Coalition of Black communities say principal’s suicide being weaponized to stop diversity training

A coalition of Black communities says vital anti-racism work is under attack following the death of a principal last month. The groups gathered at Queen’s Park Wednesday to stand up for diversity, equity and inclusion training.

Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal Richard Bilkszto filed a lawsuit against the board in April, claiming a diversity training session and its aftermath destroyed his reputation.

Bilkszto filed the lawsuit related to two online anti-racism training sessions in 2021 when he claims to have been implicitly referred to as a white supremacist by the trainer and berated in front of his colleagues when he disagreed that Canada was more racist than the United States.

The claim says Bilkszto acknowledged the country’s own anti-Black racism but suggested Canada was a more just society than the U.S., making reference to different approaches to public education and health care.

He alleged the TDSB failed to investigate his workplace harassment claim and then retaliated by disinviting him from a graduation program he helped create and revoking a temporary contract offer.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The board says it hired an outside group to lead an investigation into the circumstances around Bilkszto’s death.

Bilkszto’s lawyer Lisa Bildy confirmed last week he died by suicide on July 13. He was 60.

Black community groups, parents, students and advocates stood united Wednesday to protect the fight against systemic racism and discrimination which they say is under threat.

Bilkszto’s case has become a lightning rod for a number of prominent right-wing commentators who have sought to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion training and initiatives at Canada’s largest school board.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said his staff would review the allegations against TDSB and will also be bringing forward options to reform professional training and strengthen accountability on school boards.

Bildy said she was pleased to hear the minister had ordered a review. In an email, she said it should examine not just this incident, but the “purpose, process, and value of this type of DEI training.”

“Any attempt to remove or restrict anti-racism education in this province will have severe and detrimental consequences,” said Amanuel Melles, Executive Director at the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities

“DEI trainings have nothing to do with the death of this particular man. As much as we empathize with him, we want to be able to state that clearly, those are completely separate issues,” explained community leader and activist Idris Orughu. “We have a common enemy, and the common enemy is the right-wing end of our society that have decided to hijack the narrative.”

Chief Advocacy Officer of Parents of Black Children, Charline Grant, said the conversation should be focused on mental health.

“People will use this to just weaponize this moment, and it’s wrong … We already know there’s a stigma so to even highlight something like that it’s scary for me,” shared Grant.

With just one month to go before students return to school, there are concerns the incident will be used as an excuse to halt diversity and equity training.

“My worry is the reprisal and retaliation that will come in September towards our children,” said Grant.

“It’d be a failure to allow an incident such as this, though tragic, to prevent any sort of acknowledgement or efforts to combat these issues moving forward,” added youth activist Kaden Johnson.

“What Lecce has done is a disgrace, to be honest,” said Grant, adding Lecce should have met with the Black community.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Minister of Education tells CityNews that professional anti-racism and anti-discrimination training will continue.

“Since day one, we have taken decisive action to counter all forms of discrimination and hate in Ontario schools. We will continue this important work to remove barriers that hold back too many children from reaching their full potential,” read the statement.

The TDSB issued a statement late Wednesday, says the Board unanimously resolved at its July 28 meeting to reaffirm the TDSB’s commitment to the Anti-Hate and Anti-Racism Strategy, including anti-Black racism and all forms of racism and hate.

“Our commitment to an inclusive, equitable and accessible education for all students is unwavering. Students need our resolve in continuing to understand their lived experiences,” read the statement. “We are all informed by our individual identities but through our collaborative efforts we can best support our students and staff to create positive and sustainable change.”