The Duality of Blackness in America: Sports Edition
By Zarinah Salahuddin
Last Sunday, April 2nd, 12.6 million people saw Louisiana State University’s women’s basketball team make history when they won their 1st NCAA championship, besting the much talked about phenom, University of Iowa’s guard Caitlin Clark, 21. This game also broke a record by having an average of 9.9 million viewers and becoming the most-watched women's college basketball game in the NCAA Division I ever shown on TV, across all networks.
But what everyone’s talking about even more than the win, is what LSU standout star and forward Angel Reese, 20, did as they clinched the win. She almost literally, “rubbed it in their face” while also repeatedly tapping her ring finger in Clark’s direction.
For context, Wrestler John Cena popularized a gesture of circling his hand in front of his face to taunt his opponents who, “didn’t see him coming.”
Caitlin decided to co-opt this taunt, waving her hand in front of her face most notably in the game that allowed Iowa to even qualify for the Final Four Games when her team beat Louisville just two games before Sunday’s match. Where was the outrage then?
When Caitlin did it, people noted her competitive nature calling it “fiery passion”. She even received praise and recognition from the inspiration himself, John Cena:
ESPN even produced a segment they called, “Caitlin Clark: Queen of Clap Backs” where her teammates expressed their admiration for her “fiery passion”. One player even called her John Cena taunt “so cool.”
When Angel did the same, it set social media on fire with multiple commentators referring to her as “classless”--a racist dogwhistle.
In interviews, Angel brought up the fact that all season she’s been called Thug, Ghetto, Unprofessional, Bad for the sport, Carried or a fake champion.
“I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit in 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, y’all don’t say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that one that’s going to speak up on what they believe in, is unapologetically you. And that’s what I did it for tonight. It was bigger than me tonight.”
Meanwhile Caitlin was lauded as Good for the sport, a champion in our hearts, hermothy, as well as the competitive Queen. Reese and LSU guard Alexis Morris saw Clark’s recent behavior during Iowa’s game against South Carolina as disrespectful, especially her attitude towards South Carolina’s Raven Johnson, who Clark was supposed to guard, but waved her off like she didn’t matter.
We’ve seen this change in language based on race before. When Black people stand up for themselves, they are seen as angry and aggressive, whereas their white counterparts are seen as assertive. Remember the narrative around the peaceful Black Lives Matter protests compared to the January 6th Riots and attempts at overthrowing this country’s democracy.
Still, Clark’s trash talk was embraced and celebrated, she wasn’t vilified for it like they’re trying to do with Angel Reese. They are both young women and the only obvious difference is their race. The racial elements of these critiques are clear to those who know America’s history of systemic racism and understand how white supremacy works.
Reese has since faced multiple days of critiques while Clarke remained silent. Thousands of hurtful words and behaviors that uphold white supremacy have been charged against LSU and black people as a whole, while Caitlin and her team said nothing. She barely even reacted to Reese’s taunt. Lisa Bluder, Iowa’s head coach, didn’t have a negative response either: saying "we're all different people and we all have different ways to show our emotions," adding she could only focus on what she can control.
Then, First lady Jill Biden floated the idea that the White House should invite both LSU and Iowa's women's basketball teams which sparked another round of outrage. Why would she think that inviting the loser to the White House would be appropriate when LSU played a historic game? When has the White House ever invited runners-up to share this important tradition? If LSU lost, would they have been invited?
Through all the critiques, the Black Community came together to defend Angel and point out the double standards as well as the clear biases shaping them. In reaction to these discussions, Maxine Crump, the CEO and President of Dialogue on Race Louisiana said:
“The backlash being called out is healing for me. I am so thrilled over the outraged and others calling out race that it overrides my need to express outrage. I have had singular outrage for so long without group support.. I am heartened by those who are outraged. I have been asking for a very long time in situations like this, I have often asked in a forceful voice ‘where is the outrage?!’ Thank you Americans who can see it and say it.
Now is the time!!!”
When asked about the criticisms in an interview, Caitlin finally spoke out against all the hate directed toward Angel:
Does anyone else doubt that the vitriol will cease now that the “victim” has called for the backlash to stop? Where are the white “allies” to defend Angel?
At the end of the day, these are young women that are barely in their 20s yet they have made history in a way that few of us have. White supremacy has such a deep hold on the people that grown adults are attacking a 20 year old Black woman –one that was named the women's NCAA's Most Outstanding Player–by calling her classless for celebrating her team’s underdog win against Iowa’s Hawkeyes and 2023’s Player of the Year. Even if you did think she behaved in an unsportwomanlike way, where’s the grace and understanding for her? Young people make mistakes and instead of seeing her reaction as youthful passion and excitement, thousands of people decided to use racist dog whistles.
If you did not see the racial elements for all the hate Angel has received since the weekend, take a moment to analyze your biases and learn more about the subtle ways white supremacy is expressed.
