The New Democrat Party’s Matthew Green issued his full support for discrediting White or light skinned individuals on account of their skin tone through “anti-racism” training sessions — something he claims is necessary to fight anti-black racism.
Green’s declaration comes after an Ontario principal, Richard Bilkszto, took his own life amid a lawsuit with his school board, after Bilkszto was allegedly shamed and berated during a hostile diversity training session.
“Every single anti-racist and equity worker that is doing this work is effective in dismantling white supremacy,” Green said to the crowd at Hamilton’s City Hall.
Green admitted principal Bilkszto’s suicide was a tragedy, and claimed that the “far right media” is exploiting the story to push back against so-called “anti-racism” training that takes place in school boards and institutions.
Green even singled out Kike Ojo-Thompson of the KOJO Institute, who was the trainer during the controversial session involving Bilkszto. Ojo-Thompson denies the allegations against her — and nothing has been settled in court.
But shocking audio recordings uncovered by journalist Rupa Subramanya show that, in the training sessions, Ojo-Thompson insinuated that Bilkszto’s opinion didn’t have as much weight because he had white skin.
Ojo-Thompson also appears to insinuate that his disagreeing with her about Canada’s level of racism was a form of “resistance,” which, she claimed, is a product of white supremacy.
Ojo-Thompson also referred to her handling of the disagreement, and assessment of it afterwards with the group, as to having used a weed whacker.
Since Bilkszto’s suicide, Ontario’s education minister, Stephen Lecce, called for an investigation into the incident, which Ojo-Thompson said she welcomes.
NDP not sending their best
Green wasn’t the only Hamilton NDP member in support of racial discrimination.
Hamilton Centre’s MPP, Sarah Jama, also defended Ojo-Thompson’s style of training, where Ojo-Thompson can be heard asking Bilkszto at one point if “you and your whiteness think that you can tell me what’s really going on to black people? Is that what you’re doing? Because I think that’s what you’re doing.”
Jama, as it happens, recently attended an “abolish the police” rally, months after being decried for being an anti-Semite by a Jewish organization.
Far-left done with MLK
Green and Jama’s support for using racial prejudice during EDI trainings comes after a great deal of backlash online and in the media against Ojo-Thompson’s training session, including international media coverage.
Ojo-Thompson’s own words during the sessions signal a divergence from Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of judging individuals not by the colour of their skin, but on the content of their character.
“That’s why I say, says who?” she said in her session, when talking about “the issue of proximity.”
She added, “Delegitimizing lived experience and expertise is a further act of white supremacy in action and absolutely a white supremacist resistance tactic.”
Remarkably, Matthew Green didn’t just express support for Ojo-Thompson’s style of training, but he lauded it, saying it is necessary to fight anti-black racism.
Last year, GiveSendGo CFO Jacob Wells said he was shocked by misinformation spread by the NDP’s Green, after Green falsely stated that a police officer was killed by January 6 protesters, and called Kyle Rittenhouse a “serial killer” after he had been found innocent.
August 11 Update: Ojo-Thompson’s Kojo Institute released a July 31 statement claiming “The allegations made against me and KOJO Institute within Mr. Bilkszto’s lawsuit against the Toronto District School Board are false, and we are not a party to the lawsuit.” This statement came before the audio was first uncovered by Subramanya.
