Peel teacher says he was forced to attend DEI training that included attacks on white people

A teacher at the PDSB said that he found the 'anti-racist' session, which included teachings from critical race theory (CRT), to be 'toxic,' and that they did not contribute to educational goals. 

  • By Rebel News
  • August 01, 2023
  • News
Peel teacher says he was forced to attend DEI training that included attacks on white people
Remove Ads

Peel District School Board (PDSB) staff were forced to attend a 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion' workshop that contained attacks on white people and claimed that merit and objectivity are related to whiteness, according to a report from True North. 

A teacher at the PDSB told the outlet that he found the 'anti-racist' session, which included teachings from critical race theory (CRT), to be "toxic," and that they did not contribute to educational goals. 

The teacher, who was quoted anonymously, told True North that the session took place in September 2020 and was considered part of mandatory professional development. The session followed a summer of racial tensions across North America following the killing of George Floyd and ensuing Black Lives Matter protests.

The teacher provided an audio recording of the session, which featured four black PDSB employees and was led by vice-principal Melissa Wilson. In the recording, Wilson states, “We were all born into a racist society.”

“If you identify as white, or people identify you as white in our society, then you are more likely to be seen as normal, pleasant, acceptable and really not pretentious at all,” said Wilson. Meanwhile black people, according to the vice-principal, are “often seen as not belonging, as suspicious, as more criminal, and needing to be controlled more.”

Wilson went on to claim that the PDSB has a “culture of whiteness” and that it is problematic that 80% of teachers at the school board are white. “The expected behaviour for us as professionals is all really based on the perspectives and expectations of white people, who are the overwhelming majority,” she said. 

The PDSB teacher said the session was divisive. “There’s nothing wrong if what it is is about combating racism, and wanting all of us to have equality of opportunity and even to lift disadvantaged groups.” He took issue with the idea “that people are disadvantaged solely on the basis of skin colour,” and assuming “that people based on the colour of their skin are oppressors.”

Though there are signs that the diversity industry is crashing, similar trainings still take place across the country. 

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce ordered a review of all DEI school trainings last month, after the suicide of a former Toronto school principal who was allegedly bullied in the workplace following attendance of several DEI sessions. 

Prior to his death, Richard Bilkszto had filed a lawsuit alleging that he was labelled a white supremacist by a DEI instructor, after challenging the claim that Canada is a far more racist country than the United States.

Lecce told the Toronto Sun that the matter is “serious” and “disturbing,” as “no staff member should ever be subject to harassment while in their place of work.”

Bilkszto's lawyer, Lisa Bildy, concurred, saying TDSB needs to learn from this situation. “Part of Richard's legacy should be that we stop walking on eggshells and seriously examine the purpose, process, and value of this type of DEI training.”

Education Ontario Canada Social Justice Warriors Critical race theory news Wokeness
Remove Ads
Remove Ads

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.

Subscribe via RSS
Remove Ads

Don't Get Censored

Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.