8th grade English teacher at Kilmer Middle School shows students video about “white privilege,” “white male privilege” and “heterosexual privilege;” administration says it wasn’t approved

A concerned parent reached out to Parents Defending Education after an eighth grade English teacher at Kilmer Middle School in Fairfax County Public Schools showed a video in class “white privilege,” “white male privilege” and “heterosexual privilege”. The teacher attempted to connect the video to the book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, according to the parent.

The video shown to students is titled “What is Privilege?” The video states: “We can experience privilege because of our gender, race, sexual orientation, ability, class or other identities.” The video then adds: “For example, white women have privilege because of their race, but are at a disadvantage because of their gender.” The video continues to explain that “privilege is structural” and “exists because our society as a whole prioritizes some groups over others.” The video then takes the argument a step further:

In corporate America, for every 100 men who are hired into manager-level positions, only 72 women are hired. This isn’t because men are more qualified. Instead, it’s largely because men benefit from unearned advantages in the hiring process.

The video then tries to argue that heterosexual privilege exists and stated that “when a candidate had something on their resume that suggested they were LGBTQ+, such as belonging to an advocacy group, they received fewer callbacks” when applying for jobs.

According to the parent, the administration confirmed over the phone that this video was not approved and that no other 8th grade English classes watched it in class.