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<p>Yesterday’s memo from the US Office of Management and Budget about stopping training in critical race theory is ripe for class discussion of ethics.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The memo is available at <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/M-20-34.pdf">
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/M-20-34.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p>You might consider, for example, the repetition of inflammatory language (e.g., “anti-American,” “un-American,” “divisive, false, and demeaning propaganda”), the citation of unidentified news sources, and the inclusion of unsupported assertions about the
intention of the training (e.g., “seeks to undercut our core values as Americans and drive division within our workforce”).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>You might also consider the possibility that this memo is deliberately provocative (e.g., to distract from the 186,718 COVID-19 fatalities in the US as of yesterday) and discuss the ethics of this kind of rhetorical cunning.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Sam<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Sam Dragga<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Professor Emeritus, Texas Tech University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Editor,
<i>Technical Communication</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">sam.dragga@ttu.edu<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">1-806-543-6099<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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