The Girl Scouts of the USA is gearing up to introduce a series of four “racial equity” training sessions aimed at parents and volunteers, focusing on themes like “internalized racism” and “white supremacy culture.” Scheduled to commence on December 13, the sessions signify a shift for the organization, seemingly embracing elements of Critical Race Theory, an ideology that has seeped into various sectors of American society.
The series is structured to explore fundamental aspects of racial equity, with sessions titled “Foundations in Racial Equity,” “Foundations in Internalized Racism,” “Understanding and Decentering White Supremacy Culture,” and “Navigating Change, Power and Equitable Decision Making.” These workshops aim to foster a learning environment, foster shared understanding and language around diversity, inclusion, and equity, and deeply examine race and structural racism’s historical underpinnings, particularly how they manifest within personal experiences, organizational dynamics, and systemic outcomes.
The sessions will be conducted through GS Learn, the Girl Scout volunteers’ training platform, and families of Girl Scouts. Despite requests for comment, the Girl Scouts have remained silent on the matter, not addressing the intent or purpose behind these upcoming trainings.
This move follows earlier decisions by the Girl Scouts, such as offering an “LGBTQ+ Pride Month Fun Patch” to scouts participating in pride parades and introducing an “anti-racism guide” inspired by Critical Race Theory. The guide suggests that color-blindness perpetuates racism, encourages discussions about racism with young children, and implies that parents who decline such discussions may contribute to perpetuating unequal systems in justice, health, and education.
The training sessions are organized in collaboration with the Equity Paradigm Group, a consulting firm based in North Carolina. This group specializes in diversity practices, adult learning, social justice activism, and aims to reorient organizations’ approaches by analyzing implicit assumptions, biases, and addressing race as a system of advantage. The consulting firm’s agenda spans topics like applying an Intersectional Racial Equity Lens, Pursuing Liberation, and De-centering White Dominant Culture.
In a similar vein, the Boy Scouts of America have also incorporated left-leaning perspectives on race. In 2021, the organization announced a “Citizenship in Society” merit badge, prompting Eagle Scouts to delve into materials critical of colorblindness, Christopher Columbus, while celebrating the LGBT movement.
