Kyle Korver, who now plays for the NBA’s Utah Jazz, is one of the best three-point shooters of all time and a former NBA All Star.
As of today, he also ranks among the most astute commentators on white privilege not just among his fellow athletes (former NBA player and U.S. Senator Bill Bradley was a pioneer in this regard) but among Americans from every walk of life.
His testimony is a masterpiece both in how he frames his moments of recognition about race and for his sense of humility. To me, his conclusion about the obligation of privileged white Americans is pitch-perfect:
“The fact that inequality is built so deeply into so many of our most trusted institutions is wrong.
And I believe it’s the responsibility of anyone on the privileged end of those inequalities to help make things right.
So if you don’t want to know anything about me, outside of basketball, then listen — I get it. But if you do want to know something? Know I believe that.”
Please read the whole piece:
www.theplayerstribune.com/…
The Daily Kos site features many thoughtful commentaries about how — personally and politically— to grapple with friends, relatives, and fellow Americans who are overt or closet racists, or for whom a candidate’s racism is not a deal breaker.
Korver, it seems to me, takes the most necessary first step: coming out. State clearly what you believe about race and privilege, why you have come to believe it, and what taking that belief seriously entails.
While few of us have a platform that matches a star athlete’s, stating your own beliefs with precision— with conviction-- is the precondition both to having an honest conversation and, once in a while, to changing minds that can be changed.