Caitlin Clark involuntary eye of the culture war storm

NEW YORK (AP) — Thought attending a WNBA basketball game could be an escape from the conflict and polarization that is so pervasive in American life these days? Ha, good idea.

Since the season began last month, the public and media have been swayed by an atmosphere surrounding the women’s professional league that is less one of fun and more one of culture clash, with newcomer Caitlin Clark the unwitting eye of the storm.

The white, 22-year-old University of Iowa standout and No. 1 draft pick became a canvas for all sorts of predictions in her debut season with the Indiana Fever. She and the predominantly black and brown women who play alongside her in the league seem to have become the latest stand-ins for longstanding American issues, from race, gender and sexual orientation to who gets to share (or be shone) in the spotlight and who gets ignored.

That shouldn’t really surprise anyone, says Sarah Fields, a professor of communications at the University of Colorado Denver who studies the intersection of sports and American culture. “Sports,” she says, “is a microcosm that reflects and refracts society.”

What makes Clark special is also what makes her a lightning rod

There is no doubt that Clark deserves attention because of her basketball skills.

— She holds the scoring record for a Division I college basketball player, was known for her three-point shooting and strong passing, and led her team to two consecutive national championship games. (They ended up losing both games, to LSU and the University of South Carolina.)

– She was the undisputed top pick for the 2024 WNBA Draft in a strong class that also included Angel Reese of LSU, Kamilla Cardoso of South Carolina and Cameron Brink of Stanford University.

— Clark was also fortunate to enter the scene at a time when women’s sports at the collegiate and professional levels are seeing growing public interest and engagement. Thanks to the opportunities to showcase names, images and likenesses, she began earning sponsorships while still in college, and she recently signed a signature sneaker deal with Nike.

But this is America, where people who might otherwise have flown under the radar or been known only to a smaller community can capture public attention and fame almost overnight, and all of a sudden everyone is contributing their thoughts and opinions.

In some corners of the internet and among sections of the (mostly male) sports commentary community, Clark is talked about as if she is THE reason the nearly 30-year-old WNBA is FINALLY interesting enough to watch, and as if the other players should keep that in mind and generally be “nice” to her, as if she needs to be protected.

Giving a young white woman the lead role and relegating black and brown women to supporting characters is as old and familiar a stereotype as there is in a country with such a problematic racial history as the United States, says Frederick Gooding Jr., associate professor of African-American studies at Texas Christian University.

“It’s not so much about Clark’s visibility,” he says. “It’s also about the invisibility of black women and how difficult it is for black women to get the same kind of attention.”

Clark’s exclusion from the US Olympic team sparked backlash

There have been rumors that the league’s veterans are jealous of her spotlight and that she unfairly bears the brunt of overly physical plays, like when the Chicago Sky’s Chennedy Carter tackled her to the ground in what was later ruled a rough foul. Tough plays against other players, like when Reese was clotheslined by the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas, don’t get nearly as much attention.

When Clark was not selected as a rookie for the U.S. women’s Olympic basketball team last week, some were outraged, criticizing the move as shortsighted because the marketing opportunity was not recognized.

“How dare you make that decision?” asked sports commentator Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s “First Take.” “That’s stupid.”

Some of the comments, especially online, were openly racist, suggesting that Clark was being discriminated against in the WNBA and Olympic selection process because she was white and many of the other players were black. (The Olympic roster is made up of white players, an experienced team that is seeking its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal against strong international competition.)

On the other hand, there is criticism that the focus is on Clark in part BECAUSE she is white – that in a country as riven by racial tensions as the United States, this is yet another example of how black women are ignored or stereotyped, despite having built the sports league in which she is now one of the most recognizable names.

The move by WNBA teams to use charter flights instead of commercial flights is the result of years of advocacy by players, but the timing of the league’s announcement this season was seen by some as a nod to Clark’s presence.

“It’s like, can we talk about the decades of Black women in sports advocating for this and not just say this one moment is all about this one white woman? Because it’s not the case,” says Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati. “Especially in a sport that’s dominated by women of color and also LGBTQ+ people, it’s just very normal to focus our attention on this straight white woman.”

Clark just wants to talk about basketball

To be clear, none of this was initiated or even encouraged by Clark. She has tried to limit her public comments to the game itself. When asked about it last week, she initially said, “People can talk about whatever they want to talk about, have conversations about whatever. But personally, I’m just here to play basketball.”

But without mentioning her by name, black WNBA player DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun subsequently asked in a social media post how it could be acceptable not to talk about it.

“It’s crazy that someone doesn’t care when their name is used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and the intersectionality of all of that,” she said, adding: “We all have a platform. We all have a voice and they all carry weight. Silence is a luxury.”

Clark responded even more forcefully later that day, saying it was “disappointing” and “unacceptable” that people would use her to further their own racist and sexist agendas.

“I admired this league and wanted to be a part of it growing up. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up,” she said. “Treating every single woman in this league with the same respect is a basic human trait that everyone should do.”

As a fan of women’s basketball, 36-year-old Naomi Oberman-Breindel from Manhattan wants to achieve just that.

“There are a lot of incredible basketball players with really interesting and compelling stories – as players and as people,” she wrote in an email. “What’s happening right now feels like a forced monoculture with a single focus on one person.”