The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, a "think tank" founded by race-hustling impresario Ibram X. Kendi, has fired at least a third of its staff.

While the layoffs are being framed as "restructuring" of the "think tank" from one based on salaried leftists to the fellowship model that relies on scholars who are already employed, allegations are swirling that the Center for Antiracist Research has a toxic...might we even say oppressive...work environment where employees are overworked (I really have no idea what that would look like in this case) and abused.

'There are a number of ways it got to this point, it started very early on when the university decided to create a center that rested in the hands of one human being, an individual given millions of dollars and so much authority,' Spencer Piston, faculty lead of the center's policy office told the publication.

Former assistant director of narrative at the center, Saida Grundy, said the center lacked structure and the culture was 'exploitative' as she was asked to work unreasonable hours. 

'It became very clear after I started that this was exploitative and other faculty experienced the same and worse,' she told the outlet.

Wait..."director of narrative?" This sounds like a position more suited for a propaganda outlet than an academic enterprise. 

Kendi first burst upon the scene with his book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, becoming the youngest author to win the National Book Award for Nonfiction. But no matter your talent, it doesn't matter without timing. Kendi's How to Be an Antiracist was fresh off the presses when the George Floyd Memorial Riots broke out during the Summer of 2020. This catapulted Kendi to the front rank of critical race theorists, diversity, inclusion, and equity apostles, and general race hustlers. You could almost hear Jesse Jackson grinding his teeth. Since that time, Kendi's profile has soared, and his anti-White bigotry — he endorses affirmative discrimination against Whites as a way to fight racism — disguised as "antiracism" became very profitable.

That same VA school district spent $48K on an “equity based bias” training, paid Ibram Kendi $20K for a “virtual lecture,” $49.5K for an “anti-bias community engagement policy,” and $2.4 MILLION for a 5-year “social and emotional screening.”

They can afford public transparency. https://t.co/Hv9ltuMD3X

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 30, 2023

Worse than the overt grift, his book is used as instructional material in places where it shouldn't be.

NEW: Seattle’s promotional exams for firefighters now test candidates on Ibram Kendi, Robin DiAngelo, and “Memoirs of a Transgender Firefighter,” among other woke texts.

The Lieutenant exam tests ~800 pages of material unrelated to firefighting tactics.🧵https://t.co/Ugp4gtZLR7

— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) May 25, 2023

TUCKER: Ibram Kendi's (Henry Rogers) solution to racism is "anti-racist discrimination." In other words, to be racist. This is the book Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday recommended our military personnel read. pic.twitter.com/N8QXLwpTVG

— August Takala (@RudyTakala) June 18, 2021

I suspect more is going on here than a mere restructuring. The whole diversity, inclusion, and equity apparatus is dying in business and academia; see here and here. The premise that unless outcomes are equal, then the system is patently stupid and an excuse for a racial spoils system. In workplaces that depend upon teamwork, the DEI garbage destroys the trust needed for mission accomplishment, particularly in the military. 

Going from paid researchers, including a "director of narrative," to paying stipends to fully employed professors is clearly a cost-cutting move. This means donations have dried up, and whatever cash bankrolled this program has been burned through. Staff at the program talking out of school about the Grand High Poohbah of Antiracism shows that no one fears their career prospects will be damaged.

Hopefully, this is a sign that at least part of American society and culture is in the process of healing.