A non-profit organization that hosted an internship program that discriminated against white would-be applicants has now frozen the program in the wake of a Daily Wire investigation.
Called Silkroad, the organization’s “BIPOC internship” aimed to “diversify” the arts sector. Now the program has been renamed and put on pause after a Daily Wire investigation revealed that the organization was engaged in anti-white discrimination.
“Applications are currently closed,” the site says of the paid internship program, adding that “Silkroad’s internship program is temporarily on pause.”
Screenshot
Silkroad boasted just months ago that its internship program was only open to those from certain racial backgrounds. “The Silkroad BIPOC Internship Program is a five-month remote professional development experience designed to prepare emerging arts professionals of color with fluency in non-profit arts administration and leadership,” the group previously said.
“With a commitment to systemic allyship and the diversification of the non-profit arts sector, we welcome Black, Indigenous, and other persons of color to apply,” it added.
Silk Road even produced a document bragging about the demographic balance of past intern classes, which did not include any white people. “Join us in diversifying the arts sector and providing opportunities for the next generation of arts leaders,” the group said.
Now the organization’s site says that the internship is on pause, and the downloadable internship booklet no longer includes the racial breakdown of past classes.
Screenshot
The change came in the wake of The Daily Wire’s investigation, which also explained that the program could be in violation of federal anti-discrimination law.
David Pivtorak, a lawyer who has active cases against American Express for alleged racial discrimination against white employees, explained why the program likely runs afoul of the law.
“It looks like it’s a paid internship so the usual state and federal laws prohibiting racial discrimination in the employment context would likely apply,” Pivtorak noted. “Any white candidate who’s otherwise qualified could potentially sue if the internship, on its face, disqualifies anyone who is not a ‘person of color.’”
Silkroad did not respond to a Daily Wire inquiry.
This isn’t the first discriminatory internship that’s been shuttered following a Daily Wire investigation. NASCAR removed the discriminatory selection criteria from a diversity internship program that barred white people and was called “blatantly illegal” by one lawyer.
The University of California Berkeley also reformed its “environmentalist of color” scholarship after The Daily Wire exposed that it, too, was discriminating against white people.
