The head of an anti-racist organization is blasting “right-wing media” for attempting to discredit her group following the suicide of a principal whom she allegedly bullied for utilizing his “whiteness.”
According to a lawsuit filed against the Toronto District School Board earlier this year, Kike Ojo-Thompson of the KOJO Institute “systematically demolished” the reputation of Richard Bilkszto, the New York Post reports.
An official investigation into the matter concluded Bilkszto was “the subject of workplace bullying” by Ojo-Thompson (pictured), the “stress and effects” of which resulted in him taking his own life two weeks ago.
During a 2021 anti-racism training for Toronto District School Board staff, Bilkszto allegedly objected to Ojo-Thompson’s claim that Canada “could be considered more racist than the US” as the former has “never reckoned with its anti-Black history.”
The KOJO Institute head allegedly “lashed out” at Bilkszto, telling him “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.”
She later referenced this incident in front of Bilkszto and his colleagues as “a ‘real-life’ example of someone supporting white supremacy.”
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The Toronto Star reports that according to transcripts of the anti-racism sessions (which were included in courts documents), Ojo-Thompson “implicitly referred to Bilkszto (pictured) as a racist and a white supremacist” and said of him “This is the operation of white supremacy and you saw it with your own eyes.”
Bilkszto said the school board did not look into his complaints and “appear[ed] to side” with Ojo-Thompson. One board member even lauded Ojo-Thompson’s “handling” of Bilkszto’s “discomfort.”
The district did not reinstate Bilkszto after a six-week medical leave.
The KOJO Institute officially has welcomed an investigation by the Ministry of Education, but Ojo-Thompson said the entire matter “is being weaponized to discredit and suppress the work of everyone committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
“While the coverage by right-wing media of this controversy is disappointing and led to our organization and team members receiving threats and vitriol online, we will not be deterred from our work in building a better society for everyone,” she said.
I’ve been attacked on Twitter for allegedly being a settler and a white supremacist by people who don’t know me at all simply because I was born white in Canada. This nonsense has to stop . https://t.co/Tip2m48zRs
— Love My 7 Wood (@LoveMy7Wood) July 30, 2023
According to the KOJO Institute website, Ojo-Thompson allegedly is “an award-winning equity thought leader” who is “renowned for her work and expertise as an anti-racism and anti-Black racism educator, speaker, and organizational change facilitator.”
The institute claims that any type of statistical (racial) disproportionality or disparity is the result of a lack of “true equity,” for which it can provide via “training, consulting, critical conversations, coaching, mentoring, guest lectures, and keynotes.”
MORE: More proof that anti-racism really IS a religion
IMAGE: D Mac 75, Chris Rufo/Twitter
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