United States Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) released a flyer on black resistance for Black History Month.
The flyer, obtained by Townhall, was created by the agency’s Privacy and Diversity Office (PDO) and was distributed to the agency along with a message from CBP’s Acting Commissioner Troy Miller commemorating Black History Month.
CBP’s flyer features a myriad of terms and slogans used by social justice and Black Lives Matter advocates, including “#Ican’tBreathe,” “George Floyd,” “#BlackLivesMatter,” and “the Voting Rights Act.”
The flyer also features images of black political and historical figures including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., California representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat, former President Barack Obama, and Jesse Jackson among others.
SCOOP: Customs and Border Protection's Privacy and Diversity Office made this flyer that was sent to the agency for Black History Month. Sources within CBP question why people and hashtags that are anti-police were included in the flyer —> https://t.co/ffVkfqUQlX pic.twitter.com/LoLlws0v1Y
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) February 6, 2023
CBP employees are encouraged to “participate in local Diversity and Inclusion Program Committee activities at headquarters and various field offices in honor of National Black History Month,” according to an email obtained by the outlet.
The flyer reportedly stirred controversy as the names and slogans printed appear to be suggestive of anti-police rhetoric, one CBP agent in the Baltimore Field Office said.
“BLM hates us, so does Maxine Waters. Kaepernick hates us. They’re anti-police advocates against the nation’s largest police agency,” said the anonymous agent who further said there was confusion over “the divisive nature and the tone of it.”
“This is just another attempt by a federal agency to show how woke it is. The office that made this is also responsible for responding to FOIA requests, so I would rather they not spend time making flyers like this and instead work on not taking six months to respond to a FOIA request,” said one Border Patrol agent in a statement to Townhall.
“Each year the theme for National Black History Month is selected by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, established on September 9, 1915, by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. This year’s theme is ‘Black Resistance in the Past, Present, and Future.’ The poster includes names and historical reference representative of Black Resistance. CBP distributed the poster along with information about the process for establishing the theme to advance the educational intent of Black History Month,” a CBP spokesperson told Townhall.
Black Lives Matter previously said CBP was “like other law enforcement agencies, are rooted in white supremacy and a history of slave-catching” following images of Border Patrol Agents appearing to whip illegal Haitian immigrants crossing into Del Rio, Texas in 2021. However, viral photographs of Border Patrol agents appearing to “whip” Haitian illegals were later disproven as the cords held by agents were reigns of the horse used to guide the agent on horseback.
The Department of Homeland Security released a report in July 2022 disproving the alleged “whipping” of Haitians crossing the Texas border finding “no evidence” of CBP agents “involved in [the] incident struck, intentionally or otherwise, any migrant with their reins.”
