The suicide of former Toronto school principle Richard Bilkszto, 60, was one that many of his associates believe was prompted, at least in part, by vicious attacks from an “anti-racism” instructor. After he differed on her assessment of pervasive structural racism, she held up his comments as an example of “white supremacy.” In the progressive-dominated education bureaucracy, this stands as among the worst of sins.
“DEI – Diversity Equity Inclusion”
Waterloo School Board Trustee Says He’s a Victim of ‘Radical Left’
Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) trustee Mike Ramsay says he is the victim of a “radical left NDP group of trustees” who don’t like that he was re-elected and speaks his mind.
Mr. Ramsay, a former police officer and military veteran, issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, on July 31 saying he had just been made aware of another WRDSB Code of Conduct complaint made against him.
Disturbing audio captures racism grifter attacking principal’s ‘white supremacy’ before he killed himself
An anti-racism instructor was recorded mocking and laughing at a beloved Toronto principal who challenged her teachings — holding him up as an example of white supremacy “resistance,” according to a report.
Richard Bilkszto, 60, later committed suicide.
Bilkszto’s July death came after diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, instructor Kike Ojo-Thompson proclaimed Canada was more racist than the United States, a statement the principal pushed back on.
Conrad Black: Richard Bilkszto’s death was the end result of a culture intent on defaming itself
The tragic case of Richard Bilkszto, which shocked Canadians and was publicized internationally, highlights in their most extreme form, the dangers of the militant imposition of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) dogmas. On this occasion, Bilkszto, a well-respected Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal, attended compulsory DEI sessions in which the lecturer, Kike Ojo-Thompson, upbraided him for disputing her statement that Canada was a more racist country than the United States. She apparently responded unpleasantly that, among other things, ”You in your whiteness think that you can tell me what’s really going on for Black people.” In a second session, she allegedly held Bilkszto’s comments up as a real-life example of being a white supremacist.
ZWAAGSTRA: Woke ideology destroying diversity of thought in schools
His name was Richard Bilkszto and he had a distinguished 24-year career as a school teacher, teaching in both the United States and Canada. Most recently, he worked as a principal with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) where he consistently received outstanding performance reviews, at least until he ran afoul of the woke ideology being pushed by his employer.
Won’t happen until a new broom sweeps all of the TDSB’s commie trash into the dustbin.
New Disney Board Eliminates Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Programs
In February, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation creating the new board and abolishing its predecessor, which was tightly linked with the primary business it regulated— Disney World.
The act was part of Mr. DeSantis’s war with Disney after its leaders came out against his Parental Rights in Education bill last year, one dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by detractors.
Since the district’s 1967 creation, Disney had enjoyed a unique self-governing status, putting it outside Florida county or city governments. It was governed by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, and it appointed the members to it. It enjoyed various tax exemptions.
A Racist Smear. A Tarnished Career. And the Suicide of Richard Bilkszto.
Kike Ojo-Thompson, a diversity trainer in Toronto, was explaining to her class of 200 or so public school administrators that Canada is a much more racist country than the United States.
“Canada is a bastion of white supremacy and colonialism,” Thompson said to a sea of nodding heads squeezed into Zoom. “The racism we experience is far worse here than there.”
It was April 26, 2021, and Thompson was leading attendees through a session on systemic inequity.
Does KOJO Kontroversy Spell Grift’s End?
Anti-racism, diversity training under threat, say Black community leaders at Queen’s Park rally
Black community leaders rallied at Queen’s Park on Wednesday to fight against what they see as threats to anti-racism, diversity, and equity training in Ontario schools.
Advocates feel that work is under attack after the death by suicide of a former Toronto District School Board principal last month.
WARMINGTON: Plot thickens in principal’s tragic suicide
The plot has thickened in the tragic suicide of a school principal, as documents now show the equity and diversity training — alleged to have led to his downfall — was awarded as a sole-sourced contract.
Howard Levitt: Employee’s DEI experience a cautionary tale for companies on perils of wokeism
Two related stories hit my desk this week, both about the perils of wokeism and increasing backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The first, from the Wall Street Journal, chronicled the fall of chief diversity officers, job listings for which plummeted 75 per cent in the United States in the past year. As the article noted: “… DEI jobs were put in the crosshairs after many companies started re-examining their executive ranks during the tech sector’s shake out last fall. DEI work has also become a political target.”
Roland Friesler would be proud.
The West Is Importing China’s Cultural Revolution
Traditional Chinese culture, thousands of years old, is filled with beautiful Confucian philosophies, kinship rituals, artistic symbolism, mythologies, and regular devotion to family ancestors. To observe any of these ancient customs in person, however, it is Taiwan — not China — where a visitor must go. When mainland Chinese communists bulldozed over China’s rich heritage and Mao Zedong’s “Cultural Revolution” purged the “Four Olds” — old customs, culture, habits, and ideas — from Chinese society, Taiwan became the de facto last refuge for one of the world’s oldest great civilizations.
Fox to probe chicken death
TDSB launches investigation in wake of former principal’s suicide
The Toronto District School Board said Thursday it is launching an investigation in the wake of the recent suicide of a former principal who said he was harassed and bullied during anti-racism training sessions held two years ago.
Richard Bilkszto, a 60-year-old retired principal, sued the TDSB earlier this year, alleging that his reputation was “systemically demolished” during two anti-Black racism training sessions in the spring of 2021 when, after he had challenged some of the speaker’s comments, he was allegedly singled out and accused of supporting white supremacy.
Diversity Programs Miss the Point of a Liberal College Education
Academia is in the midst of a generational turmoil. Blue states such as California and Oregon have recently transformed their public universities with expansive “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs that have profound implications for admissions, speech, hiring and scholarship. Red states such as Florida and Texas have recently passed legislation abolishing them, concluding that the programs that have sprung up to execute D.E.I. promote a stifling orthodoxy that undermines the pursuit of truth.
Barbara Kay: The Bullying of Late Toronto Principal a Feature of DEI Training, Not a Bug
The untimely death by suicide of school principal Richard Bilkszto, 60 years of age, came as a shock even to observers closely engaged with his workplace difficulties and their multi-faceted fallout over the last two years.
Once retired in 2019, Bilkszto did freelance work for the Toronto District School Board. In April 2021, TDSB administrators contracted with the KOJO Institute to educate about 200 high-echelon employees on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles. KOJO CEO Kike Ojo-Thompson led several training sessions. In her first presentation, she assserted that our nation is infected by systemic racism, describing Canada as a “bastion of white supremacy and colonialism.” She went on in this denunciatory vein, even claiming Canada was more racist than the United States.
RIP, Richard Bilkszto, a Toronto Educator Who Stood up to Woke Bullying—and Paid the Price
In late April, 2021, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainer named Kike Ojo-Thompson presented a lecture to senior Toronto public-school administrators, instructing them on the virulent racism that (Ojo-Thompson believes) afflicts Canadian society. Canada, she said, is a bastion of “white supremacy and colonialism,” in which the horrors unleashed by capitalism and sexism regularly lay waste to the lives of non-white and female Canadians.