"Prioritise being woke over being helpful": FEMA diversity training course on white supremacy sparks backlash amid Maui missing relief efforts 

FEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Agency has once again come under fire as instead of locating the missing persons in Maui in the aftermath of the wildfire, the agency has been holding employee training on white supremacy, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The news was first reported by The Washington Free Beacon.

In fact, as per the news outlet, the agency employees are required to complete the three-hour training between August 1 and September 28. As soon as this piece of news surfaced on the internet, netizens began calling FEMA out for negligence and a lack of effort.

Many even pointed out that instead of dealing with the crisis at hand, FEMA is busy training its agents on things that do not seem relevant in the current situation. Here’s one such reaction from an X (formerly Twitter) user.

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“This is the left at work in Hawaii”: Netizens react angrily as FEMA’s diversity training course news becomes viral

In the aftermath of the Maui wildfire, more than a thousand Americans remain unaccounted for, including both locals and tourists. The Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is tasked with search, rescue, and recovery in the affected areas. However, instead of fulfilling its responsibilities, the agency is busy mandating a three-hour training for its officials called "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training."

The Washington Free Beacon cites, among other things, that FEMA’s latest training focused on white supremacy and argues how it is "ingrained in nearly every system and institution in the U.S." While the news outlet was unsure how many of its 20,000 plus employees were asked to finish the training, it reviewed several internal emails of the agency that stated that its "Resilience Division" was advised to complete at least one of the three three-hour diversity training courses by September 28.

As soon as the news of FEMA’s diversity training course went viral on social media, netizens began calling out the agency for its incompetence in helping Maui overcome disaster.

What’s interesting is that the training was scheduled in July via email and could have been easily postponed. However, the agency did no such thing and instead told The Washington Free Beacon that the module was "part of our ongoing commitment to instill equity as a foundation of emergency management."

Not only that, but the CEO of FEMA’s Resilience Division, Chauncia Willis, told the media outlet that she delivered the training live to senior employees months ago, while its live presentation was being played for the employees currently as part of the training course.

Apart from white supremacy, other topics that the training touched upon were racism, violence, justice, the economy, and social systems, among others.

It is important to note that there were two other training courses available for the employees, aka, “Civil Rights and FEMA Disaster 2023” and “Including People with Disabilities and Others with Access and Functional Needs in Disaster Operations.” In fact, the agents could have chosen either of these, but the ones stationed in Maui were deliberately asked to undergo the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” training instead.

This new development comes in the wake of the agency being slammed for accommodating its staff in five-star hotels and luxury resorts in Maui. Earlier, it was also falsely reported that its Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks was arrested by U.S. Marines for allegedly ordering teams in Maui to deny survivors access to food, water, shelter, and other civilian relief efforts. The news also garnered traction online.