The Megyn Kelly Show - August 12, 2023


A DEI Session, Bullying, and a Tragic Suicide： Megyn Kelly Show Weekend Extra ｜ Ep. 606


Episode Stats

Length

38 minutes

Words per Minute

169.12234

Word Count

6,535

Sentence Count

421

Misogynist Sentences

10

Hate Speech Sentences

14


Summary

A beloved Toronto principal, Richard Bilkstow, tragically died by suicide in July of 2019. And what led up to that decision is absolutely chilling. Meghan and Rupa talk about what they believe happened to him, and why it happened.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 When I found out my friend got a great deal
00:00:02.160 on a wool coat from Winners,
00:00:03.760 I started wondering,
00:00:05.440 is every fabulous item I see from Winners?
00:00:08.560 Like that woman over there with the designer jeans.
00:00:11.260 Are those from Winners?
00:00:12.780 Ooh, or those beautiful gold earrings?
00:00:15.260 Did she pay full price?
00:00:16.600 Or that leather tote?
00:00:17.620 Or that cashmere sweater?
00:00:18.840 Or those knee-high boots?
00:00:20.280 That dress?
00:00:21.060 That jacket?
00:00:21.740 Those shoes?
00:00:22.760 Is anyone paying full price for anything?
00:00:25.720 Stop wondering.
00:00:26.980 Start winning.
00:00:27.920 Winners.
00:00:28.500 Find fabulous for less.
00:00:30.580 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.
00:00:32.520 Your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations.
00:00:42.060 Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly.
00:00:43.800 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show
00:00:45.000 and this weekend extra episode.
00:00:48.000 And this is a story we felt you needed to hear.
00:00:51.520 My God, it's been haunting me.
00:00:54.660 Oh, a beloved Toronto principal,
00:00:58.780 Richard Bilkstow, tragically died by suicide in July.
00:01:03.020 And what led up to that decision is absolutely chilling.
00:01:08.100 And I would submit was inevitable
00:01:10.520 with the crazy race essentialism,
00:01:14.040 DEI approach that we've been forcing down the throats
00:01:18.980 of people in our country and our neighbors to the north
00:01:22.500 in Canada where this happened.
00:01:24.760 The Free Press, this is the, you know, the media group that Barry Weiss,
00:01:28.580 our friend, started and they've been doing great reporting.
00:01:31.320 They did an in-depth report on Richard and the DEI training sessions
00:01:35.640 that he participated in before his death.
00:01:38.680 That really, they weren't DEI training.
00:01:42.300 They were, they were bully sessions.
00:01:44.640 That's what happened to this man.
00:01:46.080 I believe he was bullied to death.
00:01:48.880 And joining me now with the story is Free Press reporter,
00:01:52.280 Rupa Subramania.
00:01:53.840 Rupa, thank you so much for being here
00:01:55.200 and for this great reporting.
00:01:56.840 It is absolutely chilling.
00:01:58.540 Thanks for having me on the show, Megan.
00:02:02.080 It's a real honor.
00:02:04.080 It's, as I said, it was a matter of time
00:02:07.420 because so many people,
00:02:10.060 like if I went to a DEI training,
00:02:11.700 I'd probably be kicked out
00:02:13.400 because the things I'd be saying would be unacceptable.
00:02:17.580 People who are of the left
00:02:19.240 feel the need to be accepted
00:02:23.460 by those doing these trainings.
00:02:25.940 And while some are brave enough to push back here or there,
00:02:29.000 they do get made examples of, you know,
00:02:30.940 they wind up being the one that gets example,
00:02:34.400 you know, like, oh no, this is wrong.
00:02:35.820 And it's happened to people,
00:02:36.720 like when I was in the city,
00:02:38.440 they offered this at my daughter's school
00:02:40.060 and another mom came to me.
00:02:42.080 She's a white mom.
00:02:43.340 And she said the entire time,
00:02:45.200 it was, the white people were shamed.
00:02:47.520 It was all about, you know,
00:02:48.460 it was very anti-white
00:02:49.500 and about how the country's, you know,
00:02:51.600 white nationalist and so on and so forth.
00:02:53.140 And you were not allowed to speak.
00:02:54.780 Like they told the white people to be quiet
00:02:56.100 for the entire training for two days.
00:02:57.720 And finally, at the end of the training
00:03:00.020 on the second day,
00:03:01.280 the white people were allowed to say something
00:03:02.920 and she gently, very gently pushed back saying,
00:03:05.860 you know, I don't think the country's that racist.
00:03:08.160 We elected a black president,
00:03:09.340 you know, whatever.
00:03:09.740 And they just, the shit storm
00:03:12.100 that rained down on her,
00:03:14.020 they made an example of her
00:03:15.520 so that nobody else would speak out.
00:03:17.100 So that brings me to your story.
00:03:19.060 When I read it, it sounded very familiar to me.
00:03:22.000 This one gentleman pushed back gently
00:03:24.380 on some of the narrative
00:03:26.340 that was being spewed in his DEI training.
00:03:29.320 And the pile on that then happened to him
00:03:32.360 was grossly unfair.
00:03:34.460 So take us to the beginning
00:03:35.960 of Richard Bilkstow's story.
00:03:38.620 Thanks, Megan.
00:03:39.980 Richard Bilkstow,
00:03:41.380 his passion was always education.
00:03:44.400 He loved teaching and mentoring
00:03:46.580 and especially kids who came
00:03:49.180 from the most marginalized
00:03:50.800 and underprivileged backgrounds.
00:03:52.980 And he really felt that he could make a difference
00:03:55.080 to a young person's life.
00:03:57.040 And, you know, not all of us get to live our dreams,
00:03:59.800 but he actually got to live his dream of teaching.
00:04:02.640 He was a lifelong educator.
00:04:04.880 He was loved by his students
00:04:07.320 and admired by his colleagues,
00:04:09.600 his peers and school board officials.
00:04:12.280 And he was recognized as a leader
00:04:14.880 in adult education here in the province of Ontario,
00:04:18.180 where I live and where Richard Bilkstow lived.
00:04:21.060 And that was his expertise,
00:04:23.040 teaching young adults in the province.
00:04:25.820 He retired in 2019,
00:04:29.060 but he loved teaching so much
00:04:32.040 that he worked as a supply principal
00:04:35.880 at various adult learning centers.
00:04:39.380 And he did this not because he needed the money,
00:04:42.420 but he truly loved what he did.
00:04:45.160 And in 2020, Richard Bilkstow was hired
00:04:49.120 as a principal at an adult learning center in Toronto.
00:04:52.260 His work was so appreciated
00:04:55.600 that school board officials wanted him back
00:04:58.720 for the fall of 2021.
00:05:00.780 So he signed a new contract in April of that year.
00:05:04.620 That's when his life really began to fall apart
00:05:07.280 because of this one incident
00:05:09.020 that happened at a DI training session.
00:05:12.120 Now, the Toronto District School Board,
00:05:13.800 which is the country's largest school board,
00:05:15.880 decided to run an equity, diversity,
00:05:19.640 and inclusion event.
00:05:20.560 And this was outsourced
00:05:22.600 to a well-known DI consultancy firm in Toronto
00:05:25.460 called the Kojo Institute.
00:05:28.040 And as a principal,
00:05:29.520 Kojo, which is named after,
00:05:32.800 I believe, after its CEO, Kiki Ojo-Thompson.
00:05:37.560 And we'll be coming back to her in a bit
00:05:39.820 because she's an important part of the story, obviously.
00:05:43.800 And as a principal, he was expected to attend.
00:05:47.140 And but it's important to keep in mind here
00:05:49.880 that that's not why he went.
00:05:52.040 And this I've pieced together from people who knew him well,
00:05:56.060 people who were close to him.
00:05:58.020 He was always looking out for opportunities
00:06:01.380 where he could improve himself professionally
00:06:03.300 because he loved what he did so much
00:06:05.940 that he wanted to do his job better.
00:06:09.200 And it's also very important to keep in mind here, Megan,
00:06:12.140 in that Richard was very much on the progressive left.
00:06:16.640 He truly believed in things like diversity,
00:06:19.260 equity, and inclusion.
00:06:20.680 He was gay.
00:06:22.120 And the first session begins April 19th, 2021.
00:06:28.340 Goes up with that incident.
00:06:30.360 Nothing, as far as I'm aware, happened there.
00:06:33.780 But it all began at the second training session
00:06:35.980 on April 26th, where Kiki Oja Thompson,
00:06:40.160 the CEO of Kojo Institute,
00:06:42.660 she's running the training session.
00:06:44.800 She makes a claim that Canada is a bastion of white supremacy
00:06:48.260 and that Black Canadians, African Canadians in Canada
00:06:54.180 experience racism that is far worse here in Canada
00:06:57.680 than in the U.S.
00:06:59.360 All right, let me stand you by
00:07:00.320 because we have a little bit of that.
00:07:02.100 We've got some soundbites,
00:07:03.200 and I'll play them where appropriate.
00:07:04.460 But here's just a taste of that exact moment
00:07:06.840 that you just referred to in Soundbite One.
00:07:09.480 The racism is, we experience this far worse here than there.
00:07:14.860 So I know that's going to be a hard one
00:07:16.660 to wrap their head around,
00:07:18.160 but that's the level of white supremacy.
00:07:20.400 Like Canada's a bastion of white supremacy and colonialism.
00:07:23.500 Like they at least had a fighting posture
00:07:25.820 against at least the monarchy.
00:07:29.200 Here we celebrate the monarchy,
00:07:30.940 the very heart and soul and origins of the colonial structure.
00:07:35.360 Think about that, right?
00:07:36.680 And all that it represents.
00:07:38.340 We hold it dear still.
00:07:42.060 Keep going.
00:07:42.840 Now, Richard had, you know,
00:07:47.340 he had taught in an inner city high school in Buffalo,
00:07:50.380 a school with a large African-American population.
00:07:54.040 And he felt that this claim made by Kiki Oja Thompson
00:07:57.760 needed to be challenged.
00:07:59.180 And he felt that people of color
00:08:00.900 were far more disadvantaged in the U.S. than in Canada.
00:08:04.220 And he puts and he put that view out in the DEI session.
00:08:08.140 He says, look, Canada, we have a lot of problems.
00:08:11.440 We've got that, too, just a bit.
00:08:13.360 And this is pretty bold.
00:08:14.400 I mean, this is bold.
00:08:15.300 But really, it's a guy kind of trying to defend
00:08:17.300 his own country, too, saying, I've been in America.
00:08:20.380 It's way worse there.
00:08:21.700 Like, wait, it's not worse in Canada than it is in America,
00:08:25.000 which, you know, we could debate all day.
00:08:26.840 Who cares?
00:08:27.260 But the point is, this is his point of view.
00:08:28.620 And he's trying to rehabilitate Canada to a bit,
00:08:31.080 to an extent, with this Kiki.
00:08:33.100 And here's a little bit of what he said in top two.
00:08:36.540 I just wanted to make a comment about the Canada-U.S. thing.
00:08:40.340 And I have a little bit of a challenge of it.
00:08:41.980 I did my student teaching in the U.S.
00:08:43.820 and have spent a lot of time in the U.S.
00:08:46.240 And to say here, honestly, that Canada
00:08:49.720 is not a more just society.
00:08:51.300 The United States is, and we talked about facts and figures.
00:08:55.880 I invite everyone here to do some research.
00:08:59.360 And you look at...
00:09:00.100 Yeah, absolutely.
00:09:01.520 And look at things like education.
00:09:03.800 And look how more...
00:09:05.360 You think about a system we have in Ontario,
00:09:07.460 where every student is funded equally.
00:09:09.820 You go to the United States,
00:09:11.260 they're funded based on their tax base.
00:09:14.200 We have a public education system
00:09:15.860 where everyone is funded the same way.
00:09:17.920 It's not like that in the United States.
00:09:19.280 We have a health care system here
00:09:21.220 where everyone has access to health care.
00:09:23.700 It is not the same way in the United States.
00:09:25.960 So to say, sit here and say, all honesty,
00:09:29.880 we're talking about facts and figures,
00:09:31.640 and to walk into the classroom tomorrow
00:09:33.480 and say, Canada's just as bad as the United States,
00:09:36.980 I think we're doing an incredible disservice to our learners.
00:09:39.220 So it's a perspective from somebody who's lived in both countries
00:09:44.100 that any normal, open-minded person running even a DEI session
00:09:49.560 would say, oh, an interesting point.
00:09:50.980 Let's talk about it.
00:09:52.400 No, that's not how it went.
00:09:54.480 I'll just cut to the next soundbite,
00:09:56.080 and then I'll give it back to you.
00:09:57.500 Here's Kiki's response to what he said,
00:10:00.560 and you'll hear Richard on the back end.
00:10:02.400 Here's how she handled it.
00:10:03.340 So what's fascinating is,
00:10:06.880 and this is why we're in this place that we're in,
00:10:09.940 is that you think,
00:10:11.080 so we're here to talk about anti-black racism,
00:10:12.640 but you and your whiteness think that you can tell me
00:10:15.360 what's really going on for black people.
00:10:17.660 Like, is that what you're doing?
00:10:19.140 Because I think that's what you're doing,
00:10:20.340 but I'm not sure.
00:10:21.140 So I'm going to leave you space
00:10:22.480 to tell me what you're doing right now.
00:10:26.160 Exactly.
00:10:26.600 I just wanted to make the point.
00:10:27.600 You were talking about the United States,
00:10:28.980 and I just wanted to do a comparison.
00:10:31.280 And as I said, you talked about facts and figures
00:10:33.680 and, you know, listening to the facts and figures.
00:10:37.220 And I think if everyone here looks at the facts and figures
00:10:39.780 and all kinds of, all kinds of studies,
00:10:42.520 and you'll see we're a far more just society.
00:10:48.780 Okay.
00:10:49.240 Can I just say this, Rupa?
00:10:50.440 I'm, this is like, I hate the term, but it does work.
00:10:53.720 It's triggering for me because at my,
00:10:57.480 we pulled our kids out of these New York City schools
00:10:59.360 that were super woke.
00:11:00.220 I mentioned my daughters, but my son's was over,
00:11:04.440 I mean, just over the top on all this stuff,
00:11:06.800 race, gender, all of it.
00:11:08.460 And they were, they had a racial presentation there
00:11:12.500 at our son's school that walked you through
00:11:15.940 how you're a racist.
00:11:18.400 If in response to a person of color
00:11:20.560 telling you you're a racist or that America's racist,
00:11:23.460 if your first response is to question it in any way,
00:11:27.100 that's further evidence of your racism,
00:11:29.200 totally right out of the Robin DiAngelo handbook.
00:11:31.960 And this was presented to the parents at the school
00:11:34.460 in a slideshow by their new head of DEI.
00:11:36.900 As fact, if you have any resistance to the notion
00:11:40.100 that America's racist or you're racist as a white person,
00:11:43.480 further evidence of your racism,
00:11:45.360 and that's just your denial,
00:11:46.540 and you're working through like a 10 step program
00:11:49.060 to where finally,
00:11:50.140 if you get beaten over the head with it enough,
00:11:52.420 you'll recognize you're a racist,
00:11:54.900 America's racist,
00:11:55.700 and only once you land in that part,
00:11:57.400 in that point,
00:11:58.540 have you come full circle on the DEI training
00:12:01.160 and sort of get your gold star.
00:12:03.660 So I totally see what she is doing to him.
00:12:06.300 You're not allowed to challenge a black person
00:12:09.680 speaking about this issue, period.
00:12:12.540 The mere fact that he could have said anything
00:12:14.340 that was challenging,
00:12:15.560 didn't have to be what he said.
00:12:17.040 It's not allowed.
00:12:18.360 Go ahead.
00:12:18.700 Well, yes.
00:12:21.060 I mean, Ojo Thompson,
00:12:23.260 as we heard in that clip you just played,
00:12:26.680 reacts angrily,
00:12:28.840 accuses him of white privilege
00:12:30.440 and accuses him of not understanding
00:12:33.820 the plight of black Canadians.
00:12:36.980 And then after that,
00:12:39.300 things go from bad to worse.
00:12:42.060 Ojo Thompson,
00:12:43.800 after that interaction,
00:12:45.440 seemed to want,
00:12:47.300 wanted to make an example out of Richard.
00:12:50.640 And in another clip that we obtained,
00:12:53.060 she refers to him as a weed
00:12:55.320 and that they got the weed whacker out today.
00:12:58.400 And she's laughing as she says that.
00:13:00.880 And that,
00:13:02.960 you know,
00:13:03.640 made for just,
00:13:04.840 just,
00:13:05.740 you know,
00:13:06.120 it was just horrifying listening to that.
00:13:08.700 And then he,
00:13:10.560 the session continues.
00:13:11.500 And then the following session,
00:13:13.560 which happens the next week on May 3rd,
00:13:16.760 Richard goes to this session as well.
00:13:19.760 At this session,
00:13:21.680 Kiki Ojo Thompson refers to the previous session.
00:13:24.640 She,
00:13:24.940 in fact,
00:13:25.160 refers to the previous,
00:13:26.520 the interaction in the previous session
00:13:28.200 that she had with Richard without naming him.
00:13:30.760 And she says,
00:13:31.420 let's talk about that.
00:13:32.580 You know,
00:13:32.780 let's talk about what resistance looks like.
00:13:35.240 What,
00:13:35.420 what does a resistor do?
00:13:37.200 What are a resistor's tactics?
00:13:39.520 What does a resistor sound like?
00:13:42.080 And,
00:13:42.760 and this was basically an invitation
00:13:44.780 for the participants,
00:13:46.780 the attendees,
00:13:47.520 attendees in this,
00:13:48.660 in this session to,
00:13:50.380 to,
00:13:50.840 to put forth their views.
00:13:53.640 One would have expected someone to actually challenge her a little bit on,
00:13:57.980 on her claims,
00:13:58.900 or at least come to Richard's defense.
00:14:03.080 But no one came to his defense.
00:14:05.540 There were 200 people at the session
00:14:07.260 and not a single person stood up for Richard Bilkstow.
00:14:10.820 Fellow educators either remained silent
00:14:13.660 or they piled on him.
00:14:15.340 He was completely alone and isolated
00:14:18.240 and made to feel incredibly humiliated.
00:14:22.060 Here's,
00:14:22.420 here's,
00:14:22.720 we have a little bit of that.
00:14:23.860 She called it a teachable moment,
00:14:25.340 dragged back up the earlier instance,
00:14:27.580 and then got into what an example he is
00:14:30.480 of essentially white supremacy.
00:14:32.340 It's Sop 5.
00:14:35.600 One of the ways that white supremacy is upheld,
00:14:39.880 protected,
00:14:41.080 reproduced,
00:14:41.960 upkept,
00:14:42.600 defended
00:14:44.200 is through resistance.
00:14:46.960 And like I said,
00:14:47.980 as,
00:14:48.240 as I began to speak earlier,
00:14:50.180 we had,
00:14:50.780 I'm so lucky.
00:14:53.060 I would have thought my luck would show up so well last week
00:14:55.760 that we got perfect evidence of a wonderful example of resistance
00:14:59.960 that you all got to bear witness to.
00:15:01.980 So we're going to talk about it
00:15:03.380 because,
00:15:04.720 I mean,
00:15:04.980 it doesn't get better than this.
00:15:06.120 She's giggling.
00:15:09.020 She,
00:15:09.180 she's enjoying it.
00:15:10.360 She loves rubbing his nose in it as she calls him a racist.
00:15:13.760 That's essentially what she's saying.
00:15:16.140 Absolutely.
00:15:17.320 And,
00:15:17.860 and we,
00:15:18.900 you know,
00:15:19.080 we have to keep this in mind that Richard was dedicated his life to teaching
00:15:22.620 and for him to be humiliated in this manner,
00:15:25.800 you know,
00:15:26.880 surrounded by people that he had once worked with,
00:15:30.980 had to be,
00:15:32.060 had to have had a traumatic effect on him.
00:15:35.020 And it did.
00:15:36.220 Given the stress that he'd been under,
00:15:38.660 Richard went on sick leave on May 4th.
00:15:41.840 That same day,
00:15:43.000 he made a claim of workplace harassment to school board officials.
00:15:48.260 Three months later,
00:15:49.000 this body that investigated the matter ruled in his favor,
00:15:54.340 saying that to quote them,
00:15:56.040 the conduct of the speaker on April 26th,
00:15:58.420 2021 and May 3rd,
00:16:00.400 2021 was abusive,
00:16:02.180 egregious and vexatious and rises to the level of workplace harassment and
00:16:06.820 bullying.
00:16:07.640 On July 1st of that year,
00:16:09.540 he was medically cleared to return to work,
00:16:11.460 but,
00:16:12.020 but then,
00:16:13.720 you know,
00:16:14.380 that was not the end of the story.
00:16:16.040 The school board failed to honor his contract to return as a principal that
00:16:20.500 fall.
00:16:21.360 He had another long-term contract teaching opportunity that,
00:16:25.520 you know,
00:16:26.380 that,
00:16:26.600 that,
00:16:27.000 that,
00:16:27.320 that school reneged on that contract.
00:16:30.900 And basically,
00:16:32.620 you know,
00:16:32.860 he went from being the star educator,
00:16:36.520 a leader in the,
00:16:37.840 in the field of adult education to finding,
00:16:40.540 finding himself being canceled.
00:16:42.320 Nobody wanted to be seen with him or no,
00:16:46.520 no one wanted to associate themselves with him.
00:16:48.780 School officials began to distance themselves from him.
00:16:51.640 He was essentially seen as damaged goods at this point.
00:16:54.600 And his life spiraled down into despair.
00:16:59.060 And,
00:16:59.660 and that led to his tragic suicide on July 13th,
00:17:05.340 2023.
00:17:06.120 Oh my God,
00:17:08.080 this just happened.
00:17:09.080 And I know that he was in touch with the free press prior to taking his own
00:17:15.800 life.
00:17:16.560 He was talking about this whole situation.
00:17:19.900 So what was his demeanor and what was he saying?
00:17:23.920 Well,
00:17:26.160 so I didn't personally speak to him.
00:17:29.460 It was my coauthor,
00:17:32.180 who Ari Blaff,
00:17:33.460 who interviewed him.
00:17:34.300 And you can see that Richard was optimistic.
00:17:38.640 He was optimistic about this,
00:17:41.320 a lawsuit and speaking to his close friends and family.
00:17:48.120 You know,
00:17:48.860 he,
00:17:49.100 he was generally pretty optimistic about the direction,
00:17:51.900 which things were going for him,
00:17:53.640 but he was terrified about the legacy media getting a hold of the lawsuit.
00:18:00.260 And,
00:18:00.900 and,
00:18:01.460 and,
00:18:01.740 and once again,
00:18:03.040 you know,
00:18:04.060 you know,
00:18:05.260 he feared that his name would be dragged through the mud.
00:18:07.840 This was what terrified him in the weeks before his death.
00:18:11.400 He was really worried that the mainstream media would call him a white
00:18:15.600 supremacist,
00:18:16.480 a racist once again.
00:18:18.480 And,
00:18:18.980 and this,
00:18:19.800 this caused him a lot of anxiety and stress,
00:18:22.840 according to his best friend,
00:18:25.100 whom I spoke to for the story.
00:18:27.280 And he was last in touch with him a day before Richard killed himself.
00:18:32.280 And,
00:18:32.480 and,
00:18:33.260 you know,
00:18:33.660 he hadn't been sleeping and the stress was really getting to him.
00:18:37.980 And as his best friend said,
00:18:39.800 only people who were very,
00:18:41.680 very close to him truly know how much he suffered.
00:18:43.860 He just wasn't the same person anymore.
00:18:45.820 He may have been optimistic about the lawsuit and what,
00:18:49.820 and the future he had plans for the future,
00:18:52.040 but deep down inside,
00:18:53.220 he was terrified.
00:18:55.320 He was,
00:18:55.700 he felt humiliated.
00:18:56.740 He felt isolated and marginalized,
00:18:58.460 and he felt a great sense of letdown from,
00:19:02.380 from the community of educators who were once,
00:19:06.000 who just a year and a half earlier were praising him and telling him what a
00:19:10.300 great educator he was.
00:19:12.040 And now he was seen a white,
00:19:13.500 he was seen as a white supremacist and a racist.
00:19:15.900 I mean,
00:19:17.380 just to,
00:19:17.920 just for the record,
00:19:18.860 to remind the audience again,
00:19:20.940 all the guy did was to say,
00:19:23.240 sure,
00:19:24.120 we may be racist here in Canada,
00:19:25.640 but they're more racist in America when it comes to the children and the,
00:19:28.860 the education approach because of the tax districts.
00:19:31.340 And so that's what he said.
00:19:32.540 That,
00:19:33.140 that is what caused,
00:19:34.160 I've listened to all of the tapes that the free press got his hands on.
00:19:37.480 That's it.
00:19:38.560 There was no moment.
00:19:39.900 There was no moment that,
00:19:41.680 you know,
00:19:42.040 would have made you feel like you're watching some right wing television show,
00:19:46.040 right?
00:19:46.260 Not,
00:19:46.500 not at all.
00:19:47.340 Nothing that that one exchange we just played wound up ruining his life because
00:19:54.020 Kiki didn't like it and didn't think he had the right to challenge her because
00:20:00.000 she's a black woman and therefore everything she says is true period,
00:20:05.500 whether it is or it isn't.
00:20:07.860 So did,
00:20:08.920 did Richard have,
00:20:10.800 you know,
00:20:11.420 was there,
00:20:11.980 were there any other prior suicide attempts?
00:20:14.980 What,
00:20:15.180 did he have a longstanding issue mentally or,
00:20:18.540 you know,
00:20:18.640 in terms of mental health?
00:20:20.360 No,
00:20:20.940 that's,
00:20:21.500 that's a great question.
00:20:22.520 And the question that I've asked everyone that I,
00:20:25.740 I've spoken to,
00:20:26.820 including his family,
00:20:28.720 whom he was very close to and his very close friends.
00:20:32.460 And no,
00:20:33.700 he was,
00:20:35.340 you know,
00:20:35.820 a very jovial person.
00:20:38.680 He had a great personality.
00:20:40.960 He loved his job.
00:20:42.880 He dedicated his life to teaching.
00:20:44.540 He loved his students.
00:20:45.900 And he liked,
00:20:47.560 he liked going to Mexico.
00:20:49.200 There was no indication at all that,
00:20:52.420 you know,
00:20:52.900 there was,
00:20:53.800 there was no prior history of mental illness or,
00:20:57.580 or any,
00:20:58.380 any attempts at taking his life prior to this.
00:21:03.000 And,
00:21:03.320 and,
00:21:03.920 and so this one incident,
00:21:06.500 this few minutes of interaction at this DI training session,
00:21:10.100 had a profound effect on him.
00:21:14.580 There's no question in my mind that,
00:21:16.700 that it,
00:21:17.400 it,
00:21:17.620 it really just affected him to such an extent.
00:21:22.200 It's important to keep in mind,
00:21:23.660 Megan,
00:21:23.800 that as a school principal,
00:21:25.160 his reputation,
00:21:26.660 or for that matter,
00:21:27.600 every school principal or teacher anywhere,
00:21:30.420 whether in the U S or Canada,
00:21:32.960 you know,
00:21:33.700 their reputation has to be absolutely stellar.
00:21:36.640 And one,
00:21:37.280 you know,
00:21:37.500 when there's an attempt to tarnish that or,
00:21:39.480 or it gets tarnished for whatever reason,
00:21:41.600 it's,
00:21:42.440 it's very difficult to come back from that.
00:21:44.340 And we know this as writers and journalists,
00:21:46.620 you know,
00:21:46.840 how important that is.
00:21:48.740 And,
00:21:49.280 and,
00:21:49.580 and,
00:21:49.760 and,
00:21:50.040 you know,
00:21:50.700 some of us,
00:21:51.360 I think handle it,
00:21:52.740 you know,
00:21:54.100 better than others,
00:21:55.220 I suppose Richard handled it,
00:21:57.160 but,
00:21:57.440 you know,
00:21:57.640 ultimately it was,
00:21:58.780 it was,
00:21:59.200 it was too much for him to bear.
00:22:00.880 And,
00:22:01.380 and one,
00:22:02.780 one,
00:22:03.660 one explanation that I was given by his,
00:22:07.200 you know,
00:22:07.740 that,
00:22:08.080 that came to me from his family was that the last name Bilkstow is,
00:22:12.520 is uncommon.
00:22:14.020 And it's,
00:22:14.800 it's,
00:22:15.280 and,
00:22:15.560 and so Richard was very worried that if,
00:22:18.580 if the mainstream media were to write about his lawsuit,
00:22:24.220 again,
00:22:25.300 dragging his name through the mud and smearing him once again,
00:22:29.220 he,
00:22:29.780 he truly felt that his family name,
00:22:32.060 that his family would,
00:22:33.360 would,
00:22:33.720 would suffer as a result.
00:22:35.580 And,
00:22:36.300 and,
00:22:36.900 and his family feels that this probably was one reason why he took that
00:22:42.080 ultimate step.
00:22:43.220 Oh my God.
00:22:44.520 It's like,
00:22:45.180 I just want to say to people,
00:22:47.440 I,
00:22:47.620 I talk about this all the time.
00:22:49.580 I really believe that reputation is a mirage.
00:22:52.720 It's a mirage.
00:22:54.320 All that matters is who you actually are and who,
00:22:57.380 and your relationships with the people,
00:22:59.420 as I say,
00:22:59.880 within 15 feet of you,
00:23:01.060 the people who really know you would know that this was a lie about
00:23:04.480 Richard.
00:23:04.980 He got spun up in the belief that reputation is real.
00:23:08.620 And that,
00:23:09.100 I mean,
00:23:09.300 sure it would have real life consequences for him potentially on the
00:23:11.880 employment front and so on.
00:23:13.340 But my God,
00:23:15.160 I wish I had could have spoken with him,
00:23:17.200 you know,
00:23:17.360 as somebody who's been through something similar,
00:23:19.220 I wish I could have spoken with him.
00:23:22.380 I hope that anybody out there suffering with this,
00:23:24.680 because this is being done to people in Canada and in the United States
00:23:27.900 and all over the world now should know that this is,
00:23:31.560 these are passing storms,
00:23:32.800 that these are dishonest brokers who do this to you and that people are catching
00:23:38.020 on,
00:23:38.600 maybe not as much in April,
00:23:39.780 2021,
00:23:40.540 but,
00:23:40.760 but by July,
00:23:41.620 you know,
00:23:42.020 this month,
00:23:42.900 yet last month,
00:23:44.000 that we've caught on to this cynical game that's being played.
00:23:48.340 But Richard sounds like he was a tender soul and,
00:23:51.480 and they got to him.
00:23:52.700 And that's the risk.
00:23:53.860 That's the risk that,
00:23:55.600 you know,
00:23:56.160 this school system ran in bringing in this person.
00:23:59.420 Right.
00:24:00.000 And she's still up and operating.
00:24:01.900 Is she not Rupa?
00:24:02.660 She's still out there like other,
00:24:04.280 this woman could get hired tomorrow by,
00:24:06.100 by a school in Canada or the United States.
00:24:09.440 Absolutely.
00:24:10.100 Well,
00:24:10.240 this Institute boasts a pretty big client list,
00:24:13.240 including the CDC,
00:24:14.820 H and M and a bunch of other,
00:24:16.600 you know,
00:24:17.640 government organizations here in Canada.
00:24:20.540 So they certainly may have made a lot of money from these DI training
00:24:25.020 sessions.
00:24:26.460 His death was,
00:24:28.100 you know,
00:24:28.640 so incredibly tragic and was completely avoidable.
00:24:32.000 And what's happened now is rather than being contrite and being
00:24:36.820 compassionate,
00:24:39.440 you know,
00:24:41.560 Kojo Institute and Kiki,
00:24:43.240 Ojo Thompson seemed to be doubling down by saying that,
00:24:46.860 that,
00:24:47.440 that right-wing elements are trying to weaponize his death and use it
00:24:52.840 against her,
00:24:53.780 that she's in fact,
00:24:55.140 the actual victim here.
00:24:57.380 And even though,
00:24:59.200 even though a man died by suicide after being abused at her training
00:25:03.240 session.
00:25:04.520 And,
00:25:05.160 you know,
00:25:05.540 this,
00:25:05.880 this,
00:25:06.280 this tragedy,
00:25:07.440 if I may say,
00:25:08.120 this is one instance,
00:25:09.040 which shows truly how Canada has drifted to such an extreme where dissent
00:25:15.540 and healthy debate are tarred as disinformation or,
00:25:19.280 or,
00:25:19.820 or malice.
00:25:21.180 And this is coming from the prime minister on down.
00:25:26.980 And I,
00:25:27.660 I feel that we truly are in this Orwellian situation.
00:25:32.300 And it's not at all clear how we go from here and how we get out of this
00:25:36.540 mess.
00:25:37.400 But it's a good warning to you guys,
00:25:40.280 our friends,
00:25:41.120 south of the border of exactly where you don't want to go.
00:25:45.500 Right.
00:25:46.000 But we are,
00:25:46.780 as I say,
00:25:47.560 and this is,
00:25:48.300 this already infiltrated my schools back in 2020.
00:25:53.080 So,
00:25:53.280 I mean,
00:25:53.500 I was living this firsthand.
00:25:55.060 This is already here.
00:25:56.160 If you think this is a problem,
00:25:57.140 only in Canada,
00:25:57.900 you haven't been paying attention.
00:25:58.840 I'll guarantee you there's some DEI coordinator who's trying to get into
00:26:02.520 the school of all American children right now with this similar
00:26:06.560 messaging.
00:26:07.100 I've seen it.
00:26:07.800 I've sat there and looked at the slides myself.
00:26:10.740 This is the presentation.
00:26:12.120 You're not allowed to challenge.
00:26:14.360 This is the statement in part to which you refer statement by the Kojo
00:26:18.400 Institute.
00:26:18.920 This incident is being weaponized to discredit and suppress the work of
00:26:23.460 everyone committed to diversity,
00:26:25.160 equity,
00:26:25.420 and inclusion.
00:26:26.300 While the coverage by right-wing media of this controversy is
00:26:29.300 disappointing and led to our organization and team members receiving
00:26:32.740 threats and vitriol online.
00:26:35.780 Hello,
00:26:36.140 welcome to Richard's world.
00:26:37.700 We will not be deterred from our work in building a better society for
00:26:41.840 everyone.
00:26:42.460 So lesson not learned,
00:26:43.880 not learned at all.
00:26:45.560 And has she,
00:26:46.320 has Kiki spoken to the free press at all?
00:26:49.080 Has she,
00:26:49.840 has there been any atonement or,
00:26:51.480 or responsibility taken?
00:26:53.680 No,
00:26:54.400 none,
00:26:54.780 none that I'm aware of publicly.
00:26:57.340 She's I think there was a protest actually a couple of weeks ago by a group
00:27:02.960 called parents of black kids,
00:27:05.820 something like that.
00:27:06.960 And,
00:27:07.680 and they,
00:27:08.620 they essentially said that she,
00:27:11.020 she's a victim and she's being tarred and by right-wing elements.
00:27:15.120 And,
00:27:15.920 and,
00:27:16.700 and this is disinformation,
00:27:18.700 misinformation,
00:27:19.120 all of the usual boilerplate stuff that,
00:27:22.060 that,
00:27:22.560 that,
00:27:22.740 that they would use to try to discredit what happened.
00:27:28.560 So unfortunately what's happening is that his name is,
00:27:31.700 you know,
00:27:32.120 after his death is being smeared.
00:27:33.780 This is exactly what Richard feared when he was alive,
00:27:37.740 that people would not,
00:27:39.800 people would,
00:27:40.400 would,
00:27:40.680 would distort what happened during the training session.
00:27:43.640 And this is why,
00:27:45.060 you know,
00:27:45.440 we,
00:27:45.700 we really wanted to,
00:27:47.940 to provide the audio recordings because it's one thing to read an excerpt
00:27:53.680 to text that is in the lawsuit.
00:27:55.900 And that itself makes for a,
00:27:58.720 you know,
00:27:58.960 horrific reading,
00:27:59.840 but it's quite another to actually listen to the audio recordings and
00:28:03.140 actually get a sense of the tone,
00:28:05.760 you know,
00:28:06.060 and her,
00:28:06.820 her laughter,
00:28:07.960 her laughing when,
00:28:09.860 when she,
00:28:10.460 when she calls him a weed and that when she refers to him,
00:28:13.580 it's a weed and that,
00:28:15.060 you know,
00:28:15.260 that her,
00:28:16.020 you know,
00:28:16.420 that how lucky she felt that an example just showed up and she
00:28:19.740 couldn't believe our luck.
00:28:21.260 And she mocked him and laughed at him.
00:28:23.600 Yeah.
00:28:24.080 She mocked him.
00:28:25.080 And,
00:28:25.500 and,
00:28:25.980 and,
00:28:26.140 and so the audio recordings,
00:28:27.680 you know,
00:28:28.220 are,
00:28:28.380 are chilling and they're powerful.
00:28:30.560 And I'm,
00:28:31.780 I,
00:28:32.000 I,
00:28:32.420 you know,
00:28:32.800 I,
00:28:33.060 I'm so glad that I was able to share that,
00:28:35.340 that we at the free press provided that embedded that in our story.
00:28:40.100 There are more audio recordings on my Twitter thread.
00:28:42.760 Uh,
00:28:43.400 um,
00:28:44.040 uh,
00:28:44.440 where I talk about the story that,
00:28:46.400 that are well worth listening to the,
00:28:49.020 here's the thing,
00:28:49.760 but it's not only like,
00:28:50.800 so you,
00:28:51.620 we talked about how,
00:28:52.720 yes,
00:28:52.980 everybody's different.
00:28:53.800 Everybody's built differently.
00:28:54.620 You know,
00:28:55.060 I mean,
00:28:55.300 I I've been through this washing machine and it's horrible,
00:28:57.480 but I'm okay.
00:28:59.180 Richard had a different experience,
00:29:00.620 but here's the thing that we really need to worry about.
00:29:02.760 It's being done to children.
00:29:04.480 It's being done to very vulnerable children who are already unsteady,
00:29:09.160 emotionally.
00:29:09.640 A lot of them,
00:29:10.580 you know,
00:29:10.740 they're going through puberty,
00:29:11.720 they're going through depression,
00:29:13.240 they're addicted to social media,
00:29:14.440 all the things that have been affecting depression,
00:29:16.140 COVID,
00:29:16.800 uh,
00:29:17.340 of teenage girls,
00:29:18.460 teenage boys.
00:29:19.480 And they're being subjected to these kinds of trainings.
00:29:21.940 I mean,
00:29:22.400 they're bringing these into schools and subjecting children to them.
00:29:27.280 And they're going through this.
00:29:28.360 So it's like,
00:29:29.000 good God,
00:29:30.640 think of what could happen.
00:29:31.720 Like parents need to stand up and say,
00:29:33.640 Kiki will not be coming to our school.
00:29:37.380 Kiki has a very checkered record.
00:29:40.520 Kiki's behavior toward a good man.
00:29:44.020 Uh,
00:29:45.000 it very definitely appears to have played a role in his decision to take his own life.
00:29:50.740 That's,
00:29:51.460 that's what happened here.
00:29:52.740 That's the allegation,
00:29:53.820 whether she wants to deal with it or not.
00:29:56.140 Um,
00:29:56.580 and the answer is she doesn't,
00:29:57.940 but like the,
00:29:58.560 the,
00:29:58.840 the fact that you guys are shining a light on this is what makes it so important.
00:30:01.820 Did Richard himself like say anything about it?
00:30:05.980 Did he leave a note?
00:30:06.860 Did he,
00:30:07.260 did he explain any of this?
00:30:10.040 Um,
00:30:10.620 um,
00:30:11.420 I'm told that he left a note,
00:30:12.760 but we don't know,
00:30:13.520 uh,
00:30:13.920 the,
00:30:14.440 the contents of the note,
00:30:15.540 uh,
00:30:15.880 that has not been,
00:30:16.860 uh,
00:30:17.260 public,
00:30:17.620 a release to the public or to anyone that I'm aware of.
00:30:21.340 Um,
00:30:21.840 but,
00:30:22.340 uh,
00:30:22.520 he certainly spoke about what happened to him,
00:30:24.860 to everyone that he met.
00:30:26.520 Uh,
00:30:26.920 he was seen as someone who really wanted to,
00:30:30.040 um,
00:30:30.300 you know,
00:30:30.500 this incident had affected him,
00:30:31.840 uh,
00:30:32.420 so much,
00:30:32.960 but,
00:30:33.320 you know,
00:30:33.460 even prior to that,
00:30:34.300 he was always looking to improve the education system,
00:30:36.440 the public education system here.
00:30:38.900 And,
00:30:39.440 but post this incident,
00:30:40.420 he,
00:30:40.960 you know,
00:30:41.380 was helping,
00:30:43.120 um,
00:30:43.600 you know,
00:30:43.820 he was,
00:30:44.120 he was doing more of that.
00:30:45.780 And,
00:30:46.420 uh,
00:30:46.640 he,
00:30:47.080 he would,
00:30:47.620 he would befriend people who were also is,
00:30:51.360 uh,
00:30:51.520 you know,
00:30:51.740 in a similar battle trying to improve the public education system.
00:30:55.540 And anyone that he met,
00:30:56.840 he spoke about the lawsuit,
00:30:58.080 he spoke about what happened.
00:30:59.360 And he would,
00:31:00.240 in fact,
00:31:00.520 play the audio recordings,
00:31:02.100 uh,
00:31:02.560 to,
00:31:03.200 um,
00:31:03.580 to,
00:31:04.080 uh,
00:31:04.420 to everybody that he met,
00:31:06.040 that he confided in.
00:31:07.980 Um,
00:31:08.440 and,
00:31:09.020 uh,
00:31:09.280 and,
00:31:09.600 you know,
00:31:09.880 it was,
00:31:10.480 um,
00:31:10.960 certainly not something that he kept to himself.
00:31:13.620 He,
00:31:14.360 uh,
00:31:14.680 but deep down inside,
00:31:15.960 I mean,
00:31:16.180 even though he had a lot of supporters,
00:31:17.940 um,
00:31:19.000 it's important to emphasize that not one of those 200 people actually got up and defended him.
00:31:24.360 Um,
00:31:24.800 and,
00:31:25.400 you know,
00:31:25.560 I sent out a call two weeks ago while writing the story.
00:31:29.100 Please,
00:31:29.620 if you were in that session with them,
00:31:31.500 uh,
00:31:31.800 please reach out to me.
00:31:32.860 I will protect your identity.
00:31:34.680 Um,
00:31:35.220 I just want to know what happened.
00:31:36.800 Can you corroborate what happened?
00:31:38.220 And not a single person to this day has reached out to me.
00:31:41.940 And,
00:31:42.480 you know,
00:31:42.600 and you said earlier,
00:31:45.380 you made a very good point about,
00:31:47.140 you know,
00:31:47.280 it's time for people to stand up and say,
00:31:50.000 that's it.
00:31:50.640 We,
00:31:50.860 we were not going to entertain the likes of Kojo Institute entering our schools and so on.
00:31:56.700 Uh,
00:31:57.100 and that's a very important point,
00:31:58.740 Megan,
00:31:58.920 because this is something that I've been thinking about.
00:32:00.900 People claim that they want things to change,
00:32:02.820 but ultimately they're cowardly and don't want to speak up because they're afraid of losing their jobs.
00:32:07.760 They're afraid of losing their pensions.
00:32:09.420 They're afraid of,
00:32:09.980 uh,
00:32:10.600 losing their reputation or their friends or being unfriended on Facebook.
00:32:16.100 Um,
00:32:16.620 but you know,
00:32:17.420 what ends up happening is that they end up perpetuating the system.
00:32:20.580 Uh,
00:32:20.900 the fact that not a single educator,
00:32:22.780 and these are people who are,
00:32:23.980 uh,
00:32:24.620 helping shape young minds.
00:32:26.100 They're supposed to be cultivating,
00:32:27.380 um,
00:32:28.060 courage,
00:32:28.680 uh,
00:32:29.140 in,
00:32:29.620 in our young people.
00:32:30.560 They're supposed to be cultivating critical thinking in our young people.
00:32:33.760 Not a single one of those people,
00:32:35.600 uh,
00:32:36.200 spoke publicly in defense of,
00:32:37.760 uh,
00:32:38.320 Richard built still either.
00:32:39.960 They're true believers or they're just too afraid to speak up.
00:32:42.560 And they're very cowardly.
00:32:44.220 The,
00:32:44.700 I understand in part why they didn't do it in the moment because of her messaging.
00:32:48.840 Her messaging was basically,
00:32:50.180 if you say anything,
00:32:51.260 you're on the wrong side,
00:32:52.380 you're a racist.
00:32:52.880 And so I can see a bunch of progressive Canadians sitting up there saying,
00:32:56.060 well,
00:32:56.160 I don't want to,
00:32:56.840 uh,
00:32:57.260 then I look what she's doing to Richard.
00:32:58.980 I don't want to be on the receiving,
00:33:00.260 but there's no excuse for,
00:33:01.960 and that's not an excuse.
00:33:02.780 I just,
00:33:03.220 I get why they didn't do it in the moment,
00:33:05.060 but now to not speak out now to not come forward and say,
00:33:08.340 I regret not defending Richard.
00:33:10.200 I regret seating the conversation to this nutcase who is up there hurting people
00:33:16.520 with a completely racist,
00:33:18.760 wrongheaded message.
00:33:20.280 Here's one other thing she said that speaks to the sort of the shaming of people with a,
00:33:26.100 with a divergent viewpoint,
00:33:27.420 um,
00:33:28.640 from one of the sessions.
00:33:29.600 This is from after the first offense and exchange she had with Richard,
00:33:33.380 I think in that third session,
00:33:35.080 uh,
00:33:35.760 sought for.
00:33:37.480 What is not your personal experience?
00:33:39.560 Remember as white people,
00:33:41.440 there's a whole bunch going on that isn't your personal experience.
00:33:44.640 It will never be.
00:33:45.580 It will,
00:33:45.940 you will never know it to be.
00:33:47.380 So you will never know it to be.
00:33:48.920 So,
00:33:49.320 but so your job in this work as white people is to believe.
00:33:55.240 And,
00:33:55.480 and,
00:33:55.760 and if,
00:33:56.340 and if what you want is clarification,
00:33:58.020 ask for that.
00:33:59.760 Truly in truth,
00:34:00.900 not,
00:34:01.160 not in,
00:34:01.820 not with the,
00:34:02.380 with the foot in the,
00:34:03.780 yeah,
00:34:03.940 but I'm going to tell you how you're wrong.
00:34:05.440 It's the help me understand further,
00:34:07.820 please,
00:34:08.140 because I actually don't know.
00:34:09.840 Um,
00:34:10.280 and so I think that one has to really question a number of things.
00:34:14.480 Um,
00:34:15.280 I think this is a profound and,
00:34:17.340 and appropriate teachable moment.
00:34:20.360 Your job is to believe period.
00:34:24.040 She has the,
00:34:25.520 she has cornered the market on truth because of her melanin.
00:34:28.760 Absolutely.
00:34:31.960 And,
00:34:32.420 uh,
00:34:32.700 what's really hard to believe,
00:34:34.300 uh,
00:34:34.720 is that she herself used to be a teacher at one point,
00:34:37.820 uh,
00:34:38.720 and imagine imparting this kind of,
00:34:40.760 uh,
00:34:41.420 um,
00:34:41.900 uh,
00:34:42.160 you know,
00:34:42.560 education,
00:34:43.180 uh,
00:34:44.320 uh,
00:34:45.240 to your students.
00:34:46.060 Uh,
00:34:46.440 it truly is quite disturbing.
00:34:48.600 Uh,
00:34:49.020 you know,
00:34:49.420 Richard's,
00:34:50.120 Richard's fault,
00:34:51.020 uh,
00:34:51.640 if,
00:34:52.040 you know,
00:34:52.460 was that,
00:34:52.940 you know,
00:34:53.280 he was,
00:34:53.840 he was,
00:34:54.420 um,
00:34:55.340 a gay man.
00:34:56.720 He was white and he was pushing against this claim,
00:35:00.480 uh,
00:35:01.480 not aggressively,
00:35:02.660 very politely.
00:35:04.520 And,
00:35:05.060 uh,
00:35:05.540 and,
00:35:05.960 and that's what got him into trouble.
00:35:08.160 And that just is just tragic.
00:35:12.680 Well,
00:35:13.200 Kiki,
00:35:13.660 I do not believe madam,
00:35:15.440 wherever you may be.
00:35:16.380 I do not believe.
00:35:17.780 I do not believe you.
00:35:18.980 I do not believe that you spoke truth and I will fight you.
00:35:22.980 If you come within 10 feet of any organization that my children or my friends,
00:35:29.540 or I am a part of,
00:35:30.580 and I recommend everyone listening to me do the same.
00:35:34.180 You should pay attention.
00:35:35.400 Kojo Institute.
00:35:36.220 And it's not just Kojo,
00:35:37.600 Kojo,
00:35:38.120 not at all.
00:35:39.040 That was not the Institute that came to my schools.
00:35:41.360 Uh,
00:35:41.680 but the ones that were at my schools,
00:35:42.880 one was the DEI head and the other one at our girls school.
00:35:45.740 I'm trying to remember the name.
00:35:46.580 It was very,
00:35:47.140 very,
00:35:47.520 Oh God,
00:35:48.140 it's Pollyanna.
00:35:49.600 Pollyanna was the,
00:35:50.520 um,
00:35:51.460 sort of the approach on the DEI there.
00:35:54.100 And they brought in another group to do DEI training who said the same kind of stuff.
00:35:58.420 So you have to stay vigilant on it.
00:36:00.460 Last question though,
00:36:01.220 Rupa,
00:36:01.360 I understand there was some investigation ordered by the education minister there.
00:36:08.140 I mean,
00:36:08.320 will there be any accountability here?
00:36:12.380 Uh,
00:36:13.040 I hope so.
00:36:14.020 I certainly hope so.
00:36:14.880 the school board itself has,
00:36:16.500 uh,
00:36:17.000 announced,
00:36:17.800 uh,
00:36:18.160 announced a couple of weeks ago that they were going to be,
00:36:20.240 uh,
00:36:20.780 launching an investigation into what happened at the DEI session.
00:36:24.500 Uh,
00:36:25.060 the minister,
00:36:25.860 minister of education in the province where I live has announced,
00:36:29.280 uh,
00:36:29.840 and where,
00:36:30.540 where all of this happened has announced,
00:36:32.640 uh,
00:36:33.000 an investigation as well.
00:36:34.260 I,
00:36:35.040 I truly hope that,
00:36:36.300 uh,
00:36:36.720 we,
00:36:37.080 we get to the bottom of this and,
00:36:38.960 and,
00:36:39.120 and really try to do justice by Richard.
00:36:42.420 Um,
00:36:42.920 you know,
00:36:43.400 because what happened to him was completely avoidable.
00:36:48.140 It was absolutely tragic.
00:36:49.640 It destroyed,
00:36:50.680 uh,
00:36:51.220 you know,
00:36:51.580 what was done to him,
00:36:52.540 not what happened to him,
00:36:53.520 what was done to him and it destroyed his life.
00:36:56.600 Um,
00:36:57.080 uh,
00:36:57.360 and,
00:36:57.800 you know,
00:36:58.220 and now you have,
00:36:59.500 um,
00:37:00.220 uh,
00:37:00.820 people,
00:37:02.860 friends of Kojo,
00:37:03.840 um,
00:37:04.540 already smearing him after his death and claiming that the DEI trainer is the
00:37:09.480 actual victim.
00:37:11.040 It's an upside down world.
00:37:13.380 It makes me want to go to one of these trainings.
00:37:15.380 I could have some fun with this woman.
00:37:16.900 I really,
00:37:17.300 I would love to get in her face.
00:37:18.740 I would,
00:37:19.100 I'd love to sit there saying you're full of shit.
00:37:21.600 You've heard a lot of people.
00:37:22.580 This is a bunch of nonsense.
00:37:24.080 These are racist lies.
00:37:25.100 You're a racist Kiki.
00:37:26.860 I mean,
00:37:27.120 like if you are forced to be subjected to this by your company or your
00:37:30.580 school or your kid is,
00:37:32.260 and you can't manage to pull them,
00:37:34.080 then arm them with facts,
00:37:36.140 arm them with actual comebacks to the nonsense that this woman spews.
00:37:41.600 And I think more and more,
00:37:43.460 uh,
00:37:44.080 people see that those of us who challenge this nonsense are in the right
00:37:48.380 black,
00:37:49.120 white,
00:37:49.400 whatever.
00:37:49.920 I mean,
00:37:50.320 more and more people at ours,
00:37:51.620 at our school,
00:37:52.980 our boy's school in New York,
00:37:54.500 when we sort of found a,
00:37:55.560 formed an underground group to push back on this,
00:37:57.780 on this nonsense.
00:37:58.700 Some of the most outspoken people about it were black families who are like,
00:38:02.660 this is bullshit.
00:38:03.820 We,
00:38:04.100 we disagree with all of this.
00:38:05.640 And they were completely aligned with all of us on the harm that was being
00:38:10.360 done with,
00:38:10.780 with this messaging.
00:38:11.600 But you don't know if you sit there in silence with your tail between your
00:38:15.260 legs.
00:38:15.900 Thank you for calling attention to this.
00:38:17.440 Love the free press.
00:38:18.940 Everyone can check it out at the FP.com.
00:38:21.820 More and more great journalism there.
00:38:23.500 Uh,
00:38:23.700 thank you all the best.
00:38:24.400 Come back anytime.
00:38:25.000 Thank you.
00:38:26.040 Thank you,
00:38:26.360 Megan.
00:38:26.940 And,
00:38:27.360 uh,
00:38:27.580 hope all of you pay attention and have a wonderful weekend.
00:38:33.800 Thanks for listening to the Megan Kelly show.
00:38:35.680 No BS,
00:38:36.780 no agenda and no fear.