Richard Bilkszto spent decades in the education sector and was a respected school principal.
According to a report in Quillette, Bilkszto attended a presentation by a ‘Diversity Equity and Inclusion’ (DEI) trainer named Kike Ojo-Thompson, for senior Toronto educators in April 2021.
During the presentation Ojo-Thompson accused Canada of having a ‘virulent’ racism and that the country was a bastion of ‘white supremacy and colonialism’.
After Bilkszto disagreed with Ojo-Thompson’s characterisation of Canada, a report in the National Post said the trainer responded with vitriol. ‘We are here to talk about anti-Black racism, but you in your whiteness think that you can tell me what’s really going on for Black people?’ The trainer told the educators that as white people it was their job to believe – not question – claims of racism.
In a subsequent lecture Ojo-Thompson accused Bilkszto of ‘exemplifying the forces of white supremacist resistance.’
Bilkszto became further disillusioned when his bosses at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) did not stick up for him.
According to Quillette:
‘Bilkszto responded by suing the TDSB for harassment. He also sought a TDSB investigation of Ojo-Thompson’s actions, which the school board refused to conduct. But Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) took the incident more seriously, determining that Bilkszto was owed seven weeks of lost pay due to the mental stress he’d endured.
‘The WSIB judgment, later obtained by the National Post, concluded that Ojo-Thompson’s behaviour “was abusive, egregious and vexatious, and rises to the level of workplace harassment and bullying,” and that she’d intended to “cause reputational damage and to ‘make an example’” of Bilkszto.’
Author and journalist Jonathan Kay of Quillette, who came to know Bilkszto during the COVID pandemic, described the 60-year-old as a ‘political progressive who’d devoted more than two decades of his life to the TDSB, Bilkszto never fully recovered from being falsely smeared as a supporter of white supremacy in front of his peers.’
A statement released by Bilkszto’s family through their lawyer blamed the smear campaign for causing him ‘severe mental distress.’
Bilkszto died on 13 July.
With his family's permission, I am very saddened to release this statement about the passing of my client, Richard Bilkszto. pic.twitter.com/mNzMAxkp5V
— Lisa Bildy (@LDBildy) July 20, 2023
Meet Kike Ojo-Thompson a steadfast figure in the EDI landscape. Not only is Kike a 2022 CEDI Award winner but she will also be a panelist discussing EDI at our 2023 CEDI Summit. Join us in Toronto on June 1 at the WXN CEDI Summit.https://t.co/s8kJBtsZji @KojoInstitute pic.twitter.com/nFcbajoWvz
— WXN (@WXN) May 5, 2023
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When you have no other argument, you invoke your ” religion” or ” skin colour”. It give always something to ” moan about”
Most ” communities” are intolerants of others. Whether you are white, black or green.
Playing the ” victim” seems to be the trend at the moment. It delivers ” advantages” without making any effort to gain those.
There is no pride or shame to have a pale or dark colour skin. It is what we are born with, just as the heredity, the means, financial or other of our parentage. Those are only circumstances of our ” being”, the rest is up to what we do with it.
Fascists like Kike Ojo-Thomson do not like people who stand up to their evil agenda of dividing humanity. The fact that this sort of evil is allowed in companies indicates that either the CEO’s are equally evil or willfully ignorant of what is going on.
“KIKE” Ojo-Thompson….LOL, you can’t make up that s***