Navy ‘Eradicating Extremism’ Training: Black Lives Matter Is ‘Not Politically Partisan In Nature’

The U.S. Navy released new mandated training on “eradicating extremism,” which claims that Black Lives Matter is not a political or extremist organization. 

According to a slew of declassified memos, the Department of Defense is requiring the Navy to host anti-extremist training following the Capitol riots and two incidents of internal problematic behavior. The training clarifies that the Navy “prohibits any member of the naval services from participating in any organization advocating supremacist causes, advocating illegal discrimination, or advocating the use of force or violence against the U.S. government or a state government.” 

The training is called a “stand-down” in internal memos and is required to be completed by April 6. 

The seminar tells naval officers that “offensive jokes” are considered “prohibited conduct” as well as “offensive objects or pictures.” Other obscene behaviors includes “insults or putdowns” and “name-calling.” 

In the social media portion of the training, naval officers were told they could not “retweet or like” any material that promotes discrimination based on race, color, religion sex (including gender identity), creed ethnicity, national origin, or sexual orientation.  

In the Q&A portion of the training manual, commanding officers are given a list of possible questions that may arise. One question asked whether it was appropriate to discuss Black Lives Matter in the workplace. The training manual said it is appropriate because Black Lives Matter “is not politically partisan in nature.” 

Q: My boss is always talking about Black Lives Matter in the workspace. Isn’t that political stuff that they’re not supposed to be talking about at work? 

A: Advocating for or against a public policy issue (as here) is authorized as long as the behavior is otherwise lawful and the advocacy is not politically partisan in nature. 

A separate Q&A prompt asked whether it was okay to discuss conservative religious views on forums maintained by a church. The answer said “expressing religious views” is okay, though actively preventing “others from exercising their legal rights is not permissible.” 

The training takes approximately 90 minutes and is broken down into two increments. The first increment is 30 minutes led by a commanding officer and the second increment is a 60 minute “small group” breakout session. 

Newly appointed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin penned a memo claiming that this training is the first of many trainings aimed at eliminating “extremist ideology” from the Navy. 

“This stand-down is just the first initiative of what I believe must be a concerted effort to better educate ourselves and our people about the scope of this problem and to develop sustainable ways to eliminate the corrosive effects that extremist ideology and conduct have on the workforce,” Austin wrote. 

In a separate memo, the Defense Department re-instituted Inclusion and Diversity training. The newfound training includes a pledge for members of a new task force to “advocate for and acknowledge all lived experiences and intersectional identities of every Sailor in the Navy.” 

The Daily Wire reported: 

The task force, dubbed Task Force One Navy (TF1N) was announced in June 2020, to “analyze and evaluate issues in our society and military that detract from Navy readiness, such as racism, sexism, and other structural and interpersonal biases to attain significant, sustainable [inclusion and diversity]-related reform.” 

The timing of the creation of the task force coincides with the protests and riots that broke out following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 

The Navy is also encouraging officers to read books such as Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be An Anti-Racist, Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow,” and “We Can’t Talk About That At Work!: How to talk about race, religion, politics, and other polarizing topics.” 

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