Comment on Trump executive order prevents racial bias training at Collins Aerospace, BAE Systems

Under an executive order signed this week by President Donald Trump, defense contractors including Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems, both in Cedar Rapids, cannot provide diversity training based on conscious or unconscious bias, white privilege and other topics commonly taught in such programs.The president’s order prohibits the federal government and its contractors from promoting “race or sex stereotyping or scapegoating” or teaching any “divisive concepts.” That includes training that suggests a race or gender may have any privilege, status, moral or ethical values or character traits.White privilege is the “set of social and economic advantages that white people have by virtue of their race in a culture characterized by racial inequality,” according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.Collins Aerospace asked employees to “ensure any planned trainings in these areas are postponed until further notice,” according to an email obtained by The Gazette.