Facebook allegedly canceled all meetings yesterday to celebrate Juneteenth, opting instead to invite all employees to a “day of learning” on racial justice with five hours of events featuring a range of far-left speakers including Black Lives Matter leader DeRay Mckesson and former Attorney General Eric Holder, according to a source within the company who spoke exclusively to Breitbart News.
Juneteenth commemorates the Union Army’s liberation of slaves in Texas, the most remote Confederate state, on June 19, 1865. In the wake of the George Floyd riots, Facebook reportedly made an effort to virtue-signal that goes beyond the company’s usual behavior.
“All company meetings are canceled without exception,” claimed the Facebook source. “This is the first time they are doing it.”
The employee also claimed that directors at the company are rated on how well they “foster a diverse environment,” and that one director received a low rating on this axis when “people of color” left his organization.
Facebook could not confirm the latter claim, but did not deny that the company ranks certain employees on whether they contribute to the company’s diversity policies.
“We expect everyone at Facebook to contribute to an inclusive environment, and we hold leaders and managers accountable to delivering on our diversity and inclusion strategy,” said a company spokesman.
Facebook stresses that this includes political diversity, but the spokesman would not respond on the record to questions about whether specific political viewpoints at Facebook, such as the idea that gender differences are innate or opposition to the Black Lives Matter Movement, are included in its view of “political diversity.”
The source provided Breitbart News with an alleged copy of the schedule that they claimed was sent out to Facebook employees in advance of the day’s events. It is as follows:
- Join this special event to hear context from Dr. Michael Eric Dyson on the history of racial injustice in the United States, its impact on current events and the need for allies to be a part of the solution. Dr. Dyson is a Georgetown University sociology professor, a New York Times contributing opinion writer, and a contributing editor of The New Republic, and of ESPN’s The Undefeated website, and author of multiple books including Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon To White America. This event will be recorded for replay.
- Join this special event for a conversation with Ava DuVernay and Maxine Williams. Ava is a writer, director, producer, and film distributor. Her directorial work includes the historical drama SELMA, the criminal justice documentary 13TH and Disney’s A WRINKLE IN TIME and WHEN THEY SEE US based on the infamous case of the Central Park Five.
- Join this special event for a conversation with Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General, moderated by Jennifer Newstead, Facebook General Counsel. Mr Holder’s many accomplishments include his service as Attorney General of the United States. He is the third longest serving Attorney General in U.S. History and the first African-American to hold that office. He is currently a partner at Covington in Washington D.C. Mr. Holder will be sharing his perspective on police brutality and systemic racism in America, and what we can all do to affect change.
- Join this special event for a conversation between Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, and Facebook employees Sharon Cooper, the sister of Sandra Bland, and Ebele Okobi, sister of Chinedu Okobi, who all lost family members to police. This is a discussion about their experiences, humanizing the stories of loved ones lost to police brutality, and sharing actions they are taking to move forward through the pain and to create change.
- Join this special event for a panel discussion with DeRay Mckesson, Aaron Russell, & Eva Chen, who will talk about ways to address police reform and explore solutions to racial insjustice. DeRay will bring insights from his work with the 8 Can’t Wait campaign, which focuses on cities that enact eight use-of-force policies that can reduce police violence by 72%.
In comments to Breitbart News, Facebook neither confirmed nor denied any of the specific speakers, but did confirm that Juneteenth events were being held. A company spokesman said
“This year, Facebook is commemorating Juneteenth by celebrating the impact of the Black community in America with experiences across our family of apps, and a day of learning for employees.”
Are you an insider at Google, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, or any other tech company who wants to confidentially reveal wrongdoing or political bias at your company? Reach out to Allum Bokhari at his secure email address allumbokhari@protonmail.com.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News.
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