‘Am I white?’: Hill listening to with State Department’s range chief turns testy

The Biden administration is pushing liberal “woke” insurance policies so laborious on U.S. diplomats that the State Department’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is successfully “mandating division,” a key House Republican instructed the workplace’s outgoing chief at an sometimes testy listening to Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

“This office has a clever name that uses strong emotional words,” mentioned Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs oversight subcommittee. “But [it] functionally does the opposite of what America has always stood for, which is very simply the best man, the best woman for the job.”

The State Department workplace, he added, “is giving people the impression … that it is looking for a preferred race, or — at a minimum — not white.”

Amb. Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, Foggy Bottom’s chief range and inclusion officer since April 2021, defended the administration’s push to develop range within the nation’s diplomatic corps, which she famous is at present 76% white.

“As the State Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer, I believe our nation’s values of inclusion, equity and our diversity contribute to our national strength,” she mentioned.

Mr. Biden’s proposed funds included $76 million to fund range, fairness and inclusion (DEI) initiatives throughout the State Department subsequent yr.

In addition to confronting problems with sexual orientation and spiritual discrimination, analysts say the initiatives concentrate on rising the variety of minorities throughout the diplomatic corps. Fewer than 4% of Foreign Service officers (FSOs) are Black, underneath 8% are Hispanic, and solely about 7.8% are of Asian descent, based on printed studies.

Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley, who just lately revealed plans to step down, instructed lawmakers the fiscal 2024 funds seeks to compile extra correct knowledge on the division’s racial profile and different traits, and on the profession trajectory of various teams, saying officers have to make “evidence-informed decisions.”

“My office has now published a demographic baseline report that provides an unprecedented look at our bureaus broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, status of disability, grade rank and job series skill code,” she mentioned. “We plan to release an updated report annually to show trend lines.”

House Democrats on the panel praised her efforts at Tuesday’s listening to.

Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado mentioned he was “appalled” by Mr. Mast’s opening remarks earlier than Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley testified.

“Those who want to talk about merit also want to ignore the history of this country,” mentioned Mr. Crow. “They want to ignore the fact that the playing field is not level for vast swaths of our country.”

Several committee Republicans, in the meantime, joined Mr. Mast in a latest letter to Mr. Blinken arguing the variety and different mandates are “distracting” the division from its major international coverage objectives in a harmful world.

In a cordial however at occasions pointed change, Mr. Mast took goal at a spread of inside coverage shifts made on Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley’s watch, together with final yr’s dropping of a requirement that candidates should cross the notoriously tough written examination when making use of for the Foreign Service. 

“I would ask somebody to name to me another profession where you can fail the qualifying exam and still get the job,” mentioned Mr. Mast. 

At the time of the coverage change, a division official mentioned the change would higher the service’s skill to attract from an applicant pool that “brings to bear the talents and diversity that this country offers.”

Critics cost that it’s about elevating pores and skin shade as a metric no much less beneficial than aptitude testing within the hiring course of.

Said Mr. Mast at one level, “In my opinion, you have made diversity — or as I will call it, ‘identity,’ a core precept for Foreign Service officers that is equal to their ability to demonstrate leadership,” the Florida Republican mentioned. 

Mr. Mast, who has Hispanic heritage and misplaced each legs whereas serving within the Army in Afghanistan, then acquired private.

“Can you tell me? Am I white?” he requested Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley, who’s African American.

“I would allow you to tell me how you characterize yourself,” Ms. Ambercrombie-Winstanley responded.

“That’s exactly right. I would have to tell you, not just how I characterize myself, but what I am. But I’m asking, do you know if I’m white?” mentioned Mr. Mast.

“I do not know,” responded Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley.

Mr. Mast: “Half-Black?”

Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley: “I do not know.”

Mr. Mast: “Asian-Islander? Brown? Latino?”

Ms. Abercrombie-Winstanley: “I do not know.”

Mr. Mast: “You can’t know without asking. … And we can’t ask what somebody is.”