The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a group that created a list of “Pitfalls of Working With White People” and has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, The Daily Caller has learned.
Earlier this week, TheDC reported that the DOJ gave the grants to Beyond Diversity Resource Center, a diversity training group based in New Jersey.
The organization was a sponsor of the White Privilege Conference. which was held in Madison, Wisc. earlier this year.
There, the website Progressive Today reported that a flier with the group’s letterhead was circulated. It included a list of 29 “pitfalls” that minorities face when working with white people.
Included among the pitfalls listed by Beyond Diversity Resource Center are that whites “are arrogant”, “say something stupid”, “ask stupid questions” and “get too friendly too fast.”
Now, the DOJ says it is investigating the group.
“The reported remarks are clearly inappropriate,” Justice spokesman Brian Fallon told TheDC. “The matter is under review.”
Federal grantees must comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance”.
Cases of discrimination are referred to the civil rights division of the grant-making agency within the DOJ — in this case, the Office of Justice Programs.
As TheDC reported, in 2011 Beyond Diversity Resource Center received a $250,000 grant from the Office on Violence Against Women. In 2012, they received a $249,479 grant from the Office for Victims of Crimes National to conduct “field-generated training, technical assistance, and demonstration noncompetitive continuation projects”. (RELATED: Group That Listed ‘Pitfalls Of Working With White People’ Received DOJ Grants’)
According to their tax returns, the center received a total of $472,000 in government grants in 2012 and 2013. It is unclear if all of that money came from the DOJ.
The Center did not return TheDC’s request for comment.
The two most prominent members of the Center have also written books about racism. Titles include “The Anti-Racist Cookbook” and the “The Great White Elephant: A Workbook on Racial Privilege for White Anti-Racists,” which contains an analysis of the Cinderella fairy tale.
The White Privilege Conference drew widespread attention after conservatives were able to gain access and report on several seminars. In one, a speaker told attendees “the longer you are in the tea party the more racist you become.”