After College Ditches A Black DEI Faculty Director For Going Against the Woke Narrative, Legal Threats Ensue – I Was ‘the Wrong Kind of Black’

Silicon Valley is once more in the news but not just over the fallout of the Silicon Valley Bank scandal but over the firing of an unorthodox black DEI officer from a community college according to Just The News. De Anza College declined to renew the contract of Dr. Tabia Lee, “a tenure-track faculty director of…[their] Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education”, due to what she claims is because she wanted a tolerant multi-faceted approach to anti-racism work that challenged critical social justice orthodoxies.

She commented in a statement on the Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR)’s website “they [the college] said they wanted a black person to do this job. Apparently, I am the wrong kind of black.” The press release further noted that she was “accused of ‘whitesplaining’ as she tried to set a meeting agenda, and she was told that she was perpetuating “white supremacy” by valuing punctuality & engaging in strategic planning.”

Dr. Lee further commented that “Through my work, I try to create a place of acceptance for varying points of view, but clearly, they didn’t find that acceptable…As a result, my programs and seminars were all undermined and blocked from the college calendar; I was excluded from the Equity Action Council and I was marginalized by my own Dean—the one from whom I expected the most support.”

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Dr. Lee said “What I seek to do is bring together people of diverse and divergent perspectives and to identify points of commonality between those so we can best serve our students. As I began to do this there was a severe backlash from some of the extremists on the campus, who identify as woke and as aligned with critical social justice ideology and they attacked me viciously.” She later added that “[f]or not toeing the line of absolute fidelity to a critical social justice ideology, I was made a pariah.”

FAIR is an anti-critical race theory organization that is “dedicated to advancing civil rights and liberties for all Americans, and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity.” The organization refers to its stance as being pro-human.

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FAIR also posted a tweet quoting Dr. Lee saying “When I began to question [certain DEI initiatives in my workplace]…FAIR was instrumental in protecting me so that I could continue to…serve our California community colleges and keep them as safe spaces for academic freedom & freedom of expression.”

"When I began to question [certain DEI initiatives in my workplace]…FAIR was instrumental in protecting me so that I could continue to…serve our California community colleges and keep them as safe spaces for academic freedom & freedom of expression."

– Tabia Lee pic.twitter.com/xmQNbZn7Je

— Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) (@fairforall_org) January 15, 2023

As Just The News noted “[n]either the job description nor the hiring process mentioned “working only under certain ideological frameworks for anti-racism,” she [Dr. Lee] wrote in an email. “I have not ruled out a lawsuit.” FAIR staff attorney Leigh Ann O’Neill said Lee would have a “very strong” case.”

When Dr. Lee tried to organize a month-long “Jewish Inclusion and Anti-Semitism” summit she noted that others in De Anza’s Equity Action Council resisted this proposal. Dr. Lee noted that video testimonials by Jewish students focused on presenting an anti-Semitism resolution to the student government were shouted down. Dr. Lee was told that “Jewish people were not marginalized because they are White Oppressors.”

Dr. Lee also refused to use woke terms like Latinx and Filipinx and often pushed back and questioned attempts to push woke ideology in the education system. She also rejected the idea that questions during a Zoom session with Black Lives Matter’s cofounder Alice Garza should be screened.

De Anza College’s non-renewal letter cited her “[p]ersistent inability to demonstrate cooperation in working with colleagues and staff”, her “[u]nwillingness to accept constructive criticism” from the same, and there was “no expectation on part of the Tenure Review Committee…that improvements…can ever be achieved” for their decision.