Black Racism is Bigger than Basketball

Much controversy has erupted over the treatment by other players of Caitlin Clark, a player with the Indiana Fever, and many people are pointing to racism. But many people in the black community have insisted that blacks can’t be racist; therefore, the abuse that Clark has had to tolerate, primarily from black players on other teams, must be something other than racism:

The debate about whether all people can be racist stems from different definitions of ‘racism.’ One camp subscribes to the standard dictionary definition: racism is ‘prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.’ There are no restrictions on which races can be the instigators and what magnitude of disdain counts as ‘superiority.’ Another camp thinks primarily of institutional racism and factors in a person’s power to use their racist beliefs against others. As one African-American lead character from the 2014 movie ‘Dear White People’ argues, ‘Black people can’t be racist. Prejudiced, yes, but not racist. Racism describes a system of disadvantage based on race. Black people can’t be racists since we don’t stand to benefit from such a system.’ What a convoluted way to absolve oneself of possible racist fault. Under this definition, yes, black individuals can’t be racist. The system is rigged in favor of white people, who have traditionally been in power. But the strange implication of this statement is that being called ‘prejudiced’ isn’t as bad as being called a ‘racist’ — although racism can manifest itself as prejudice, and though prejudice surely is not desired either. So Sam’s argument achieves the linguistic triumph of avoiding the label ‘racist,’ but that’s about it.

This debate goes far beyond basketball. It reflects a mindset of the black community that believes they are victims. Angel Reese, a black player, has been at the center of the controversy of verbal and physical attacks on Clark, and has alleged that there have been racist attacks on her, too:

The WNBA launched another investigation into alleged racism toward Angel Reese, who portrays herself as Clark's chief rival. Once again, the league found nothing. Angel Smollett struck again. Add that to the growing list of hoaxes in the world of sports. Meanwhile, there are actual examples of racism in the WNBA. Days after Reese appeared to lie to reporters about the alleged racist chants, she shared a TikTok video mocking Clark as a little ‘white girl afraid to catch a fade’ with a photo of Reese trying to fight her. Last Thursday, Brittney Griner appeared to utter ‘Trash, [REDACTED] white girl’ from the bench of a game against the Fever.

But some people recognize the abuse that Clark has sustained and are not afraid to speak out about it:

After the Wednesday loss to the Sun, Fever head coach Christie Sides joined Clark in speaking out against the racist abuse some of the WNBA players have endured. ‘Just proud of the adversity these guys went through,’ Sides said. ‘Just the expectations were insane for us to start this season and what people thought we should be doing and just the outside noise that these guys had to endure from game one until now.

Some black players are upset because Caitlin Clark is such an outstanding performer on the court. How dare a white, straight woman be competition to the black players? The basketball court has always been primarily their domain. And the black community which sees itself as victims doesn’t realize that they are putting themselves in this pitiful position, all by themselves.

Caitlin Clark isn’t afraid to speak out against this vicious behavior:

‘Nobody in our league should be facing any sort of racism, hurtful, disrespectful, hateful comments, and threats,’ Clark said. ‘Those aren’t fans, those are trolls, and it’s a real disservice to the people in our league, the organization and the WNBA.’ [snip] ‘There are a lot of really good fans, whether they've been fans for 20+ years or they're new fans in our league,’ Clark said. ‘I think continuing to uplift this league in a very positive light is the best thing we can do... there are so many positive storylines that can be written and celebrated.’

It's time to face these actions and behaviors and call them out for what they are—black racism:

So, can we finally have an honest talk about race? If so, some obvious statements should be made. Caitlin Clark's fans are not racist. The people angered at the success of a white woman are the racists. Clark doesn't have white privilege. If she did, she wouldn't have to keep apologizing for her skin color. More people hate Clark because of her skin color than love her for it. None of that should be so hard to say, yet so few people are willing to say it. The discussion around Caitlin Clark underscores how we are a nation still too afraid to discuss race honestly. And that has to change. This is bigger than basketball.

People in the white community have acquiesced to the claims of the black community that we are to blame for the racism they say they still experience.

Perhaps those black folks who are angry should take a closer look in the mirror to determine who is to blame.

[originally published at American Thinker]