Mike Gonzalez, DEI expert at the Heritage Foundation, explains why The North Face’s ‘Allyship in the Outdoors’ training is ‘insulting’ in an interview with Fox Business Digital.
The North Face company is offering customers a discount if they complete an equity course that teaches how White people never experience racism, and how the “outdoors” is oppressive against Black people.
The North Face, whose parent company is V.F. Corporation, launched a racial equity course that states how White people never experience hardship due to the color of their skin and that Black people are barred from outdoor activities because of systemic racism and oppression.
The course, which offered customers 20% off for learning about antiracism for one hour, contained elements of critical race theory, according to Heritage Foundation DEI expert Mike Gonzalez.
“It was the longest hour I have ever lived,” Gonzalez said.
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The North Faces allyship course claimed there was racial discrimination in the “outdoors.”
The DEI expert added the course was an “outrageous attempt at convincing people we live under an oppressive system of racial injustice,” particularly in the mountains.
WHITE PEOPLE CAN’T EXPERIENCE RACISM
“Privilege can give us access to the outdoors – that means some people can enjoy advantages that they inherit from birth and/or accumulate over time. For example, aspects of identity that can give privilege relate to race, religion, gender, wealth, sexual orientation, ability or citizenship status,” the course stated. “In this particular context, we refer to ‘White privilege’ meaning that your race and skin color can give you access to the outdoors when others can be excluded because of historic, enduring racism and biases.”
Gonzalez called this portion “insulting” and “offensive,” adding that some of the most powerful people in the country are from minority groups.
“Barack Obama was the most powerful man in the world. Kamala Harris [is the vice president]. She’s African American,” he said.
“The North Face has always believed the outdoors should be a welcoming, equitable and safe place for all. This course aims to bring light to the barriers to entry preventing all people from sharing equally rewarding experiences in the outdoors,” a spokesperson for VF Corp. told Fox News Digital.
When asked about the portion on “White privilege,” a spokesperson said there was “no further comment.”
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The North Face discusses the inequitable mountain phenomena harming people of color.
According to the course, people of color are barred from sports because they lack “White privilege.”
It then included a series of privilege statements, such as “I can be confident people in the outdoors will be respectful and kind to me” and “I can be sure that when I’m in the outdoors there will be other people like me there.”
“The aim is to create a more equitable outdoors for everyone. Every person has a basic right to human dignity, respect and equal access to resource. But not everyone is starting from the same place. Equity acknowledges that everyone comes from different circumstances and allocates resources and opportunities accordingly, so that everyone can reach and equal outcome,” The North Face course stated.
COMMITMENT TO BEING RACIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISTS
One portion Gonzalez found particularly offensive and “dehumanizing” was when it suggested that a person of privilege shouldn’t judge minority groups by the same standards they judge themselves by.
“That is a dehumanizing proposition. We have ethics in virtue, in talent and intelligence and hard work and gumption and resilience. And these are things by which we admire people who possess these qualities, no matter what their race [is],” he said.
The course instructed attendees that being an ally meant combating racism on the systemic and personal level.
As for a personal level, the North Face course asked customers to “Check in with your privilege and continue to learn through others the impact that racism can have in society and how that manifests itself in the outdoors.”
The North Face store sign on building exterior, store frontage London, England. (Peter Dazeley/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The North Face then asked customers to consider the “systemic” changes they should take part in, such as, “Challeng[ing] existing policies that exclude people of color from the outdoors.”
“Allyship means playing an active role in making change happen for those who lack power and privilege as members of an underrepresented minority group,” the course said. “The most important thing to remember is that allyship is a verb, not a noun. Allyship is active, not passive which means you need to practice it.”
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The course adds, “In our everyday lives we need to consistently challenge and ask ourselves: Will this contribute to making people of color feel welcomed and accepted in the outdoors? How can we show up for others who lack the power and privileges we hold? What are some strategies you can use through allyship to effectively increase ethnic diversity in the outdoors?”
In order to get the 20% discount, attendees needed to agree to engage in allyship/activism.
