from WWII. After that war it was easy to sell Americans on heroic actions. I saw a film documentary about how it was a miracle that our carriers weren't sunk by the Japanese ship Yamado. It is not usual for the outcome of a battle to be described as miraculous, but some of ours are. Similarly in some history books the sinking of the Spanish fleet by the British is miraculous, but in others it is considered in strategic terms that the British had smaller maneuverable ships. You may have seen the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware river. I was told it was a miracle that he wasn't caught by the British doing that. Miracles and war together? People believe this stuff. That's true.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Would a capitalist or libertarian sociology department be better than a Marxist one? What about a sociology department with a bias for, say, white supremacism or myopic, anti-Western bias?

I don't think it matters whether a sociology department has specific beliefs as long as it sticks to academic standards and critical thinking. That's what people should focus on instead of nitpicking which academic circle believes what.

Jordan Peterson likes to harp on the supposed "Marxist" evils as a fearmongering tactic. He's deeply hypocritical for criticizing any perceived bias in a given academic circle when he himself has very conspicuous prejudices that he doesn't hide as a well-known psychologist.

I have seen one or two of short vids of him talking on youtube. He charges among other things that marxism is a failed idea that results in suffering, which is a judgment of his. He also charges that some leftist departments want to shut down dialogue, silence those who disagree and politically train students to be marxists. I don't know where he gets his 25% figure from which is why I say "If that is correct."