White civil servants are told to 'confront their privilege' with 'woke' reading list which includes books calling for abolition of police and prisons - and defending looting
- White civil servants have been sent reading list to help 'confront their privilege'
- Employees have been advised to read titles to address 'ignorance' of race
- One book is White Fragility, while others argue for abolition of police and prisons
- Critics fear books could undermine Civil Service's commitment to impartiality
Civil servants have been sent a reading list to help white staff 'confront their privilege' and admit their place 'in a system of oppression'.
Employees have been advised to read titles such as White Fragility: Why It's So Hard To Talk To White People About Racism to address their 'ignorance' of the topic.
Other books and articles on the list argue for the abolition of the police and prisons, and defend looting.
The memo features more than 60 books and articles with titles including Brit(ish) (left) and Are Prisons Obsolete? (right)
Whitehall sources have defended the list, circulated by a staff group called the Civil Service Race Forum as it aims to tackle race equality issues that affect employees.
But critics fear the group is pushing an agenda that could undermine the Civil Service's commitment to impartiality.
Toby Young, general secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: 'The Government has been quite good at curbing some of the most egregious woke gobbledegook in Whitehall, but in these quangos and arms-length bodies it's completely out of control.
If you push back in any way against the cult of equity, diversity and inclusion, you can expect to be disciplined or fired – and joking about it is the gravest sin of all in the eyes of the humourless enforcers of woke dogma.'
The memo features more than 60 books and articles with titles including Building A Police-Free Future: Frequently Asked Questions; the US title In Defense Of Looting; and Are Prisons Obsolete?
Other suggested literature exploring race issues includes How To Be An Antiracist (left) and In Defense Of Looting (right)
Other suggested literature exploring race issues includes How To Be An Antiracist; Black Skin White Masks; and It's Time To Confront The 'Karen' In All Of Us: Unpacking White Privilege.
'Karen' is a derogatory term for a white woman seen to be entitled, demanding or racist.
The reading list, handed to The Mail on Sunday by a concerned whistleblower working at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), says: 'This list of resources is intended to help white people gain a deeper understanding of racism and the anti-racist work that needs to be done. To be anti-racist is to be actively opposed to racism. It means confronting our white privilege and admitting our place in a system of oppression.'
It adds: 'We are all (un)learning at our own pace. But when the consequences of our ignorance are bound up in the continued discrimination, violence, and murders of Black people, we must work harder.'
Other educational books on the list include There Ain't No Black In The Union Jack, Brit(ish) and Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats.
A spokesman for the ONS said the reading list had been shared over staff networks but 'did not reflect official guidance'.
He added: 'As an inclusive employer, we encourage the sharing of ideas and respectful open discussion but will take action should concerns be raised.'
The Government has been pushing back against promoting unchallenged ideas of white privilege, with Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi recently saying that schools should not teach it as fact.
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