Howard Levitt: Employee's DEI experience a cautionary tale for companies on perils of wokeism

financialpost.com:

Two related stories hit my desk this week, both about the perils of wokeism and increasing backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

The first, from the Wall Street Journal, chronicled the fall of chief diversity officers, job listings for which plummeted 75 per cent in the United States in the past year. As the article noted: “… DEI jobs were put in the crosshairs after many companies started re-examining their executive ranks during the tech sector’s shake out last fall. DEI work has also become a political target.”

In tougher times, employers cannot afford lavish expenditures on social causes, and their shareholders are demanding they refocus on the bottom line rather than on ideological trysts. As for DEI as a political target, legislation such as Florida’s Stop Woke Act is increasing south of the border, finding tremendous mainstream popularity since people have simply had enough.

The second story provides a reason, closer to home, why DEI is finally encountering a massive backlash. Adeptly explained by the National Post’s Jamie Sarkonak, it involves Richard Bilkszto, a longtime school principal and a founder of the Toronto chapter of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), dedicated to civil rights and anti-discrimination. In other words, palpably not a racist.

A principal for 24 years, he was allegedly bullied and harassed at a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) DEI training session when he questioned trainer Kike Ojo-Thompson’s claim that Canada was even more racist than the U.S., based on his personal experience as a principal in a Buffalo school. Ojo-Thompson also said Canada was a “bastion of white supremacy and colonialism,” and that capitalism and the patriarchy are killing