Boy Scouts of America (BSA) announced on Monday that it will implement a special “badge of diversity and achievement inclusion” in support of the Black Lives Matter movement that will be needed to achieve Eagle Scout ranking going forward.
In a letter to the scouts’ families, the organization said it would need diversity and inclusion training for all BSA employees starting July 1, and a review of property names, events and badges, would be carried out “to build and improve the organization. a nearly 30-year ban [the] use of the Confederate flag. “
“Boy Scouts of America stands with black families and the black community because we believe that blacks live,” the letter said. “This is not a political problem; this is a matter of human rights and we all have an obligation to overcome it. “
BSA uses the term “murder” when discussing George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Their deaths sparked recent protests against systemic racism and police brutality in the U.S. The organization said all unnamed were equally important, adding that it heard “sadness, feeling[s] broken hearted, and join in[s] the country’s determination to do better. “
“Because our country considers racial injustice, we must all consider our roles and failures and commit to take meaningful action,” BSA said. “There is no place for racism – not in Scouting and not in our community. Racism will not be tolerated. “
The organization said the new badge of diversity and inclusion would be built on the components in the existing achievement badge that needed Scouts to learn about and engage with other groups and cultures. To ensure diversity and inclusion are “embedded at every level”, BSA will also review “every element of our program.”
The change came nearly four months after the BSA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday morning, stopping hundreds of lawsuits faced after decades of sexual harassment claims in 110-year-old organizations for years.
Sexual harassment settlements are reported to have weighed heavily on Scouting finances, with countries passing a law last year so victims of old harassment can demand compensation.
On Monday, BSA said it’s not as brave as it should have been in the past, but says, as scouts, “we must always stand up for what is right.”
“I think this is a big problem as far as all these traditionally Christian-oriented organizations are trying to get their homes in connection with systematic racism,” Alvin Tillery Jr., a professor of political science at Northwestern University told NBC News. “This is a very fought organization and they must adopt a more progressive attitude because no one wants to deal with them.”
