WNBA legend Sue Bird and former U.S. women’s soccer player Megan Rapinoe weighed in on the response Caitlin Clarks comments about White privilege in her interview with Time magazine.
The Indiana fever star spoke about her perceived white privilege when she said the WNBA was built on the backs of black players.
“The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about it and then continue to have brands and companies invest in the players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s really important,” Clark said in the interview last week. “I have to keep trying to change that. The more we can uplift black women, that will be a beautiful thing.”
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Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, No. 22, walks past the photo backdrop during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Connecticut Sun at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Clark’s response sparked many reactions on social media.
Bird said on the latest episode of her podcast with Rapinoe: “A touch more”, that the anger surrounding the White Privilege comments proved something about her fans.
“This faction of her fanbase that we’ve discussed before that is now disgusted by her admission just goes to show that they were never really here for basketball,” Bird said. “…Which, by the way, just proves that there are problems with race in this country. To me, that just proves it. And I think where I’ve ended up, I almost want to ask some questions.”
Bird then wondered whether there would have been any outrage over the incidents Clark was involved over the course of her rookie season when she was black.
“Personally, I think she deserves to be Time Athlete of the Year,” Bird continued. “I think she’s earned that, and she says, ‘I’ve done enough to deserve this,’ and I agree and also acknowledge her white privilege and that’s something you know you talk about in your experience , that’s something that I’ve had to acknowledge in my experience. I’ve won the championships, I’ve done the things, and there’s another part that I’m going to acknowledge as well.
“And that to me is just the world we live in, and when you say it doesn’t exist, you’re basically saying you don’t live in the same world, or you don’t see the same things, and that’s obviously the root of it all. ” the conversations we’re seeing today, not just in women’s basketball, literally in our national period.”
Bird added that her race ultimately scored no 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 of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics at the Accor Arena in Paris on August 10, 2024. (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
Rapinoe took a shot at conservatives in her assessment.
“I think what Caitlin did in her quotes or in the article explicitly spoke to her white privilege, and that’s what gets so much criticism or backlash, and that’s the lesson,” the former NWSL star said. “So, you know, for conservative media to come at her now that they’re obviously just showing their whole…
“If fans are angry because she says that and just acknowledges what is true, then I think that says a lot. But I think the more you speak directly to it, the clearer it becomes what your position is, and then you can’t be that anymore. When you use it that way, it doesn’t really leave your beliefs or your position as a white player up to any interpretation.
“You take the space and own the story. I think of something else that I’m constantly trying to think about and be aware of, and I want other people to be aware of that too, every time there’s a positive story in the women’s world.” sports, the area, the quote-unquote kind of area is immediately flooded with divisive stories.
But what we should all be aware of is that whenever there is anything positive or at all new in women’s sports, it is immediately swamped with madness and truly divisive stories. And I think about that, like when we as athletes are used, when is your story used, when are your likes used, when are the things you say used.
Lisa Bluder, left, and Caitlin Clark talk during practice for the NCAA women’s basketball championship game between Iowa and South Carolina on April 6, 2024. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
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“You know the kind of ecosystem of people in women’s sports who really care about whether you know athletes, fans, owners, people who work with teams, whatever. For example, when are you used by this kind of meta-narrative? or these kinds of stories that sow division and have to be dealt with very smartly.”
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