Retiring US Archivist Tells White House: Administration ‘Better Not Hire Another White Male’

Retiring U.S. national archivist David Ferriero allegedly gave the Biden administration some strict instruction in recent weeks on what type of person should be nominated to replace him — only it had nothing to do with qualifications.

Instead, the outgoing archivist told administration officials his primary concern is that the new archivist fit a certain demographic; namely, not white and male.

“That’s advice I’ve given to the White House already: that you better not hire another white male. … We’ve had 10 white males,” Ferriero said during an interview during the National Archives annual Sunshine Week event.

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Earlier in the Sunshine Week discussion, Ferriero touted his work to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at the National Archives, noting that the agency’s leadership group underwent a transformation during his tenure. He complained that when he first arrived at the post, the National Archives staff was decidedly not diverse.

Also under Ferriero’s leadership, the National Archives launched a controversial task force on racism. That task force would go on to produce a report concluding that the National Archives Rotunda, the place that houses America’s founding documents in Washington, D.C., is yet another example of “systemic racism.”

The Rotunda, it said, “lauds wealthy White men in the nation’s founding while marginalizing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and other People of Color), women, and other communities.”

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