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Black Trans Professor Leads ‘Cultural Inclusion’ Training For IRS Criminal Investigators

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Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators (IRSCI) underwent a mandatory cultural sensitivity training, according to a presentation obtained by Judicial Watch.

University of Denver Professor Dafina-Lazarus Stewart gave the introduction called “Cultural Inclusion is About Justice,” according to the slides obtained by Judicial Watch from someone linked to the IRS’ Washington, D.C., field office. The required educational training was for IRSCI agents in the branch, which has dozens of agents that investigate financial crimes in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, but the training focused on cultural issues that do not seem to overlap with their work. (RELATED: Biden IRS Launches Audit Into Conservative Org That Helped Tank Nominees For Key Administration Posts)

“They want us to consider people’s race,” an unnamed veteran investigator told Judicial Watch. “Criminals don’t discriminate. White collar criminals are mostly what IRSCI goes after.”

The professor’s introduction was on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice. The “justice” section states, “Whose cultural safety is being sacrificed to allow the dominate culture to degrade the subordinate culture.” The “diversity” section states, “How Many more cultures do we have over last year.”

Stewart published an academic paper called the “High Impact of [Whiteness] on Trans* Students in Postsecondary Education” in 2022.

Other slides posed various questions and covered subjects related to reflecting on cultural issues that do not appear relevant to criminal investigation, including “How interesting or relevant is it for you to operate in a culturally inclusive environment?” and a series of slides on the topic of cultural inclusion.

President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government when he became president in 2021.

One slide that focused on getting in trouble for the sake of cultural inclusion invoked a quote from the late Democratic Georgia Rep. and civil rights leader John Lewis.

“Do not get lost in a sea of despair,” it states. “Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Another slide about cultural bias included a quote by the Dalai Lama, who kissed a young boy on the lips and asked him to “suck” his tongue in a video shared widely online in 2023.

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness,” the quote states. “Just because they’re not on your road does not mean they are lost.”

The IRS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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