Around 400 soldiers were forced to sit through a “diversity training” presentation that featured an entire section on “white privilege.” The Army is now investigating as it says this is inappropriate and that the speaker deviated from the original presentation.

USA Today reports that around 400 Army soldiers of the 67th Signal Battalion sat through the required Equal Opportunity presentation on Thursday. However, after one soldier snapped a photo of a questionable slide discussing “white privilege,” the Army says they are investigating the unauthorized equality brief.

In the snapshot taken by the soldier, a slide titled, “The Luxury of Obliviousness” was seen with a number of bullet points discussing “white privilege.” One of the bullet points claims that “whites” do not have to pay attention to African Americans because white privilege gives them the luxury not to even think about it, hence the title of the slide.

“Race privilege gives whites little reason to pay a lot of attention to African Americans or to how white privilege affects them. To be white in America means not having to think about it.”

An Army spokesperson, Capt. Lindsay Roman, says that the slide is not part of the standard diversity training program and that this particular slide was not authorized. Roman claims that it is not part of the program that is typically shown to soldiers.

“The unit (Equal Opportunity) instructor deviated from the authorized topic and content which was provided. To prevent further instances, all unit instructors will receive additional training on the importance of following Army EO training requirements.”

According to The Blaze, the feedback on the image of the powerpoint presentation is getting a lot of negative feedback on social media. Some soldiers even point out that the white privilege notions are flawed as his entire chain of command is Hispanic or black.

“Pretty sick of hearing about white privilege. Nearly my entire chain of command and NCO support channel have been Hispanic or black since I joined.”

Most people agree that a slide on white privilege is inappropriate and are calling for disciplinary action to be taken against the presenter who deviated from the training protocol.

Do you agree with soldiers who feel that the presenter should be disciplined or even discharged for their deviation from the approved diversity training program? Do you think white privilege is a topic that should be discussed in this format?

[Image Credit: Getty Images/ John Moore]