Game Changer: Kyle Korver Speaks Truth on Privilege

GRADE LEVEL: High School

COMMON CORE STANDARDS: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language

Reflections of Biased Incidents in Basketball and White Privilege

In April 2019, Kyle Korver, a U.S. professional basketball player who plays with the Utah Jazz, wrote an essay on racism and white privilege that received a lot of acclaim and attention. In the essay, Korver, who is white, reflects on several biased incidents involving his African-American teammates and his reaction to those incidents; he reflects on his own white privilege and what he and others can do to act as allies to help bring about racial justice.

About this Lesson Plan

This lesson provides an opportunity for high school students to learn about privilege, explore how it manifests in different ways and reflect on their own relationship to privilege.

Learning Objectives:

• Students will examine Kyle Korver's recent essay on privilege and how it relates to their own experiences.
• Students will construct a definition of privilege, explore its various manifestations and strategize how to use privilege to engage in ally behavior.
• Students will explore their own experiences with privilege and write an essay that reflects their experiences and perspective.