DPI’s lame-duck Team Truitt settles with fired CRT / DEI critic

Back in 2022, David Phillips had been an accomplished instructor at The North Carolina Governor’s School – which falls under the domain of The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.  DPI is currently headed by Catherine Truitt, who lost in March’s GOP primary.

For those who don’t know,  The Governor’s School – like much of public education in this state – is choking on the Marxist diktats of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).   Phillips, himself, raised questions about the two radical philosophies.   (Much of what he raised about Governor’s School can be found in every public education institution in our state.)

Anyway, the Marxist majority got tired of hearing Phillips and tossed him out the door — in spite of his distinguished record and career.  Truitt, instead of even pretending to be a good conservative and giving Phillips the benefit of the doubt or some probable cause,  joined the lynch mob running Phillips out of town.

Instead of taking this lying down, Phillips lawyered up.  This week, just a month after Truitt’s primary election loss, it was announced that Truitt and DPI were settling with Phillips.  Of course, terms of the settlement are not public.

For far too long, right-thinking people and their leaders have sat tight while radicals have tightened their grip on public education and our vulnerable kids.  DEI and CRT have played a big role in cases such as the ‘Silent Sam’ fracas a few years back in Chapel Hill, and well as in the chaos you currently see in Chapel Hill and on campuses across the country.

It’s almost comical to see how drive-bys, like this one, downplay conservative concerns about DEI and CRT:

[…] Critical race theory is an academic theory that examines the role race plays in society, particularly in how laws are applied to different groups. It’s typically only studied in certain graduate school or law school courses, although some critics have used it as short-hand to refer to any discussion of race at any level of schooling. […] 

DEI and CRT are integrated into just about every aspect of public education.  (It’s even found quite a bit in government agencies and large corporations.)

Both preach that white men have victimized others who are neither white nor male and that reparations need to be made.  In the classroom, our Founding Fathers are dismissed as horrid bigots. Capitalism is crapped upon.  On the HR side, “diversity officers” – akin to the Soviet KGB’s Cold War-era political officers – are hired. Retiring white employees get replaced with sufficiently-marxist women-of-color. (And *good luck* to any white and / or male folks applying for a job.)

It’s an election year.  UNC leaders — including a few who are running for high office – are championing policies to wipe DEI from state-run campuses.  That’s a great start.  But the legislature and its veto-proof ‘conservative majority’ need to get involved and expand the effort to include community colleges, K-12 schools, and state agencies.

Congratulations to Mr. Phillips.  Let’s hope DPI’s settlement with him is a sign of better things to come.