Former President Barack Obama's presidential center is slated to open in Chicago in June. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
Within its job description advertising for a full-time security officer, for example, the website notes that it is an equal opportunity employer that is "deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists."
The center describes its team as "equal parts dreamers and doers" and who "care as much about how we achieve our goals as we do about the goals themselves."
"We are also committed to creating an anti-racist organization in order to do our part to help combat racism and inequity in all forms, in communities across our nation and around the world," the Obama Foundation's main webpage for careers states.
The Obama Foundation directed website visitors and potential hires to read its lengthy statement on anti-racism and equity, which highlighted that the organization is working to build a network committed to addressing systemic racism and gender discrimination, stressing that combating inequity requires not just policy changes but sustained cultural and institutional commitment.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, left, joins former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama in a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park Sep. 28, 2021, in Chicago. ( Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Trump signed an executive order on day one of his second administration, for example, titled "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which directed federal agencies to stamp out DEI-style programs across the federal government. The following day, Trump signed a second order aimed at "restoring merit-based opportunity," including changes to federal contracting and related compliance.
"We’ve ended the tyranny of so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. And our country will be woke no longer," Trump said in March during a joint address to Congress celebrating his early wins of the administration.
PROTESTERS RAGED, CRITICS MOCKED — NOW OBAMA SAYS HIS LIBRARY’S ACTUALLY OPENING
Obama's presidential center is set to open its doors in June after years of delays, including lawsuits and federal reviews that pushed the timeline back from its initial 2021 expected opening. The center will include a handful of attractions, including the presidential library, a museum, auditorium, a Chicago Public Library branch, a garden, athletic facility and other attractions on its roughly 20-acre campus.
An aerial view shows construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago, where costs have soared and questions remain about the project’s funding. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The building has faced sharp scrutiny and mockery from some locals, who have previously lampooned the design of the massive, mostly window-less building, with the New York Post reporting some Chicagoans refer to it as the "Obamalisk."
Obama Foundation Deputy Director Kim Patterson defended the architecture in December 2025, telling CBS News that the design of the building was intentional, including to protect artwork within the building.
"The shape of the building was actually meant to mimic four hands coming together to show the importance of our collective action," Patterson told the outlet.
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"There are not a lot of windows on the building, but that's intentional, because sunlight is just not a friend to the artwork and the artifacts that are going inside of the building," Patterson added of why the building has few windows.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-presidential-center-job-listings-push-anti-racism-pledge-ahead-opening