Dr. Tabia Lee, a black woman with years of experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, was fired from her position as faculty director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, California, after two years on the job.

Dr. Lee believes that she was fired because her approach to social justice conflicted with the unofficial but strictly enforced ideological orthodoxy of critical social justice at the college. She encountered obstruction from colleagues and supervisors who accused her of "whitespeaking," "whitesplaining," and reinforcing "white supremacy." Lee attempted to foster dialogue and shared understanding with her colleagues, but ultimately she was unable to reconcile her approach with the dominant ideology of the institution.