WNBA star Caitlin Clark has given MAGA world a conniption with her latest comments about white privilege.
This week, Clark was named Time magazine’s athlete of the year, and in her feature interview, she gave a shoutout to the Black ballers who paved the way for her. She said:
I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege. A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.
No notes from me. This was a powerful example of how to use white privilege to lift up marginalized Black people. Clark even name-checked some of the trailblazing Black players she was talking about: Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, Dawn Staley and Maya Moore.
Predictably, this sent MAGA world into a full-on tantrum.
Predictably, this sent MAGA world into a full-on tantrum. Among some right-wingers, Clark has been portrayed as a “Great White Hope” in a largely Black league, and her mere acknowledgment of the privileges she’s been afforded as a white woman clearly upset them.That anger was stoked, in part, by right-wing provocateur Megyn Kelly, who has essentially built a career as a cog in the conservative outrage machine. After Kelly threw a fit online, portraying Clark as “on the knee all but apologizing for being white,” the hoops star seemed unfazed Wednesday during a Time event.
Asked about the outrage, Clark said:
I think my best skill is just blocking out the noise, and hopefully it continues to be, because with the way things are going and where the WNBA is going, you want that attention, and you embrace it, and that’s what makes this so fun.
Some folks in the conservative movement are clearly angry that Clark isn’t interested in being their ignorant MAGA princess, and their cries would be hilarious if they weren’t so pitiful. At this point, we should hope that Cooper Flagg, the white Duke star and projected NBA lottery pick, posts “Black Lives Matter” or something of the sort online, just to see right-wingers lose their gourd.And before I go, I think the plight of white hoops stars who’ve been conscripted into the right’s culture wars is an underreported topic. Former NBA player Rex Chapman discussed it at length with sports journalist Pablo Torre, and I think you’ll find the convo interesting.
Check it out here:
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.