Fresh off his surprise victory in the Virginia gubernatorial election, Republican Glenn Youngkin has hit the ground running. On his first day as governor, Youngkin fulfilled several campaign promises with a series of executive orders. The first, Executive Order One, directed state agencies to root out and ban Critical Race Theory from Virginia’s public schools. His follow up actions have been just as bold. On January 19, he restructured the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—created by Democratic former Governor Ralph Northam in 2019 after his blackface scandal—and hired a new cabinet-level officer. Youngkin has hired Angela Sailor as Chief Diversity, Opportunity, and Inclusion Officer.
Sailor, an African-American woman, has a long and distinguished background in conservative politics. She served most recently as vice president of The Feulner Institute at The Heritage Foundation. She previously served in the Department of Education, at the Republican National Committee, and as Director of African-American Affairs for George W. Bush’s Victory 2000 Presidential Campaign. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sailor has frequently “criticized school lessons on systemic racism in the U.S.”
As an example, Sailor co-authored an article for Heritage in October, 2021, that begins:
Today’s fights against critical race theory, which argues that America is systemically racist, may seem new, but they’re not. CRT certainly has received a lot of attention lately. But past surveys of parents show that current concerns about teaching America’s heritage were deeply shared in the previous generation.More than 20 years ago, the nonpartisan organization Public Agenda surveyed 801 parents for their views on civic education. The results were published in 1998 as A Lot to Be Thankful For: What Parents Want Children to Learn about America. Parents then, as now, said they were ready to take action to give their kids a solid civic education.
Notably, as Youngkin hired Sailor to the new position, he also renamed the office first created by Northam in 2019:
As he named Sailor to the post, Youngkin also issued an executive order to refocus the office, tasking Sailor and her staff to work on economic opportunity, cooperation among different religious groups, promoting “free speech and civil discourse” at colleges and universities, and ensuring that the state’s history curriculum is “honest, objective, and complete.”According to the order, first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sailor will also work on “eliminating disparities in prenatal care, and be an ambassador for unborn children.” Youngkin has said he opposes abortion. He supports exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is in jeopardy.Within the Cabinet, Sailor’s title will be “chief diversity, opportunity and inclusion officer,” swapping the word “equity” for “opportunity.” Youngkin said he will back legislation to legally change the title of the office.
Youngkin released a statement on the hiring of Sailor, saying:
The people of Virginia elected the most diverse leadership in the Commonwealth’s history. Virginia is big enough for the hopes and dreams of a diverse people. Angela Sailor’s experience in government, nonprofits and the private sector will guide us as we ensure that the government is working for all Virginians across our diverse Commonwealth, especially when it comes to economic opportunity for all Virginians. In addition, I will introduce and support legislation to change the name of the office to the Diversity, Opportunity and Inclusion Office.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch later noted, rather perfunctorily, “The office has been unstaffed since its former chief and her four staffers, who served at the will of the governor, were not asked to stay in their jobs.”
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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