The Great Unwokening: Zuckerberg is Scared of the Trump Regime! By Chris Knight (Florida)
In a move that has sent ripples through the world of philanthropy and corporate culture, Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar charity, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), announced on February 20, 2025, that it was dismantling its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team and halting funding for projects aimed at promoting inclusivity. This decision, reported by The Telegraph, marks a stark pivot for an organisation founded by Zuckerberg and his Chinese wife, Priscilla Chan, with a mission to advance human potential and equality. It's a shift that feels like a quiet earthquake, shaking the foundations of what many assumed was a steadfast commitment to progressive ideals, and it lands amidst a broader cultural reckoning dubbed the "Great Unwokening."
The CZI, a for-profit philanthropy launched in 2015 with a pledge to donate 99 percent of the couple's Facebook shares—then valued at $45 billion—had long positioned itself as a champion of social causes. Its work spanned education, science, and social advocacy, including efforts to tackle immigration reform and counter racism, the usual Leftist bs. Yet, in an email to staff, Chief Operating Officer Marc Malandro laid out the new reality: the DEI team was being scrapped, internal inclusivity programs were ending, and external funding for social advocacy was being cut. The Diverse Slate Practice, a hiring policy ensuring diverse candidates were interviewed, was dropped, and $1.1 million in grants for a program celebrating diversity in science was abruptly cancelled. The reasoning? A vague nod to aligning with CZI's focus as a "science philanthropy," though the timing suggests deeper currents at play.
This wasn't a decision made in isolation. Just weeks earlier, Meta, Zuckerberg's tech empire, had axed its own DEI programs, signalling a rightward tilt as the billionaire seeks to navigate a shifting political landscape under aTrump presidency. The CZI's about-face came despite recent assurances to staff that Meta's changes wouldn't ripple into the charity's operations—a promise that now rings false.
The Telegraph frames this as part of a wider retreat from DEI across corporate America—McDonald's rebranding its diversity team, Amazon winding down "outdated" programs, Walmart phasing out DEI jargon—all echoing a backlash against what some see as ideological overreach. For Zuckerberg, once a vocal advocate who told students diversity was a "must-have" for Meta, this pivot is striking. His charity's decision to abandon initiatives tied to racial equity and immigration is a surrender to that backlash, or perhaps a pragmatic recalibration as legal and cultural winds shift. The article hints at a personal evolution too—Zuckerberg'schummy appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, railing against "toxic masculinity" narratives, suggests he's shedding the liberal skin he once wore so publicly. At least for a time; if the political climate changes, it will come back no doubt, as I for one do not believe anything these technocrats say!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/02/20/zuckerbergs-charity-sacks-diversity-team/
"The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative – Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar philanthropy charity – has scrapped its diversity team and cancelled funding for projects promoting inclusivity as the Great Unwokening gains pace. The Telegraph has the story.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), which handles the philanthropic efforts of Mr Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, told staff it would abandon a series of programmes aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The for-profit charity will drop its internal DEI initiatives and stop all "social advocacy funding", including work focused on immigration and countering racism.
In an email to employees seen by the Guardian, Marc Malandro, CZI's Chief Operating Officer, said: "We will no longer have a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility team at CZI."
The organisation has dropped its so-called diverse slate practice, an inclusive hiring policy, and told applicants for $1.1m (£870,000) of grant funding for a programme celebrating diversity in science that the award had been cancelled. The charity also scrubbed mentions of diversity from its website, including a statement that the foundation focused its work through "a diversity, equity and inclusion lens".
The charity would instead focus on "biology and AI" funding and will lay off staff within its community team, which had worked on promoting "economic inclusion".
The decision comes weeks after staff at the CZI were reassured that sweeping cuts to diversity programmes at Mr Zuckerberg's Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, would not impact the charitable organisation.
The Telegraph has compiled a list of the some of the key developments in the Great Unwokening so far:
§McDonald's, January 2025: McDonald's says it will abandon targets for achieving diverse representation in senior roles and change the name of its diversity team to become the Global Inclusion Team [a.k.a. the GIT?!]
§Meta, January 2025: Meta is ending "equity and inclusion programs and changing hiring and supplier diversity practices".
§Amazon, December 2024: Amazon says it is "winding down outdated programs and materials" as part of a broader review of hundreds of initiatives.
§Walmart, November 2024: Walmart says it will phase out terms such as "DEI" in company materials.
§Toyota, October 2024: Toyota says it will no longer participate in DEI events such as cultural festivals and parades.
§Ford, August 2024: Ford states that it would no longer be participating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index.
§John Deere, July 2024: John Deere says it will no longer sponsor "social or cultural awareness" events."
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