WNBA legend Sue Bird and former U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe weighed in on the backlash over Caitlin Clark’s comments about white privilege in her interview with Time magazine.
The Indiana Fever star spoke out about her supposed white privilege and said the WNBA was built on the backs of Black players.
“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 is very important,” Clark said in the interview last week. “I have to keep trying to change that. The more we can uplift black women, it will be a beautiful thing.”
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, #22, walks past the photo backdrop on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Clark’s reaction sparked quite a reaction on social media.
Bird said on the latest episode of her podcast with Rapinoe, “A Touch More,” that the anger over comments about White’s privilege proved something about her fans.
“Now, this faction of their fan base that we’ve talked about before that is now displeased with their recognition just shows that they were never here for basketball,” Bird said. “…Which, by the way, shows that there are racial problems in this country. To me, that just shows it. And I think I’ve come to want to ask some questions.”
Bird later wondered if there would have been any outrage over the incidents Clark was involved in during the course of her rookie season if she were black.
“I personally think she deserves to be Time Athlete of the Year,” Bird continued. “I think she earned it, and she says, yeah, ‘I’ve done enough to earn this,’ and I agree and I also recognize her white privilege and that’s something that you know you’re speaking from your experience, that’s something that I have had to recognize in my experience. I have won championships, I have done things, and there is another part that I will also recognize.
“And that to me is just the world that we live in and to say that it doesn’t exist is really to say that you don’t live in the same world, or that you’re not seeing the same things and that’s obviously the root of it all.” the conversations we see today, not just in women’s basketball, literally in our country.
Bird added that at the end of the day, his race didn’t score any points.
CAITLIN CLARK’S JERSEY NUMBER TO BE RETIRED BY IOWA
Sue Bird, left, and Megan Rapinoe watch the first quarter between the United States and France in the men’s basketball gold medal game during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at Accor Arena in Paris on Aug. 10, 2024. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
Rapinoe attacked conservatives in her assessment.
“I think what Caitlin did in her quotes, or in the article, was talk explicitly about her white privilege, and that’s what’s getting so much criticism or backlash, and that’s the lesson,” the former NWSL star said. . “So, you know, for the conservative media reaching out to her now who are obviously just showing all their….
“If fans are upset because she says that and she just acknowledges what’s true, I think that says a lot. But I think the more you talk to her directly, the clearer it becomes where you stand, and then you can’t be used like that. way. It doesn’t really leave your beliefs or your stance as a white player up to any kind of interpretation.
“You’re taking the space and owning the narrative. I think another thing I constantly try to think about and be aware of, and I want other people to be aware too, is whenever there’s a positive story in women’s lives.” . Sports, the area, the quote-unquote type of area, are immediately inundated with divisive narratives.
“But let us all be aware of that, that whenever there is something positive or, honestly, any news in women’s sports, it immediately becomes inundated with madness and really divisive narratives. And I think about that, like when we, as athletes, are being used, when your narrative is used, when your tastes are used, when the things you say are used.
Lisa Bluder, left, and Caitlin Clark talk during practice for the NCAA women’s college basketball championship between Iowa and South Carolina on April 6, 2024. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
“You know the kind of ecosystem of people in women’s sports who really care whether they know athletes, fans, owners, people who work with teams, whatever. When are you being used by this kind of metanarrative? or do they care? “They like divisive narratives and you have to be very smart about it.”
