Hasbro Whistleblower Suspended For Revealing Alleged CRT Training And Indoctrination At Toy Maker
After a packaging engineer from a contractor for Hasbro revealed in an interview the extent to which the toy maker has embraced Critical Race Theory (CRT), his employer suspended him. The interview, published by Project Veritas, reveals the Hasbro’s desire to teach anti-racism to children via its extensive toy and game lines. It also revealed anti-racist training and materials mandated for all employees and contractors. This training includes the claim that white children as young as three months old can exhibit inherent bias.
The whistle-blower, David Johnson, says the company is “attempting to covertly push CRT, Critical Race Theory, through branding and messaging through their products. I decided to come to Project Veritas because I oppose the indoctrination of children they wanted to push.”
Johnson shows James O’Keefe, founder of Project Veritas, materials used in Hasbro’s trainings in CRT and anti-racism. He says they are mandatory for all employees. The organization that provided the training for Hasbro employees, The Conscious Kid, describes itself as, “an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. We support organizations, families, and educators in taking action to disrupt racism in kids.”
In the interview, Johnson reveals a video discussion by Katie Ishizuka-Stephens, a co-founder of The Conscious Kid, in which she says,
Children as young as two are already using race to reason about people’s behaviors, and we may see this play out in daycare or on the playground and how kids are starting to choose or exclude playmates and friends.
Johnson responds in the interview, saying, “Two-year-old racists is just an absurd concept.” He later comments, “They explain that the white children, in particular, have the particular bias against black people. It’s a mainstream ideology now.”
Hasbro responded to a request for comment for a report by the UK Daily Mail:
The training was led by Conscious Kid co-founder Kate Ishizuka-Stephens. Johnson says it was mandatory, but Hasbro maintains it was an ‘optional diversity and inclusion webinar attended by a small group of employees.’
It appears to suggest that children’s’ racial bias escalates as they observe adults and the social order around them, according to information shared with Project Veritas.
‘By age three, children are already starting to apply stereotypes, and research shows that they also may use racist language intentionally at this age.
‘White children at this age may report explicit or overt negative attitudes towards people of color… By age four, kids are showing a strong and consistent pro-white anti-black bias.’
It goes on to say that ‘white children’ can show ‘pro-white bias’ by age 5.
‘At the age of five, children show many of the same racial attitudes held by adults – children are really sensitive to the status of different racial groups in our society and show a high-status bias towards white people, which is the socially privileged group in our society. White children show pro-white bias at this age.’
Hasbro said the Project Veritas report ‘mischaracterized’ its training in a statement provided to DailyMail.com.
The company also distanced itself from the training’s contents.
‘Our mission is to create the world’s best play and entertainment experiences that connect children, fans and families around the world.
We occasionally invite third-party speakers for optional sessions to discuss diverse viewpoints. As always, the views expressed by external speakers are their own and do not reflect the views of the company.’
The Daily Mail further reports, “Johnson’s behavior is being investigated to see if ‘any of our client’s or our own policies (including ones around confidentiality) were violated.’ Speaking on [Fox News] Monday night, Johnson disclosed he has since been suspended and had lost access to Hasbro work accounts.”
Breitbart got further detail from Johnson:
Hasbro whistleblower David Johnson — who was suspended after going public about the company’s plans to implement Critical Race Theory into its products — told Breitbart News on Tuesday while his career has been harmed, he feels “this was a bigger cause than myself.”
“When I saw I had a meeting about Critical Race Theory in my schedule at work, I just thought I should record it,” said Johnson, who spoke to Breitbart News at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida.When asked why he decided to speak out about this now, Johnson said, “I’ve been seeing this kind of thing over six or seven years now, and I guess I just felt that at that moment, I was in the right time, at the right place that I could make a stand against this ideology.”
The Hasbro website has an entire section dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility. Its Diversity and Inclusion page states:
At Hasbro, we believe that supporting all people and promoting inclusion across our business and society makes the world a better place for all. We’re committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture that helps employees know they are valued, respected and empowered to bring their best ideas forward. We celebrate diversity because we believe that rich, varied perspectives generate the best ideas, which in turn help us reflect diversity, inclusion and belonging across our brands and play experiences.
The Diversity and Inclusion doesn’t stop with employees. Hasbro states that their product lines will prioritize what it calls “inclusivity” in its product designs:
Inclusive Design and Marketing
Inclusivity is embedded within our design process. Annually, our Design and Development organization uses a set of core pillars to inspire our designers and guide our innovation. By prioritizing inclusivity in these pillars, we are encouraging our teams to create experiences that are inherently more expansive and appealing for a broader consumer base. Additionally, we have evolved our marketing to be more inclusive and to reflect the true diversity and differing interests of our consumer base. We are expanding our efforts to include dual-gender marketing campaigns and products that reflect the modern family.
The Conscious Kid website doesn’t have a distinct About page, but its Resources page reveals its ideology. Under the heading, “children’s books on race, racism, and resistance,” it says:
To counter racism and racial bias, experts recommend acknowledging and naming race and racism with children as early and as often as possible. Children’s books are one of the most effective and practical tools for initiating these conversations, and can also be used to model what it means to resist and dismantle oppression. Beyond addressing issues of race and racism, this children’s reading list focuses on taking action. It highlights resistance and activism; and seeks to empower youth to participate in the ongoing movement for racial justice. Children not only need to know what individual, institutional, and internalized racism looks like, they need to know what they can do about it. This list of 41 children’s books was curated by The Conscious Kid and American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Under “children’s books to counter anti-Blackness,” it says:
Anti-Black structural racism and socialization need to be countered with intentional action from birth. This includes surrounding children with positive narratives and images of Blackness. All kids should know Black history and Black contributions, but equally as important are stories of Black kids just being: experiencing joy, being loved, and existing in their full humanity. Children’s books can be one starting point for doing this, and should be combined with ongoing education, strategies, and experiences supporting Blackness and Black people.
Most children’s books about Black people continue to be written by white authors. It’s extremely important to be intentional about seeking out and supporting Black authors, especially when telling Black stories and histories. This list of over 100 titles for ages 0-18 features all Black authors.
The Conscious Kid boasts partnerships with some of America’s largest corporations, including Google, YouTube, Nickelodeon, to promote anti-racism as early in childhood as possible. As a 501(c)3, they accept donations:
Donate to our Anti-Racist Children’s Books Education Fund
To counter racism and racial bias, experts recommend acknowledging and naming race and racism with children as early and as often as possible (Baron & Banaji; Derman-Sparks). Children’s books are one of the most effective and practical tools for initiating these conversations with children, and can also be used to model what it means to resist and disrupt oppression.
All donations made here go to a dedicated fund for us to get children’s books from our list of “40 Children’s Books to Support Conversations on Race, Racism, and Resistance” into classrooms across the country. All books by Indigenous authors were curated by critical Indigenous scholar Dr. Debbie Reese of American Indians in Children’s Literature.
Beyond addressing issues of race and racism, these children’s books focus on taking action. They highlight resistance and activism, and seek to empower youth to participate in the ongoing movement for racial justice. Children not only need to know what individual, systemic, and internalized racism looks like, they need to know what they can do about it.
The spread of CRT continues in America’s corporations as much as its education system, in an ever-expanding attempt to reach children as early as possible. Now, despite its deflections, it appears one of America’s largest toy makers has jumped into the effort with everything it has.
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Jeff Reynolds is the author of the book, “Behind the Curtain: Inside the Network of Progressive Billionaires and Their Campaign to Undermine Democracy,” available at www.WhoOwnsTheDems.com. Jeff hosts a podcast at anchor.fm/BehindTheCurtain. You can follow him on Twitter @ChargerJeff, on Parler at @RealJeffReynolds, and on Gab at @RealJeffReynolds.
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