KINGSPORT,TN.-NOVEMBER 9: Matt Hawn who was fired from the Sullivan County school system after he told students that “White privilege is a fact,” assigned the Ta-Nehisi Coates essay “The First White President” and showed a video in class of a Black poet discussing the detrimental effects of White privilege. Matt appealed his firing and has been waiting to hear back since this summer. Matt is White, 43, and lives -- has lived his whole life -- in a very rural, White, conservative area of Tennessee – Kingsport in Sullivan County. (Earl Neikirk for The Washington Post)
KINGSPORT,TN.-NOVEMBER 9: Matt Hawn sits with his dog Marloh, who he credits for helping him carry on after he was fired from the Sullivan County School System after he told students that “White privilege is a fact,” assigned the Ta-Nehisi Coates essay “The First White President” and showed a video in class of a Black poet discussing the detrimental effects of White privilege. Matt appealed his firing and has been waiting to hear back since this summer. Matt is White, 43, and lives -- has lived his whole life -- in a very rural, White, conservative area of Tennessee – Kingsport in Sullivan County. (Earl Neikirk for The Washington Post)
