Reporters have quickly learned that it’s worth asking Warriors head coach Steve Kerr about politics, because he’s usually got something to say, and when he does it’s almost always worth hearing. Last week Kerr was blunt in blaming the government for inactivity on gun control that inevitably leads to massacre after massacre. Yesterday, in the wake of the student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas getting engaging with protest and with politicians, Kerr said the teens are our best hope.
Video of Kerr’s remarks can be seen here; here’s a transcript:
“I think it’s phenomenal. What those kids are doing is heroic. It’s heartfelt. And I think it’s the beginning of some change. I really believe that. I’m amazed any time I see them on TV or online. It’s heartbreaking but inspiring all at once.
“I feel very encouraged. We’ve got a generation that’s grown up with these school shootings and mass shootings and they’re fed up.
“Historically, it’s the young generation that has to initiate change. You think about the Vietnam War. All the old white guys who kept sending the troops off to fight this ridiculous war. And all the young people who protested had to make change, create change. And so it’s the young people in the county now who are going to create the change we need in terms of how we handle gun violence, and how we do our best to curb it. It’s amazing to watch them.”
The teens have been excellent and more cogent in their arguments—and their interrogations—than most politicians and reporters. As happens with every generation, young people are as a whole, morally on the right side, and they haven’t been conditioned to accept the shitty things about the world as unchangeable. Let’s do our best not to crush them before they make the world better.