Sometimes the truth is ugly. And sometimes, the truth hurts.

The greater an ugly truth, the more it hurts.

That’s why scores of Henrico County parents and the overwhelmingly white Henrico County School Board are feeling pain after a 4-minute animated video was shown at Glen Allen High School on Feb. 4 about structural discrimination.

The video, which uses a foot race to illustrate many of the factors contributing to inequities in American culture, became a lightning rod for angry parents who didn’t like the portrayal of white privilege. Their angry calls to the School Board resulted in an apology from Superintendent Patrick Kinlaw and a promise by School Board Chairwoman Micky Ogburn to shelve the video, which she termed “racially divisive.”

This video was important. It exposed the lie that is the dominant narrative in America — that everyone who achieves success deserves it because of their own hard work. This ignores the ugly truths of racism, the good ol’ boy networks, the legacy admissions to universities, the fact that employers favor people who look like them and the advantages generated by inherited wealth. And let’s not forget other hurdles: Racial profiling, schools with inadequate resources, environmental racism, lack of access to affordable health care and the school-to-prison pipeline.

White privilege is real, which is the truth pointed out in the video.

The continued denial of white privilege by Henrico school officials and the public guarantees its continuation in benefiting white people and disadvantaging people of color. We can see this in the longtime inequities in facilities and resources in Eastern Henrico County schools with largely African-American student populations compared with the largely white schools in Western Henrico County.

We are dismayed that the lone African-American on the School Board, the Rev. Roscoe Cooper III, has remained silent on the video and its content and failed to take a stand publicly for equality. We expect more from those who are elected by a large African-American constituency. We expect him to represent the viewpoint of those constituents on a board that clearly doesn’t get it.

The entire disappointing affair makes it crystal clear that students aren’t the only ones who need to learn about structural discrimination and the impact of white privilege. These are lessons the Henrico School Board and the Henrico school administration need to learn as well.