A senior Pentagon official has said a diversity officer who tweeted derogatory remarks about white people will not face workplace disciplinary action following a lengthy internal investigation.
Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros faced a tough discussion of the Republican controversy on the House Armed Services Committee during a hearing Thursday.
Cisneros has confirmed that DoDo employee Kelisa Wing will not be fired or otherwise disciplined for tweets she wrote prior to accepting a position as head of diversity, equity and inclusion at the Department of Defense’s Office of Educational Activities (DoDEA), which oversees the schooling of children from military families.
However, Cisneros admitted during the hearing that he found the tweets objectionable and said in a letter that Wing had moved to another role due to an unrelated “headquarters restructuring”.
“I agree that it’s not acceptable. It’s not something I would tolerate, and it’s not condoned by DoDEA or the Department of Defense,’ Cisneros told the panel.
DoDo employee Kelisa Wing transferred in ‘restructure’ after serving as Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer in the Department of Defense’s Office of Educational Activities .
During the hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York City, forced Cisneros to read aloud one of Wing’s tweets, which used slang terms like “CAUdacity,” a portmanteau. of “Caucasian” and “audacity”.
‘I’m exhausted with these white folxes in these [professional development] sessions, this lady actually had the audacity to say black people can be racist too,’ the July 2020 tweet said.
“I had to stop the session and give Karen the BUSINESS,” the tweet added, using the slang term for white women, usually referring to entitlement and inconvenience.
“We are not the majority, we have no power,” Wing, who is African American, added in the tweet.
Stefanik accused Cisneros of dragging his heels in response to his letters on the matter, saying a response to his latest inquiry came hours before the hearing.
Cisneros’ letter said the Pentagon’s investigation revealed that Wing was “speaking on a personal note” in her tweets and that her colleagues had never heard her make similar comments at work.
“As a result, the Director of DoDEA has taken no disciplinary action,” the letter said, adding that “Federal ethics rules permit employees to express personal opinions” as long as they do not claim to represent the State. agency for which they work, or violate any law.
Pentagon official Gil Cisneros said a diversity officer who tweeted derogatory remarks about white people would not face workplace disciplinary action following a lengthy internal investigation.
During the hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York City, forced Cisneros to read aloud one of the tweets (above), which used slang terms including “CAUdacity.”
Representative Elise Stefanik accused Cisneros of dragging her feet in response to her letters on the matter, saying a response to her latest request arrived hours before the hearing.
Wing, an Army veteran had worked at the DoD for 16 years and was promoted to DoDEA DEI Chief in December 2021
“Separately, as part of a corporate restructuring, the employee has been reassigned to another position that does not include specific diversity, equity and inclusion responsibilities,” the letter adds. .
The controversy first surfaced in September, when Fox News resurfaced some of Wing’s tweets, before she took the position of chief diversity officer at DoDEA.
In other posts, she called Donald Trump a “whole boy version of a Karen” and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, “the queen of the Karens.”
She responded to a user’s complaint about ‘white bullshit’ in education by tweeting, “If another Karen tells me about her feelings…I might lose it…”
Wing, an Army veteran had worked at the DoD for 16 years and was promoted to DoDEA DEI Chief in December 2021.
The office oversees the education of the children of Pentagon civilian employees, as well as military personnel deployed overseas.
