After an Alpha News report about state workers being made to attend leadership training that labeled the Republican Party as “overtly” white supremacist, the state official overseeing the department was brought in to testify about it.
Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) Commissioner Erin Campbell testified before the House State Government Finance and Policy Committee on Tuesday, which is chaired by Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia.
Hundreds of employees underwent training
Campbell confirmed that 560 state employees completed the “Supervisor Core” training and 356 completed the “Manager Core” training, both of which incorporated the controversial 32-page document titled “White Supremacy Culture – Still Here”.
The training was in use from April 2024 until it was removed last month.
“On Feb. 11, it was brought to my attention that MMB’s Enterprise Talent Development was using an article on white supremacy culture as part of training materials for manager and supervisor core training that included political content, characterizations, and commentary regarding the Republican Party and Christian faith that were inappropriate and not consistent with MMB’s values or with state training requirements,” said Campbell.
“To be clear, this article should never have been used in any state-sponsored training environment and I deeply regret that it was included in manager and supervisor core training,” she added.
According to Campbell, the training was also used by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The document, authored by Tema Okun, links capitalism, Christianity, and individualism to white supremacy. It argues that “Christian hegemony” reinforces systemic racism and criticizes what it calls the “worship of the written word,” suggesting that a preference for written communication spreads white supremacy.
Lawmakers press for accountability
Nash questioned Campbell on how the state plans to address concerns raised by employees who had undergone the training, stating that he received multiple emails from MMB employees expressing relief that the issue was being investigated.
“What is your plan to address this training for those that have received it?” Nash asked. “How do you propose to distance the agency, the state, and the administration from the training?”
Campbell said MMB will draft a formal response to employees who underwent the training.
“We need to communicate back to those folks,” she said. “I do want to follow up and make sure that we’re clear about the fact that [this document] should not have been used in training materials.”
During her testimony, Campbell apologized several times for her department’s inclusion of the training document and “for the way in which this article characterized Republicans and the Republican Party. I do not share the views expressed in the article and, again, regret its use.”
“I have also directed a full review of the content at all of the manager and supervisor core training materials, as well as a review of how this article came to be included in the training in the first place,” Campbell said. “We will hold those people—whoever was involved—accountable.”
MMB vows to review all training materials
Nash cautioned Campbell on the agency’s efforts to prevent similar content from appearing in future training programs.
“I’d say wanting to make sure that that we’re looking for things like this or things that might use the word ‘Nazis’, ‘fascists,’ and terms like ‘Christian hegemony,’ ‘white supremacy’ and so on because there’s really no place for that in state government,” Nash said. “I think the statistic in the state of Minnesota is that roughly 74% of Minnesotans identify as Christian in some form or another, so obviously we don’t want to have training that’s going to attack the people who are coming to work for the state of Minnesota.”
Campbell stated that MMB will begin a comprehensive review of training materials, starting with the manager and supervisor core training programs.
“If our review is not completed in time, we will push the trainings out and reschedule them,” she said, emphasizing that all content must align with state and federal laws as well as internal policies on workplace respect and anti-discrimination.
Democrats push back on criticism
Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, pushed back on Nash’s remarks, questioning whether discussions on racism and white supremacy should be excluded from state training.
“Are you saying we should not have any conversations around what is white supremacy or what is racism?” she asked, while expressing agreement that the document’s characterization of Republicans was inappropriate.
Nash clarified that his concern was with the specific framing of the training.
“I am trying to set forth a paradigm in which a training piece of material that is titled, ‘White Supremacy Culture – Still Here’ is never an acceptable paradigm,” he responded.
The hearing concluded with Campbell reaffirming her commitment to reviewing all state training materials to prevent similar controversies in the future.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
