The State Department should increase diversity among its ranks as part of reform needed amid the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, an organization of former American diplomats and retired senior officials said on Tuesday in a statement.
The nonpartisan and nongovernmental American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD), which is comprised of retired State Department officials, said in the statement that “Women and minorities continue to be significantly underrepresented in the Department of State, most glaringly in the senior ranks. Out of 189 U.S. Ambassadors serving abroad today, there are three African American and four Hispanic career diplomats.”
The group said it “strongly supports the peaceful demonstrators in their tens of thousands across America who demand that the callous murder of George Floyd be the last of these racially motivated crimes,” adding that the protests “remind us that America cannot lead the world unless at home we live up to the values we so proudly defend abroad.”
The AAD suggested five steps the State Department could start implementing, according to The Hill.
These moves include issuing public commitments to creating a culture of diversity and inclusion; taking meaningful action to boost the recruitment of minorities and women; bolstering mentorship programs for these groups; increasing the assignment and promotion of minorities and women to senior ranks and positions in the foreign service; and setting up "a culture of accountability” to make sure diversity goals are met.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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