Richard Bilkszto died last week, not from an accident, a disease, or even a vaccine. Richard Bilkszto took his own life as the latest casualty of DEI. He was a former principal in the Toronto School District Board and was described by one of his colleagues as a dedicated educator with classical liberal values. He was someone who cared about student achievement and embraced open dialogue.
National Review reports that the tragedy has its roots in an incident going back to April during a district-mandated DEI seminar. The seminar was presented by the KOJO Institute. The institute’s founder, Kike Ojo-Thompson, stated that Canada was “a bastion of white supremacy and colonialism.” The hostilities commenced when Bilkszto challenged that idea.
Ojo-Thompson compared Canada with the U.S. and stated, “At least they [the U.S.] had a fighting posture against the monarchy; here we celebrate the monarchy, the very heart and soul and origins of colonial structure.” Having taught in the U.S., Bilkszto offered a differing opinion to which Ojo-Thompson apparently replied, “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.” Another facilitator added, “[I]f you want to be an apologist for the U.S. or Canada, this is really not the forum for that.”
Afterward, district superintendent Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini took to Twitter to lavish praise upon the event, noting in particular how the KOJO Institute “overcame resistance.” She essentially outed Bilkszto stating for “modelling the discomfort administrators may need to experience in order to disrupt ABR [Anti-Black Racism].” She removed the reference only after she was threatened with legal action.
Ojo-Thompson singled out Bilkszto yet again, and the man went on sick leave. He sued the school board and demanded an investigation into Ojo-Thompson’s behavior. The board refused the request, but the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board ruled in Bilkszto’s favor.
From National Review:
“The evidence demonstrates that the speaker [Ojo-Thompson] purposefully chose to address you publically twice, on April 26, 2021, and May 3, 2021, calling you a white supremacist and resistor in front of two hundred colleagues and senior administrators,” documents shared with NR reveal. “This conduct took place for over an hour, and noting that the speaker had sufficient opportunity to address you privately between April 26, 2021, and May 3, 2021, it would suggest that the speaker did so with the intent to cause reputational damage and to ‘make an example’ of you. You were also referred to as a ‘problem’ that had to be dealt with.”
But by that point, the damage had been done. The strain was simply too much for Bilkszto.
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
Colleague Chanel Pfahl said of Bilkszto:
Having taught in a high school for a few years before being subjected to a suspension and multiple investigations for having inconvenient political opinions myself, he and I had a lot in common. Though he never shared the details of his story with me, as he was waiting for it all to go public, he checked in about my situation every few months, interested to know how I was and what my next steps were. He was caring and supportive. I wish I could have reciprocated when he needed it most. I will remember him fondly.
She also posted screenshots of what the KOJO Institute teaches.
This is the kind of training @KojoInstitute provides. No disagreements allowed.
When is @Sflecce going to defund DEI? pic.twitter.com/XKyio0ySNo
— Chanel Pfahl 🇨🇦 (@ChanLPfa) July 21, 2023
Richard Bilkszto was a gay man, and many of his views were probably not those of your average conservative, but he found a point of contention. He did not bend his knee, show the back of his neck, or say the right words at the right time, and the DEI people ate him alive.
Some will undoubtedly say that what Bilkszto did was selfish and cowardly. I submit that the man saw no other way out. Instead of enjoying what would have been a happy retirement, he realized that he was confronted by a massive, monolithic, and merciless machine, a machine that demands compliance but will settle for human sacrifice. He realized that under such circumstances, the future that he envisioned was impossible.
The boycotts have been effective, and more and more people continue to find their voices. But while conservatives flock to defend the likes of Jason Aldean or Moms for Liberty, the Richard Bilksztos of the world may run the risk of going unnoticed and unaided. The U.S. has fared somewhat better than Canada in this respect. But what do we do next after we watch a video of a school board meeting or suffer a moment of rage over an article on PJ Media or some other outlet?
How often are American and Canadian citizens content to keep their mouths shut and their heads down, hoping to dodge the flak or even a bullet? How many people in their day-to-day life have weighed the price of standing up versus the potential benefits of at least outward acquiescence? How long do they think they can dance before making a misstep?
How many religious leaders have we seen ignore or rationalize injustices from the Left, or worse yet, become apologists and advocates for them? The excuse may be that they do not want to sour anyone on church or that we are told to submit to authority. In truth, they may just want to hang on to what they have or want more butts in the seats and more cash in the offering plates. They become so enamored with “vision casting” that they neglect people’s spiritual welfare. The approval of the world carries more weight than anything else.
It may be true that a pastor or priest should avoid telling their congregations for whom to vote. I sat through enough politically charged lectures in the Episcopal Church to disagree. But it is a religious leader’s obligation to rightly interpret and preach about their respective holy writings in such a way that their congregations can discern the difference between good and evil.
Of course, it can be tempting to give up. In the face of the daily headlines, some will undoubtedly say that the Second Coming is nigh and that we need only hang on, if even by our fingernails. In my own prayer life from time to time, I have said, “Lord, you could fix all of this much more quickly and effectively than we could. If this is truly the world you want, who am I to go against it?”
The problem with that thinking is that God does not call people to be silent in the face of injustice and evil. Moses stood before the burning bush and made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with setting the Children of Israel free. He was happy just taking care of his sheep, but he ended up going anyway.
The Old Testament prophets were very clear about the wickedness of their day and were vocal about rebuking it. When King David had sex with Bathsheba and sent her husband Uriah off to war to cover his tracks, God sent Nathan to confront him, and Nathan gave David no quarter. God does not approve or condone the things we see running rampant today, and He calls on His people to be His hands and feet, despite what society may say.
Richard Bilkszto’s death is tragic, and it demonstrates one of the many ways the Machine can destroy someone. Eventually, the Machine comes for everyone, and one day it will come for you. Maybe not in the way it came for Richard Bilkszto, but it will come. When asking God why He has not done anything about the evil of the world, we should beware that He might pose the same question to us.
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