Caitlin Clark Doesn’t Need Protection
Caitlin Clark joining the WNBA as the no. 1 draft pick has highlighted an American story as old as the nation. Society is going out of its way to coddle and victimize Clark, a white woman, while demonizing the Black women who make up the majority of the league. It’s also Black women who have carried the league on its back since its inception.
The racist undertones of favoritism towards a Great White Hope dominating a majority Black sport were highlighted last year when First Lady Jill Biden invited Caitlin Clark and her college team, the Iowa Hawkeyes, to celebrate alongside LSU, the NCAA women’s basketball champions, led by Angel Reese, who is Black, at the White House. Why would runner-ups be invited, bucking tradition? Also, during the coverage of the championship games, Reese was called ghetto and aggressive for showing the same level of competitiveness as Clark. For example, Reese was criticized for making “taunting” hand gestures at Clark. However, Clark was not criticized when she did the same thing to an opponent.
This is what Reese had to say last year, as reported by CNN—
“All year, I was critiqued for who I was. I don’t fit the narrative,” Reese said. “I don’t fit the box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. Y’all told me that all year. But when other people do it, and y’all don’t say nothing.
