Steve Kerr has never been shy about speaking his mind on social issues.
Whether it's condemning the gun violence epidemic in the United States or the words of the president, Kerr has been a prominent voice in the NBA, as has fellow coach Gregg Popovich and several star players across the league.
According to Kerr, though, his life is still an ongoing learning experience. Speaking on his podcast on The Ringer, "Flying Coach with Steve Kerr and Pete Carroll," Kerr said that Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala was responsible for helping shine light on a blind spot he had in his knowledge of US history.
The story began as the three coaches were discussing the importance of education in driving real change as protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd were held across the country.
"I think one of the components to this whole awareness is just the education part of it," Kerr said. "It's actually embarrassing, but a lot of American history has just been omitted from our textbooks."
Kerr went on to explain that until a conversation with Iguodala, he had never heard of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
"I remember a conversation with Andre a few years ago, and we were talking about race and this subject of admission of this great sin in our country. He said, 'Coach, have you ever heard of the Tulsa race riots?' And I said, 'No.'"
"It's a great example," said Popovich, who was a guest on the show.
"Immediately, I'm put on my heels," Kerr said. "I said, 'Tell me about them.' And he explained this, basically this incredibly successful African American town called Black Wall Street, everybody in town was, it was a really thriving town. And there was an altercation between a black man and a white woman somewhere in Tulsa, and basically the whole town where these African-American people lived was attacked, and dozens if not hundreds were killed, and the whole neighborhood was burned down."
"I took American history in both high school and college, and I never heard of that. So what does that say? We don't even teach it to our children. And so if we're not teaching this stuff, if we're not actually sharing the information that's important, how are we ever going to understand what people are actually facing?"
"300 people were killed in that massacre," Popovich said. "300 people."
Kerr is one of the sharpest minds in the NBA, but as he made clear himself, one of the strongest traits he has as a coach is knowing he still has more to learn.
Listen to the entire conversation between Kerr, Carroll, and Popovich here.
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