Home Depot’s ‘privilege’ memo leaked online

After being accused of going ‘woke’, the company claims the document was unofficial training material from the retailer’s Canadian division

Home Depot in Canada has come under fire after a Twitter user leaked what appears to be an in-house worksheet educating workers on the concept of privilege as it pertains to race, religion, sexuality, and social status.

The document titled ‘Unpacking privilege’ attempts to define the different types of privilege and how it manifests in everyday life and encourages Home Depot workers to confront their own privilege and discuss it with “uninformed” family members, colleagues, and friends, even if it’s “not an easy conversation” and the other person is being “defensive.”

There’s more. This is reportedly from a Home Depot in Calgary, Alberta pic.twitter.com/CUBh9INLep

— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) March 23, 2022

Some of the definitions presented in the worksheet include: Social Privilege – “special, unearned advantage or entitlement, used to one’s own benefit or to the detriment of others” and White Privilege – “societal privileges that benefit white people beyond what is commonly experienced by people of color under the same social, political, and economic circumstances.”

The packet states that “a person may or may not be aware that they are benefiting from privilege” and goes on to provide examples of privilege, such as: “If you’re confident that the police exist to protect you, you have white privilege,” “If you can use public bathrooms without stares, fears or anxiety, you have cisgender privilege,” “If you can expect time off from work to celebrate your religious holidays, you have Christian privilege” and “If you don’t have to explain that your spouse is of the same gender, you have heterosexual privilege.”

The leaked pages quickly went viral, with many blasting Home Depot for going ‘woke’ and pushing progressive ideologies onto its employees. Some have called for a boycott of the company and urged people not to shop there in the future.

The company has since responded to the backlash by claiming that the documents were unauthorized in-house training material from the Canadian division, and were not featured in any company-wide training and did not receive approval from Home Depot.

In a statement to Insider, a Home Depot spokesperson said that, “While we fully support diversity across our company, this material was not created or approved by our corporate diversity, equity and inclusion department,” adding that, “This was a resource in our Canadian division and not part of any required programming.”