State Department ends DEI ideology in the foreign service

The State Department announced Thursday that it has ended the Biden administration's diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda in the foreign service and is refocusing its training on "practical diplomatic skills" instead.

The department said that DEI training infected it so much during the previous administration that employees were told to mitigate their “unconscious bias,” and diplomats were urged to discuss DEI and “allyship” in their talks with foreign governments.

Instructors with the department were given a reading list that included books such as “White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement,” “In Defense of Looting,” and “How White Women Tears Oppress People of Color.” They were also given training on “Black Lives Matter” terminology and how to implement the terminology in different countries, along with roleplaying exercises on how to deal with racism in the U.S. and foreign countries.

“The U.S. Department of State has put an end to the ideologically extreme and discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda, restoring merit, rigor and accountability to the Foreign Service and refocusing training on practical diplomatic skills that serve the common interests of the American people,” the department said in a fact sheet.

"The DEI agenda was embedded in the institutional culture of the Foreign Service during the previous administration," the sheet continued. "DEI objectives and materials shamefully denigrated the United States, derided Americans of certain backgrounds, and distracted from legitimate foreign policy objectives that serve the American people. 

"Under the Trump Administration, the State Department has eliminated DEI ideology from Foreign Service training to better uphold the highest standards of American diplomacy," it added.

The move is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to remove DEI policies from the federal government. The administration previously shuttered diversity offices and rewrote handbooks and training courses to better align with the current White House.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.