Thank you for this piece. I met Richard half a dozen times online and he was everything you say. I was also a lifetime tdsb teacher so his story hit me hard. I believe he is in a line of unsung Canadian heroes.
I did not know Richard but I know the humiliation that revenge culture bestows. I was a principal who had worked 17 exemplary years for Seattle Schools. In 2020, due to similar circumstances, I lost my career, livelihood, and retirement plan, along with my legacy, reputation, and anonymity. I was exposed to death threats, being labeled, public humiliation in front of my wife and children and feeling like there was no way out. Now, 5 years later, I have been fully exonerated by multiple investigations that dismissed the claims but, unfortunately, due to social media, it's a life sentence and I just wish it would all end. Richard is a stark reminder of the dangers of revenge culture. My deepest condolences to his friends and family.
Beautiful essay Collin. I’m directing a play about a college dance teacher who is undone by the campus DEI initiative. Recently the producer said to me, “Is woke really that bad?” People either seem to be in denial of what’s going on or they support it. I just sent him your article. I’m looking forward to your book.
I am a community college professor who evidently has so much in common with Richard that it's eerie. I'm gay, we were the same age in 2023 (60) and that spring, we were both targeted for cancellation by our respective institutions for challenging DEI and the insistence that the ideology cannot be questioned. I was suspended by my college and removed from my classes two weeks before the end of the spring semester because of my alleged sexual harassment of a transgender staff member. (I brought candy bars to a college event that seemed to reinforce a gender binary.) I had to endure two Title IX investigations, a hearing and eight months suspension before I was eventually cleared. Although I am back at work now, my reputation was trashed, my relationship with many colleagues destroyed and I am still relegated to the margins of polite academic society. I can fully empathize with the grief, loss, anxiety and fear that he was subjected to just because he dared to stand up.
Thanks for the reminder about Richard and the abhorrent treatment he received from the TDSB. While I wasn't aware of Richard's predicament as it happened, I greatly sympathize with him and his family after the fact. I, too, had my career ruined by a woke mob at a sizeable Canadian university. When all was said and done, I became untouchable in a career field that I dearly loved. The pressure the whole ordeal put on my family and what it did to my mental health was almost too much to bear.
But I'm still here, and I'm glad to see people are fighting the good fight to push back against this madness, because that is what it is.
Best of luck with your book. I suspect it will be widely read and will be a lasting testament to Richard's courage. If there were any justice in this world and if lunatics didn't run the TDSB, a school would be named in Richard's honour. We used to do this in Canada for heroes like Richard.
Young people would do well to understand the stand this dedicated education professional took against a wholly fictional ideological movement and a deeply unprincipled school board led by weak and resentful people.
Kike Ojo-Thompson. Let's say the name of the racist bitch who gleefully tortured him and wouldn't leave him alone. Let us also name the Toronto District School Board for aiding and abetting the bullying.
Thanks Colin. Every now and then there is a FAIR article that makes following FAIR worthwhile, and this is one of them. How the US (in particular, but also all other countries that recognize Freedom of Speech) can square that freedom with their Cancel Culture beats me. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia
He was an extraordinarily kind and good man. His loss will not be forgotten.
I never met Richard. I have heard much about him. His death was a great loss to all of us.
Excellent article. I can’t wait to read your book. Thank you for your work in opposing cancel culture
Thank you for this piece. I met Richard half a dozen times online and he was everything you say. I was also a lifetime tdsb teacher so his story hit me hard. I believe he is in a line of unsung Canadian heroes.
I did not know Richard but I know the humiliation that revenge culture bestows. I was a principal who had worked 17 exemplary years for Seattle Schools. In 2020, due to similar circumstances, I lost my career, livelihood, and retirement plan, along with my legacy, reputation, and anonymity. I was exposed to death threats, being labeled, public humiliation in front of my wife and children and feeling like there was no way out. Now, 5 years later, I have been fully exonerated by multiple investigations that dismissed the claims but, unfortunately, due to social media, it's a life sentence and I just wish it would all end. Richard is a stark reminder of the dangers of revenge culture. My deepest condolences to his friends and family.
Beautiful essay Collin. I’m directing a play about a college dance teacher who is undone by the campus DEI initiative. Recently the producer said to me, “Is woke really that bad?” People either seem to be in denial of what’s going on or they support it. I just sent him your article. I’m looking forward to your book.
Heartbreaking.
I am a community college professor who evidently has so much in common with Richard that it's eerie. I'm gay, we were the same age in 2023 (60) and that spring, we were both targeted for cancellation by our respective institutions for challenging DEI and the insistence that the ideology cannot be questioned. I was suspended by my college and removed from my classes two weeks before the end of the spring semester because of my alleged sexual harassment of a transgender staff member. (I brought candy bars to a college event that seemed to reinforce a gender binary.) I had to endure two Title IX investigations, a hearing and eight months suspension before I was eventually cleared. Although I am back at work now, my reputation was trashed, my relationship with many colleagues destroyed and I am still relegated to the margins of polite academic society. I can fully empathize with the grief, loss, anxiety and fear that he was subjected to just because he dared to stand up.
RIP Fellow Warrior!
Thank you Mr. May and Fair for All for this sensitive and resonant piece. I wrote my own reaction to the tragic loss of Mr. Bilkszto: https://open.substack.com/pub/jamesbeaman/p/i-am-richard-bilkszto?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1vm74d
Thanks for the reminder about Richard and the abhorrent treatment he received from the TDSB. While I wasn't aware of Richard's predicament as it happened, I greatly sympathize with him and his family after the fact. I, too, had my career ruined by a woke mob at a sizeable Canadian university. When all was said and done, I became untouchable in a career field that I dearly loved. The pressure the whole ordeal put on my family and what it did to my mental health was almost too much to bear.
But I'm still here, and I'm glad to see people are fighting the good fight to push back against this madness, because that is what it is.
Best of luck with your book. I suspect it will be widely read and will be a lasting testament to Richard's courage. If there were any justice in this world and if lunatics didn't run the TDSB, a school would be named in Richard's honour. We used to do this in Canada for heroes like Richard.
Young people would do well to understand the stand this dedicated education professional took against a wholly fictional ideological movement and a deeply unprincipled school board led by weak and resentful people.
Shame on the TDSB. Shame.
The TDSB needs to be totally dismantled and the administrators held accountable. These days their agenda would make Goebels blush.
Kike Ojo-Thompson. Let's say the name of the racist bitch who gleefully tortured him and wouldn't leave him alone. Let us also name the Toronto District School Board for aiding and abetting the bullying.
Colin,
This was a beautifully written piece which honored Richard’s story and legacy of courage to stand up to the self-righteous mob.
Thank you to FAIR for sharing Richard’s poignant and important story.
I never met Richard, but he deserved a better end than getting hounded off this mortal coil!
Thanks Colin. Every now and then there is a FAIR article that makes following FAIR worthwhile, and this is one of them. How the US (in particular, but also all other countries that recognize Freedom of Speech) can square that freedom with their Cancel Culture beats me. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia
Thanks for the this. The behavior of the TDSB and its contractors was disgusting.