Seal of the United States Department of State

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The U.S. Foreign Service definitely remained  overwhelmingly “pale, male, and Yale” under four years of former president Trump’s administration.   “The country can no longer afford a State Department that is pale, male, and Yale,”  Karen Bass wrote in a Dec. 5  2020  article in Foreign Policy.  Last October, the State Department halted  diversity training after President Trump issued an executive order directing agencies to end the “divisive” programs.  Now, just two days after Joe Biden was sworn in as the new U.S. president, the State Department announced the full resumption of employee training and professional development activities in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion.  The Biden State Department  said the swift action was taken in order to achieve a diplomatic corps truly representative of America.  The State Department added that  “more progress is needed to recruit and retain a more diverse Department workforce and embrace a culture of inclusion and accountability, free of bias.”   However,  the lack of diversity in the Foreign Service was there long before President Trump took office.  Between 2002 and 2018, the proportion of State Department staff identifying as racial or ethnic minorities increased by only 4 percent, well below the federal workforce average. The proportion of Black employees actually fell.

“The Day One White House decision to rescind the previous administration’s Executive Order 13950 affirms the Biden Administration’s unwavering commitment to advancing racial and gender equity and a federal workforce that reflect the talents, abilities, and perspectives of the country they serve.  The nearly 77,000 Department employees at over 275 missions worldwide and offices across the United States can rest assured of their new leadership’s commitment to a more diverse and inclusive workplace that begins with open discussion of challenges faced and shared commitment to advance progress.”

-Ned Price,  Spokesperson U.S. Department of State

Price  added:  “Restoring and strengthening American diplomatic leadership globally requires leveraging the full talent and richness of American diversity.”  

On his final day in office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo proudly proclaimed ‘multiculturalism’ is ‘not who America is’

Credit:  Credit: Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times /  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  briefs reporters at Department of State headquarters in Washington D.C. 

U.S. secretary of state, Mike Pompeo  denounced “multiculturalism” and “woke-ism” in America on his last day as America’s top diplomat via Twitter on Wednesday January 20.   Pompeo’s declaration is highly confusing and nationalistic, given the U.S. is the most diverse, multicultural societies on  the face of the earth. Did he not notice that America’s new Vice President Kamala Harris exemplifies what this great country is all about. The fact that a woman, who is the child of a Jamaican father and  Indian mother, could strive and live out the American dream and become the second most powerful person in the  world. Folk like Pompeo, Trump et al live in an alternative reality, as it is the year 2021  and not  1876 pre-Civil War America.