Defense contractor Raytheon launches critical race theory employee trainings centered on intersectionality

Raytheon, the second-largest defense contractor for the United States, was revealed on Tuesday to have implemented a critical race theory-based training into their workplace last summer.

Christopher Rufo, who has exposed numerous companies over the last few months for implementing similar trainings, like Disney and Lockheed Martin, obtained internal documents from the company outlining the training.

Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes launched the Stronger Together campaign last summer that instructed employees on "becoming an anti-racist today," according to Rufo.

Hayes reportedly signed a corporate diversity statement and asked all Raytheon employees to sign the pledge as well as "check [their] own biases."

The program reportedly centered around "intersectionality," which divides the world into a hierarchy of oppression based on one’s race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, amongst other categories.

One of the documents describes intersectionality as "the way in which different forms of discrimination overlap. For instance, a black person who is also a member of the LGBTQ community, or a Chinese-American who is disabled, face different and greater discrimination than someone who carries one marginalized identity."

As part of the program, Raytheon asked white employees, to Identify and recognize their privilege, and to "step aside" for minorities.

The training goes over "everyday privilege," which is the privilege to blend into society around us. They instruct employees to identify a trait that they have to think bout the least, learn about others experiences, speak up against "microaggressions and other injustices," and to "step aside" when other voices are more important, meaning less privileged, than themselves.

Raytheon urges employees to openly discuss their race or ethnicity. "You cannot address racial injustice in the workplace if you do not acknowledge that different experiences exist for people." They go on to say if you’re going to talk about race, that you should identify everyone’s race, including white people, arguing that if you don’t, you are saying that white is the norm, while all other races are "measured."

They also urge people to "silence [themselves]" in meetings and calls to give the floor to "marginalized identities."

The training urges people not to "pray things change soon," or say that they "can’t wait for things to calm down and get back to normal," adding that their discomfort is merely a fraction of their black colleagues’ experiences, which they say are "exhausted, mentally drained, frustrated, stressed, barely sleeping, scared and overwhelmed."

Raytheon goes on to tell their employees that they should be striving for equity, not equality, which pushes for equality of outcome, not equal opportunity.

Concluding the training is a list of recommendations and resources, which includes telling employees to support defunding the police, and to have employees "decolonize [their] bookshelf," "participate in reparations," and to "join a local 'white space.'"

Raytheon joins fellow US defense contractor Lockheed Martin in implementing programs like this. Lockheed Martin's trainings centered specifically around white males and "white male privilege and culture," looking at how the executives in the training could be better allies.