San Francisco Company Twilio Announces ‘Anti-Racist’ Layoff Policy

A California-based company has proudly announced that its business practices are rooted in what is referred to as ‘anti-racism.’ What some don’t realize is that these increasingly popular practices often translate not just into the hiring process, which is bad enough, but also into the firing process.

San Francisco corporate communications company Twilio recently announced that they would have to lay off 11% of their employees. This decision isn’t all that remarkable as it’s generally the same reason other companies go through layoffs; the company grew too fast, and shares have plummeted by 78%.

What is remarkable is the method they use to make their layoff decisions. Whereas most companies would focus on laying off those who perhaps don’t perform as well as others, or those positions that arguably aren’t needed at this stage in the business, the company has chosen a different path.

The Woke Path

Mission and vision statements were always my least favorite part of being on a leadership team when I was in the military. I would imagine it’s just as painfully arduous in the corporate sector. However, with the woke mob taking over consulting and leadership symposiums, I suppose you can just steal some keywords and catchphrases to pretty up your company platforms.

Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson recently highlighted one of their goal statements:

“As you all know, we are committed to becoming an anti-racist/anti-oppression company.”

He went on to explain how that goal of anti-racism and anti-oppression plays into the company’s layoff strategy:

“Layoffs like this can have a more pronounced impact on marginalized communities, so we were particularly focused on ensuring our layoffs – while a business necessity today – were carried out through an anti-racist/anti-oppression lens.”

Sound familiar? It should.

 

Minneapolis Leading The Woke Pack

I reported last month about how the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers union had pushed forward an agreement to lay off white teachers before laying off minority teachers in the event a layoff would need to occur. The agreement said:

“If excessing a teacher who is a member of a population underrepresented among licensed teachers in the site, the district shall excess the next least senior teacher, who is not a member of an underrepresented population.”

While this activity is ripe for a lawsuit, some think this is a good practice. One Minneapolis teacher said of the agreement:

“We want to have kids from all demographics having experiences with people of different backgrounds and different cultures, and becoming aware that our shared humanity is what’s important, and not the thing that divides us.”

Interesting statement. To teach kids, we all share in our inclusion in the human race; we must segregate which races we lay off and hire? 

Tell me again how homeschooling my kids is a bad idea.

RELATED: Teachers Union Dumps Seniority Rules, Will Instead Decide Layoffs Based On Skin Color

Don’t Leave Home Without It

This idea of running businesses and organizations through an ‘anti-racism’ lens is not a one-off. The ‘anti-racism’ lens is merely another offshoot of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion craze.

The popular credit card company American Express is facing some litigation issues for its race-related internal practices. Allegedly the credit company has tied executive bonuses to how well managers have hired minorities, regardless of their qualifications. 

Because that’s what we need, people to be hired based on the color of their skin, not their actual abilities. Or, to put it in another way, that should illustrate the magnitude of this re-packaged old sin; we should fire people based on their skin color, not their actual abilities.

Employees have even come forward claiming that the company provided Critical Race Theory training that required members to acknowledge their privilege and rank it against their peers. Perhaps my favorite was the teaching that ‘Capitalism is racist.’

Interesting message coming from a credit card company.

RELATED: Women’s March Promotes ‘Pregnant People,’ Otherwise Known As ‘Women’

3, 2, 1…Diversity!

Our unhealthy obsession with race is reaching for the stars now, with even the space program embracing ‘anti-racism’ by making diversity a vital component of the Artemis I launch. The still much-anticipated Artemis I launch is meant to be a test for a future mission to put Americans back on the moon.

That manned mission will have a woman and an astronaut of color on board. I don’t necessarily have an issue with this if they are the best astronauts for the job and just so happen to be a woman and a ‘person of color.’ 

But these days, it’s hard to know if that’s what is happening.

As Vice President Kamala Harris so profoundly said:

“So much of space exploration is about science.”

And that’s how it should stay.

RELATED: NJ Elementary School Is Stripped Of ‘Thomas Jefferson’ Name Over Slavery

The Definition Of Insanity

What Twilio, Minneapolis, and other corporations and organizations do when they claim to support ‘anti-racism’ proudly is just plain racist. When we don’t hire the people that are the best for the job because they don’t look the right way, or any variation of the same theme, it’s racist. 

Nobody likes to hear that, but that’s what it is. But unfortunately, it also doesn’t help the demographics of individuals it purported to help. 

As a woman in the military, I was regularly accused of only getting medals, awards, or promotions because I was a ‘girl,’ as my more immature male colleagues would call me. And while that drove me insane, they believed that because there were plenty of times in the military that women were elevated over their male counterparts, even though they weren’t as qualified.

Later I would not get a job I applied for in the military (that I was told hands down I was the most qualified for) because I wasn’t the right demographic. It is soul-crushing to know that no matter how hard you work or how much you outperform your peers, it won’t matter because of the color of your skin or your gender.

It was wrong when we did it in the past to women and the black community, and it is wrong when we do it now to men and the white community. It is the very definition of insanity.