Disturbing new audio reveals the second a beloved homosexual highschool principal was shamed for standing as much as an anti-racism coach — whose bullying drove the instructor to suicide.
Richard Bilkszto, 60, was discovered useless on July 13 after two years of emotional turmoil following the encounter.
He was devastated when Kike Ojo-Thompson turned on him throughout a session in April 2021 after he challenged her declare that Canada – the place each lived – is extra racist than the US.
In the audio of the session obtained by The free pressdo you hear Bilkszto say that Canada might not have been “the bastion of white supremacy” that Ojo-Thompson had claimed to be.
He identified that public faculties for Canada’s poorest college students are usually higher funded than their counterparts within the United States.
Turning to Bilkszto, Ojo-Thompson informed him in entrance of everybody else, “There’s a lot going on as white people that isn’t your personal experience. It will never be. You’ll never know it is. You’ll never know it is.
“So it’s your job in this job, as white people, to believe.”
Ojo-Thompson – who was paid $7,500 an hour for eight hours of seminars – laughed in a subsequent dialogue in regards to the problem of Bilkszto, who was described as a really progressive man who was praised for his deal with “equity” at work. The anti-racism coach was later labeled “abusive” by an official authorities investigation into her antics.
Kike Ojo-Thompson, a variety coach from Toronto, known as Bilkszto an instance of “resistance to white supremacy”
Richard Bilkszto, 60, took his personal life in Toronto on July 13 after two years of unrest after assembly in April 2021 on the faculty the place he was principal. He filed an official grievance and received, and had simply filed one other lawsuit
And within the subsequent session, she once more known as him an instance of “white supremacist resistance” in newly launched audio clips the place she additionally laughs as she units an instance of him.
The late principal’s household says his grief solely deepened when his faculty district superintendent, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, additional disgraced him in a tweet suggesting he was a racist.
The tweet, which has since been deleted, praised Ojo-Thompson “for modeling the discomfort administrators may have to experience in order to disrupt ABR,” or anti-black racism.
The week after his dying, Kike Ojo-Thompson, the range coach, got here out a challenging statement who made no apology for her function in Bilkszto’s dying – even suggesting she was the sufferer.
“This incident is being used to discredit and suppress the work of all those who are committed to diversity, equality and inclusion,” she mentioned.
‘We will not be stopped from our work to build a better society for everyone.’
Now the college board and Canada’s training minister are investigating Bilkszto’s dying and whether or not the obsession with woke up coverage might have contributed to it.
Bilkszto, who was homosexual and single, is alleged by mates to have devoted his life to instructing and hung out at a harsh majority black faculty in Buffalo, New York.
He had not too long ago retired, hoping to journey extra, however was satisfied to work as director of the Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Toronto after his retirement.
In April 2021, the college district employed Kike Ojo-Thompson, a variety coach in Toronto, to conduct 4 two-hour periods for varsity leaders — together with her firm, the KOJO Institute, which prices $15,000 for every session, based on The Free Press . .
The first session was uneventful, however in the course of the second session, Ojo-Thompson claimed that Canada was considerably extra racist than the United States.
He disagreed, however nobody stood up for him.
After the assembly, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the chief superintendent of training, thanked Ojo-Thompson for briefing.
Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the chief superintendent of training, thanked Ojo-Thompson for the session that so upset Bilkszto
“When faced with resistance to addressing anti-black racism, we cannot remain silent, as it amplifies the damage done to black students and families,” Petrazzini wrote.
Thanks @KOJOInstitute for modeling the discomfort directors might must expertise to disrupt ABR, or anti-black racism.
She has since deleted the tweet.
Petrazzini not too long ago made headlines, in her new job, for organizing a non-white “belonging celebration” for “racialized workforce.”
Friends of Bilkszto mentioned Petrazzini’s tweet deeply damage him.
Robert McManus, 60, a retired instructor who had been mates with Bilkszto since they met at Boy Scout camp at age 11, mentioned the tweet appeared that Ojo-Thompson’s reprimand was endorsed by the college district.
It “had a terrible effect on Richard,” McManus mentioned The free press.
Bilkszto’s public shame was compounded in the course of the third session, the place Ojo-Thompson mentioned his feedback have been a “teaching moment.”
“One of the ways that white supremacy is maintained, protected, reproduced, sustained and defended is through resistance,” she mentioned.
She then laughed and added, “I’m so lucky that we have perfect evidence, a beautiful example of defiance that you all have to bear witness to, so we’re going to talk about it because, I mean, it doesn’t matter.” it doesn’t get any higher than this.’
Kike Ojo-Thompson, founding father of the KOJO Institute. Bilkszto mentioned she accused him of supporting white supremacy as a result of he disputed her feedback
May 3 was the final DEI session attended by Richard Bilkszto @kojoinstitute CEO Kike Ojo-Thompson invited folks to touch upon the April 26 session, the place Richard contradicted her declare that Canada is extra racist than the US. His fellow educators piled on him, shamed him, … pic.twitter.com/xuwcYmMiGy
— Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) August 3, 2023
The day after the third session, Bilkszto utilized for sick go away and missed the fourth and closing session.
He then filed a grievance with faculty officers saying he had been harassed.
Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board investigated and concluded in August 2021 that Thompson’s habits was “abusive” and amounted to “workplace harassment.”
Bilkszto was given seven weeks’ wage loss.
But mates mentioned he by no means acquired over the humiliation of being labeled a white supremacist, and the confrontation ate at him.
In April of this 12 months, Bilkszto sued the Toronto District School Board, citing Thompson’s “defamatory statements” and directors’ unwillingness to defend him regardless of beforehand praising him.
Bilkszto has suffered and can proceed to undergo from his character and popularity, each personally and professionally.
“Bilkszto has also been the victim of embarrassment, scandal, ridicule, contempt and severe emotional distress.”
He dedicated suicide earlier than the case might be accomplished.
Bilkszto, 60, dedicated suicide in July after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional misery
The 60-year-old skilled instructor had labored for twenty-four years and was nonetheless volunteering as a deputy principal. His household says he was so ‘upset’ by the disagreement with the anti-racism coach and what occurred subsequent that he killed himself
Jason Bilkszto, Richard’s cousin, informed The Free Press, “How can you not disagree a little bit on something without them tearing you apart for it?”
McManus mentioned he final spoke to Bilkszto the day earlier than he killed himself.
“It was absolutely clear he wasn’t sleeping well because of all the stress,” McManus mentioned.
“He was a very optimistic person, so the vast majority of the time people talked to him would be seen as doing well, but his friends knew he was struggling — he was struggling with what had happened to him.”
Canadian Education Minister Stephen Lecce mentioned: ‘I extend my sincere condolences to Richard’s household and mates as we bear in mind a instructor who went above and past for his college students.
“No member of staff should ever be harassed while at work.”
Ojo-Thompson mentioned she “welcomes the review of this matter by Education Secretary Stephen Lecce and will cooperate fully with ministry officials.”
She added: “We believe the Department of Education is best placed to investigate this matter to get to the bottom of what happened at the Toronto District School Board after our workshop closed more than two years ago .’
Ari Goldkind, a Toronto lawyer, told The Free Press that DEI consultants and the institutions that hire them must realize their programs “could have horrible, realistic consequences.”
“There is a real possibility here that the DEI training session will become much more contentious in the future, with participants who feel offended or hurt or reviled, dangerously reviled – meaning they will be banned or made unemployed – striking back in court.” , Goldkind mentioned.
“That’s the lesson of this tragedy, that people are tired of being isolated and ostracized from polite society for having the audacity to ask a question or challenge orthodoxy.”