Department of Defense sparks outrage over tweet pushing for diversity, equity in the military
Florida congressional candidate and Army combat veteran Cory Mills slams the DOD for supporting woke culture in the military, commenting that 'this is not about America's safety and security.'
FIRST ON FOX — The chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the Department of Defense's education wing, who describes herself as a "woke administrator," wrote a series of disparaging posts about White people on Twitter, Fox News Digital found.
Kelisa Wing is the DEI chief at Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), which provides K-12 education to the DoD community in the U.S. and all over the world. After Fox News Digital reached out for comment, Wing's Twitter was put on private, but she did not immediately respond.
Kelisa Wing is a DEI chief officer at the Department of Defense's education wing. (Leigh Ann Erickson and Kelisa Wing | YouTube/Screenshot)
She wrote in June 2020, "I'm exhausted with these white folx in these [professional development] sessions."
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"[T]his lady actually had the CAUdacity to say that black people can be racist too… I had to stop the session and give Karen the BUSINESS… [W]e are not the majority, we don't have power," she continued.
Kelisa Wing, a diversity chief at the Department of Defense, posts disparaging posts about White people on Twitter. (Kelisa Wing/Twitter)
"Caudacity" is a slang term that is used to describe audacity demonstrated by White people.
"[B]eing antiracist means being active against racism… you will NEVER arrive… stop centering this on whiteness," Wing said.
The DoDEA didn't respond to a request for comment.
On another occasion, Wing responded to a user who said, "I am exhausted by 99% of the white men in education and 95% of the white women. Where can I get a break from white nonsense for a while?"
"What Does It Mean to Defund the Police" by Jessica Henry with Kelisa Wing. (Jessica Henry and Kelisa Wing)
Wing responded, "If another Karen tells me about her feelings… I might lose it..."
In another post, Wing responded to a user who criticized the DoD diversity chief's article demanding all teachers take part in "dismantling racial oppression" and claimed that "racism is ingrained in the very fabric of our country."
"Bye Karen," Wing responded to the user.
Wing has also referred to former President Trump as the "whole boy version of a Karen" and former secretary of education Betsy DeVos as "the queen of Karens."
Kelisa Wing said she was honored that her book on White privilege was reportedly called into question by a Florida district. (Kelisa Wing and Hendreich Nichols | Screenshot/Twitter)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Defense, asking if Wing's statements about White people were appropriate for a DoD employee involved in diversity, equity and inclusion, but did not immediately receive a response.
DoDEA "directs… education programs for school-age children of Department of Defense personnel" and "provides support and resources to Local Educational Agencies throughout the United States that serve children of military families." DoDEA schools are located in the United States, Europe, Pacific, western Asia, Middle East, Cuba, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Wing — who oversees curriculum at DoDEA, according to a press release — has also co-created children's books that said that White people must confess their privilege and were de facto hurting Black people by being benefactors of unearned advantages.
The U.S. Department of Defense equity director helped develop a series on "Racial Justice in America." (Leigh Ann Erickson and Kelisa Wing)
"White privilege hurts a lot of people. If you are White you might feel bad about hurting others or you might feel afraid to lose this privilege," the book, "What is White Privilege?" said.
It said that, "Overcoming White privilege is a job that must start with the White community."
"[W]ill you really feel good at the end of the race when you look back and see others fighting obstacles that you didn't even have?" the book added.
The book was reportedly taken down for review along with other radical-left titles by a Florida district, according to a nonprofit that monitors books taken down from the shelves.
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"Honored to be involved with work that causes good trouble," Wing said on Twitter about the report.
Kelisa Wing also co-created a book on the Black Lives Matter movement that was catered for children. (Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"What is White Privilege?" also encourages White kids to "unpack" their "backpack" of privilege and referenced an article by Peggy McIntosh that said that White women are "justly seen as oppressive" and "enjoy unearned skin privilege."
McIntosh's article also lamented that White students are not taught in schools to see themselves as "an oppressor," a "participant in a damaged culture" and "unfairly advantaged."
Kelisa Wing, a DEI chief officer at the Department of Defense education wing said that she is a "woke administrator." (Twitter/Screenshot | Kelisa Wing)
"This is a popular phrase that means to think about all the advantages you have every day because you are White," the children's book said about privilege.
The book provides children with an assignment to create an "identity map" and question "What parts of my identity have provided me with privilege?"
The book also stated that White people must "spend" their privilege by becoming social justice activists. "Address how your identity can help you achieve racial justice."
"There is hope! By learning more about White privilege we can work to spend it," the book said. "Privilege is like extra money in your pocket that you didn't earn."
The Department of Defense seal in the media briefing room at the Pentagon. (Aul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Image)
Wing said that her responsibilities at DoDEA included taking "a holistic view of the agency in terms of recruitment and retention, development and promotion, teaching and learning, and then as well as climate," according to a video posted to the education wing's YouTube channel.
Some of Wing's children books she co-created contain misleading information or glaring omissions.
For example, "What is Black Lives Matter?" said "almost all" the protests after George Floyd's murder were "peaceful." However, according to Axios, the pro-BLM riots that erupted in 2020 amounted to more than $1 billion in damages, "the most expensive in insurance history."
Wing's children's book "What is Anti-Racism?" contains misleading statements if not outright misinformation.
"What is Anti-racism?" by Hedreich Nichols with Kelisa Wing. (Hedreich Nichols and Kelisa Wing)
In one instance, the book said that some people say the word "race" comes from Italian or Hebrew. However, there is no word in Biblical Hebrew for race — that was later invented in modern Hebrew, according to Aish, a nonprofit organization with expertise on Judaism.
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The book also said "the modern idea of ‘race’ was introduced by the National Party in Germany." The exclusion of the "socialist" part of the Nazi party name notwithstanding, the claim is misinformed. The idea of race was utilized in a pseudoscience called eugenics before the Nazis in Germany rose to power, and the Nazis included those debunked eugenic views within their ideology.
In a seemingly contradictory claim, the book also said that "race" was born on American soil.
After Fox News Digital reached out for comment, Kelisa Wing's Twitter account was put on private. (Kelisa Wing | Twitter/Screenshot)
Fox News Digital asked for clarification about how the idea of race was both created by the Nazis in the 20th century and also born on U.S. soil hundreds of years beforehand, as the children's book appears to claim, but did not receive a response.
"What is Anti-Racism?" also said that 15 to 20 million people died in the Holocaust. The Holocaust refers to the genocide against European Jews by the Nazis as part of the "Final Solution." In fact, 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.
Wing has also co-written a children's book about defunding the police, in which she explains to a young audience the differences between abolishing, defunding, disbanding and reforming police with anti-racist policies.
When Wing was promoted to chief in December 2021, the DoD said Wing "has been involved with diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for students and schools over many years, authoring several books on the topic."
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The director of DoDEA, Thomas Brady, said, "Kelisa Wing is exactly the right person to lead our efforts in building on the foundational work done to support meaningful change in our organization."
"This new position will take a holistic approach to identifying and improving how we integrate the practice of diversity, equity and inclusion in every aspect of DoDEA, from curriculum and assessment to hiring and professional development," he continued.