The Ramona Bessinger story is beginning to remind me of the Gibson’s Bakery story.
A massive bullying educational institution capitulating to and becoming part of a student and administrative mob trying to destroy a career over claimed (but not real) racial sleights, resulting in a defamation lawsuit. Then it was Oberlin College, now it’s the Providence School District. Then it was David and “Grandpa” Gibson, now it’s Ramona Bessinger.
The Gibson’s Bakery case ended up with an unapologetic institution owing tens of millions of dollars and capturing the ire of the nation. There was no adult in the room at Oberlin College when it came to Gibson’s Bakery. There doesn’t appear to be an adult in the room at the Providence Schools when it comes to Ramona Bessinger. Providence Schools appear to be acting stupidly.
We covered the Gibson’s Bakery case since the inception of the student protests, through the legal wrangling, through the verdicts, appeals, and finally payments. It took almost six years in total. My gut tells me it’s deja vu all over again, but we’re in the early innings.
We have covered Bessinger’s story from inception. In July 2021, then a middle school teacher, Bessinger blew the whistle at Legal Insurrection on a new radicalized and racialized curriculum that was creating racial tension in school, including turning students and staff against her because she is white: