Coca-Cola is accused of reverse racism for sharing a video encourages employees to be ‘less white’ 

Coca-Cola is under fire for uploading a resource video encouraging employees to ‘be less white’.  

Slides from the video went viral on social media late last week after they were shared by a ‘whistleblower’ working for the soft drink giant. 

Many have now accused Coca-Cola of encouraging reverse racism, and are urging employees to file discrimination lawsuits against the company – but the firm says it merely provided access to the video rather than making it compulsory viewing. 

The slides appear to come from a series of LinkedIn-hosted videos titled ‘Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo’, one of which is an 11-minute clip called ‘Understanding What it Means to be White, Challenging What it Means to be Racist’. 

DiAngelo, a white academic and the author of the book White Fragility, argues that even well-meaning white people are complicit in racist structures unless they actively work to be ‘anti-racist’.  

Coca-Cola is under fire for uploading a resource video encouraging employees to ‘be less white’. Slides from the ‘inclusive workplace’ video went viral on social media over the weekend after they were shared by a ‘whistleblower’ working for the soft drink giant

The slides appear to come from an 11-minute video titled 'Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo'. One slide claims that whiteness is associated with arrogance, defensiveness, ignorance and a lack of humility

The slides appear to come from an 11-minute video titled ‘Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo’. One slide claims that whiteness is associated with arrogance, defensiveness, ignorance and a lack of humility

The Coca-Cola logo can be seen in the top right of the screenshot. The company has confirmed that it uploaded the video to their 'LinkedIn Learning platform', but insists it is not a part of the company's compulsory curriculum

The Coca-Cola logo can be seen in the top right of the screenshot. The company has confirmed that it uploaded the video to their ‘LinkedIn Learning platform’, but insists it is not a part of the company’s compulsory curriculum

A spokesperson told The Washington Examiner that the video was accessible to Coca-Cola employees as part of their 'Better Together global training', which is designed 'to help build an inclusive workplace'

A spokesperson told The Washington Examiner that the video was accessible to Coca-Cola employees as part of their ‘Better Together global training’, which is designed ‘to help build an inclusive workplace’

The slides appear to come from an 11-minute video titled 'Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo'. DiAngelo, an author and consultant, argues that even well-meaning white people are complicit in racist structures unless they actively work to be 'anti-racist'

The slides appear to come from an 11-minute video titled ‘Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo’. DiAngelo, an author and consultant, argues that even well-meaning white people are complicit in racist structures unless they actively work to be ‘anti-racist’

‘White Fragility’ author behind presentation used by Coca-Cola  

The slides uploaded by CocaCola were part of a presentation called ‘Confronting Racism with Robin DiAngelo’, a white academic who says that ‘whiteness studies’ are one of her main areas of research.  

Her book ‘White Fragility’ – a phrase which she says she coined in 2011 – appeared on Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestseller lists at the height of the US race protests last summer. 

A blurb for the book says it calls on ‘all white people to take responsibility for relinquishing their own racial supremacy’.

While some critics praised the book for ‘facilitating difficult but necessary conversations’, others accused it of ‘talking down to black people’, focusing on white problems and ignoring differences among whites. 

‘Few books about race have more openly infantilized black people,’ said one black Columbia University academic who reviewed the book.     

DiAngelo has also worked as a ‘diversity trainer’ for US companies, going into workplaces to run workshops which she says often led to hostility. 

She was behind the slides uploaded to the LinkedIn Learning platform and made available to Coca-Cola employees, entitled ‘Confronting Racism’. 

An advert for the course boasts that DiAngelo ‘gives you the vocabulary and practices you need to start confronting racism and unconscious bias at the individual level and throughout your organization’.

DiAngelo says her work has shown her how she herself has ‘colluded with racism’, saying she had ‘grown up poor and white’ but that ‘while my class oppression has been relatively visible to me, my race privilege has not’. 

One of the slides features the title ‘Try to Be Less White’, before another claims that whiteness is associated with arrogance, defensiveness, ignorance and a lack of humility. 

Another slide states: ‘In the US and other Western nations, white people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white’.

It continues: ‘Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white.’ 

The slides are part of a set which were once available on the LinkedIn Learning platform and apparently written by Robin DiAngelo. 

An advert for the course boasts that DiAngelo ‘gives you the vocabulary and practices you need to start confronting racism and unconscious bias at the individual level and throughout your organization’. 

DiAngelo is the author of the book ‘White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism’. 

Published in 2018, the book was widely read at the height of the George Floyd protests last summer, but also attracted criticism for ‘talking down’ to black people and focusing on white people’s problems.  

‘I grew up poor and white. While my class oppression has been relatively visible to me, my race privilege has not,’ she says of herself. 

‘In my efforts to uncover how race has shaped my life, I have gained deeper insight by placing race in the center of my analysis and asking how each of my other group locations have socialized me to collude with racism.’

Coca-Cola has confirmed that the video was accessible to its employees on the LinkedIn Learning platform, but insist it is not a part of the company’s compulsory curriculum. 

It said access to the videos was provided as part of its ‘Better Together’ training which consists of ‘a number of short vignettes, each a few minutes long’.   

The training program is designed ‘to help build an inclusive workplace,’ a statement said.  

‘The video in question was accessible on the LinkedIn Learning platform but was not part of the company’s curriculum,’ they said. 

‘We will continue to listen to our employees and refine our learning programs as appropriate.’ 

Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta is pictured. A company spokesperson stated: 'We will continue to listen to our employees and refine our learning programs as appropriate'

Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta is pictured. A company spokesperson stated: ‘We will continue to listen to our employees and refine our learning programs as appropriate’

The slides were re-tweeted by Harmeet K. Dhillon, a leader of the Republican National Committee in California. 

‘This seems like blatant racial discrimination to this employment lawyer,’ she stated. 

Another concurred, writing: ‘This is a gold mine for any decent civil rights lawyer. Where are the lawsuits??’

A third popular tweet simply stated: ‘I always preferred Pepsi’.  

However, some argued that they still supported workplace initiatives to teach employees about diversity and racial sensitivity. 

‘I think the word choice is poor, but the concepts will hopefully be enlightening. There are many who do not realize their own racial prejudices, and I’m not kidding,’ a proponent tweeted. 

Fox News host Tucker Carlson displayed the slides on his show last night, using them to complain that ‘corporate America is getting more radical’. 

‘How do you have a country… if you’re taught by your leaders to hate each other because of your differences,’ Carlson asked.  

The slides were re-tweeted by Harmeet K. Dhillon, a leader of the Republican National Committee in California

The slides were re-tweeted by Harmeet K. Dhillon, a leader of the Republican National Committee in California