An open letter to IPUMS / ISRDI / EdShare Project ...

On April 2nd of 2025 I was laid off from my job as an Application Developer at the Institute for Social Research and Data Innovation ... for being "unstable" and "unprofessional".

The following is what I have to say to that:

This really does relate to the EdShare Project, because I'm truly an outlier ... brown male adopted by white suburban upper-middle class people, raised in an Evangelical Christian church, educated by one of the best schools in the state of Minnesota, and separated from child for nearly two-decades; who has never had stable housing, since birth literally, or stable employment. More on that below because ... SCIENCE!

While as most recently and clearly seen in the Lindsey Clancy trial – whiteness is entirely allergic to accountability, and will always find a way to excuse itself ... what is the outcome of such negligence?

Dear Alex McWhinnie,

You denied my promotion by calling me "unprofessional", and got me "laid-off" by calling me "unstable" .

I'm not going to call you a white supremacist ... I'm going to say that you are insecure and have no friends; that's why you use the workplace as your social outlet, and so were intimidated by my excellence, and unwilling to support, or uplift, it.

Regarding my promotion, as confirmed by Phaedrus, who chaired my employment process, I was supposed to be a shoe-in for promotion to Dev 2 by the mere act of me getting my undergraduate degree (Econ/Stats/Comms), because I had the skill set for a Dev 2 the day I started.

Alleging that I was unprofessional is ironic considering many things, but I won't get into all that ... because well ...

Calling me unstable, this was because you didn't want to discuss my promotion ... you didn't want to promote me because then you would have to treat me like an adult; and you preferred to treat me like a child, constantly seeking your "approval".

As this fed your ego, to have someone beneath you ...

Yes Massa, ok massa, right away massa ... no problem massa ... as an insecure middle-aged childless white male ... that's the relationship you needed to maintain ... especially after seeing me interact with the EdShare stakeholders with a poise, adroitness and professionalism you will never be able to match.

Thank you Orono Public Schools for giving me a solid academic foundation in most everything; even if the social-community experience was damaging and traumatic.

So now I want to talk about EdShareProject.Org ... because the entire redesign was 95% mine, based off of a wire-frame I built in about 15 minutes, the day after meeting with the primary stakeholders.

The same wire-frame that you told me to stop working on, and that I never changed after that point; [even when the entire team (four people) spent two-hours working on wire-frames five-weeks later. I admittedly did nothing during that time, and what I presented is 95% what is live on the site right now.]

You told me to work on "the technical things" after that initial meeting, things which had not even been decided yet ... because you were still planning the UX meetings with members of the EdShare team at that time.

Meetings you purposely excluded me from, and when I was invited to meetings by other team members, you got me excluded from those meetings as well.

Humorously enough – without ever participating in those meetings, I did accomplish "the technical things" ...

Honestly there is so much irony to your allegations ... all of which is typical of an environment where whiteness is coddled and everyone else has to walk on egg-shells to survive ... because working with you is to work with a toxic, fragile ego ... it is not unreasonable to suspect that your best friend is likely an AI chatbot.

So of note ... I was performing more near a Dev 3 level, than a Dev 2 level ... but again, I was unprofessional because I wasn't serving you, I was serving the work ... and your ego was offended.

So you had to get me laid-off, and the bureaucratic excuse was budget constraints.

Any who ... as I told HR ... my child is well, they graduated last Spring with a degree in Sociology and a minor in Criminology.

While we've spent the past 20 years having white people trying to convince my child that I'm unstable ... your allegations, beyond being petty, dumb and indicative of your own self-esteem ... the question is, why didn't I file a lawsuit ?

Even after HR sent a lawyer to talk to me about such things ..?

1. I wasn't in the position to fight such a battle. I appreciate what the institute does, and I didn't want to carry the anger.
2. It's more entertaining to watch karma play out ... I've seen your type of behavior all of my life; you're not new, and you're not smart.
3. Predators choose their targets well; you're a predator. Not a good one, but regardless ... this open letter is more my style, as it's also educational.

So for those wanting to blame Republicans, or maybe even correctly blame Democrats, for the crap the US is enduring ... a primary example of what truly ails the US is sitting in the ISRDI tech department ...

An individual named Alex McWhinnie, as supported by model-minority Willie Lee (who is also entirely detrimentally incompetent regarding issues of DEI) and Fran Fabrizio ... both of whom supported Alex without ever questioning him.

Or if they ever did ... it was a typical slap on the wrist for someone who is so incompetent I can't even imagine how many labor hours they waste ... speaking of budgetary constraints and inefficiency ... as again ...

Just in the EdShare Project alone, the number of unnecessary time spent in pointless meetings is beyond me ... as I did basically everything for that project, redesign and requested technical improvements, based off of a 45-minute meeting with stakeholders, while being excluded from nearly every other project meeting.

Not to mention, the only reason the team was able to work on the redesign was because I took the initiative to investigate, and speak up about, an issue with the Drupal dev-environment, and fixed it, before we ever met with the stakeholders ... but only after Alex confirmed with another white person that my concerns were valid ...

Fran was surprised when he told me I was being laid off ... because I was happy.

I know how toxic people like Alex, and Willie Lee, are ... and I got away from them ... which was the healthiest thing for me ... and the healthiest thing for anyone who is even partially self-aware and respects their own autonomy.

Alex and Willie are parasites who serve the ideals of whiteness, because they have nothing else of value in their lives ... not to say that whiteness has any value ... but in the capitalist, colonial world it does.

Hmmm ... yea ... I'm autistic, and I have CPTSD ... I'm not unstable, I've spent 42 years surviving unstable environments ... clarity of communication is what is most important to me.

That said, cordially, and with all due respect Alex, you're not good at your job at all ... which is why you had to appoint another white person to manage stand-ups in your absence, because you knew I was managing them so well it made you look as incapable, incompetent, and socially awkward, as you actually are – which again, is why you had to get me "laid-off" ... for being unstable and unprofessional, of all things ... and then Fran offered to write me a letter of recommendation ... for what?

What could he possibly say that I, or anyone, could ever believe?

The joys of white supremacy ... as again, I'm not calling any of you all white supremacists ... but you'll definitely use white supremacy when it serves you ... and you'll praise non-white people when it serves you as well ... typical two-faced "liberal" behavior.

Inept, allergic to accountability, and entirely delusional ... the American way.

The exact type of individuals Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Malcolm X warned about.

Any who, as they say on KARE 11 ... the more you know ... happy Monday y'all!

P.S. Oh, yea and real quick ... after my divorce was finalized, the first appointment I made was with Community University Health Care Center for a complete mental health exam; after which I engaged in therapy at the Boynton Mental Health clinic, and eventually met with the Chief Medical Officer at the time ... to make sure there wasn't anything wrong with me.

And the most significant outcome was the allegation that I didn't have a primary support group ... which ties into the longitudinal studies EdShare is built around.

See that's the thing Alex ... I have actual friends, people I can open my heart to, and be honest/vulnerable with ... and my boy, that's what makes all the difference.

So when I say that you use the workplace for a social outlet ... there is no way in heaven, or hell, that that will ever be healthy, for anyone.

Oh and lastly, before I was employed, one of my references was a Statistics instructor who was working in the College of Biological Sciences at the U of M at the time ... and they told y'all ... don't hire Canin if you're not actually about DEI ... and well ... y'all aren't actually about Diversity, Equity or Inclusion ... and my experience is an excellent example of that.

P.S.S. I no longer live in the US, so y'all can't get me thrown into a concentration camp for saying things that don't make you feel good ...

Sorry Alex, but let's be honest, you're the type of person to do such a thing ... which is why you thought it was smart to call me "unstable" and "unprofessional" in the first place ...

White supremacist dog-whistles if ever there was such a thing.

P.S.S.S. My first job was for a coffee shop in the town I grew up in, Long Lake, MN; called Lake Country Coffee.

I loved that job, as I was able to work Sunday mornings, and so I didn't have to attend church.

I left that job when my school and activity schedule got too hectic ... but I was refused my last paycheck, under the allegation that I had stolen the key.

Which curiously enough ... that's one of the few memories I retain from childhood ... my last shift, I still remember placing the key on the desk in the office, and then walking out into small town being freshly blanketed with snow ... it felt like a movie.

I was in love with my life ... things were well, I had a wonderful girlfriend and I truly truly loved that job!

It continues to be one of my happiest childhood memories ... honestly ... yikes ... I don't think I really have any others ... I'm really trying to think right now ... well, not any happy ones ... I remember hiding behind the couch during my birthday party ... yup, that's about it.

God bless marijuana ... everything else is gone ... oh, by the way, I'm sober now – though the only drugs I ever did were cannabis and psilocybin.; another story, but yea ... none of this was written under the influence of anything other than entertainment and amusement.

Any who ... no one wanted to stand-up for me, or defend me, not even the people who bought me ... and perhaps now you see why I call them the people who bought me ... because ... well Complex Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is when your entire environment is traumatic ... and that was the beginning of my employment experiences.

Are we having fun yet?