{"id":2380857,"date":"2024-12-17T08:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T13:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fans-love-caitlin-clark-for-her-skills-not-her-skin-color\/"},"modified":"2024-12-17T08:04:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T13:04:26","slug":"fans-love-caitlin-clark-for-her-skills-not-her-skin-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fans-love-caitlin-clark-for-her-skills-not-her-skin-color\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans Love Caitlin Clark For Her Skills, Not Her Skin Color"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffans-love-caitlin-clark-for-her-skills-not-her-skin-color%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2380857&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>WNBA star Caitlin Clark was \u2062recently named TIME Magazine&#8217;s Athlete of the Year, \u200cwhere she discussed her\u2064 journey and the\u200d concept of privilege in \u2064sports. In her interview, she acknowledged her\u2062 white privilege, emphasizing the significant contributions of black players to the WNBA&#8217;s \u200dadvancement.\u2064 Clark expressed the importance of uplifting Black\u200c women in \u2064sports and the need for continued\u2062 support from brands and companies.<\/p>\n<p>The discussion around her comments raises questions \u200dabout her \u2063focus on\u200b elevating Black women \u200dexclusively\u200c and the implications of her acknowledgment of white privilege, especially as she\u2063 has previously highlighted the achievements of Black female basketball players. During an appearance on &#8220;Saturday Night Live,&#8221; she praised\u2063 several legendary Black athletes who paved the way for her,\u200b but notably omitted the names of influential white players, raising\u2062 concerns about her stance on \u2063inclusion in women&#8217;s basketball. Critics argue that her focus should encompass all women athletes, advocating for collective recognition and respect \u2064across the board, rather than narrowing her fight to a specific racial \u2062subset.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark was named TIME Magazine&rsquo;s Athlete of the Year last week. In her interview with TIME, she addressed some of the issues that followed her breakout year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I want to say I&rsquo;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&rsquo;s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that&rsquo;s going to be a beautiful thing,&rdquo; she <a href=\"https:\/\/time.com\/7200904\/athlete-of-the-year-2024-caitlin-clark\/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=person-of-the-year&amp;utm_term=_&amp;linkId=684601601\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p>Why did Clark feel the need to apologize for being white? If she earned everything that she had received, when did she feel the need to acknowledge her white privilege? Why did she single out black women as the only women who need to be elevated?<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time that Clark has used her platform to try to elevate the status of black women basketball players. When she appeared on &ldquo;Saturday Night Live&rdquo; prior to the start of her WNBA season in April, she took a few moments to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Cuf29fvlfb0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">say<\/a>, &ldquo;thanks to all the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mahomes-mother-sends-mocking-message-to-brady-wife-gisele-bundchen\/\" title=\"Mahomes\u2019 Mother Sends Mocking Message To Brady Wife Gisele Bundchen\">great players<\/a>, Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, the great Dawn Staley, and my basketball hero, Maya Moore. These are the women that kicked down the door, so I could walk inside.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Absent from the list were the names of any white women players who came before her such as Ann Myers, Nancy Lieberman, Rebecca Lobo, Diana Taurasi, or Sue Bird &mdash; all Hall-of-Famers or sure-fire Hall-of-Famers who also helped pave the way for her success.<\/p>\n<p>By omitting the white players, she made it racial. She is fighting the wrong fight. Her fight should be about women getting more respect and recognition in the game of basketball, women of all races who have been overlooked and ignored, not just black women. In her statement, she was the one overlooking and ignoring great women basketball players. Her fight should be for all women players, not just one specific subset of women players, especially when that subset has been the ones bullying her and disrespecting her. Her statement isn&rsquo;t going to stop the bullying. Sheryl Swoopes, whom she thanked by name on &ldquo;Saturday Night Live,&rdquo; was one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/onsi\/womens-fastbreak\/news\/sheryl-swoopes-had-polarizing-take-on-caitlin-clark-s-dominance-01j80ts4et0a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">loudest voices casting doubt<\/a><\/a> and disrespect on Clark the entire WNBA season.<\/p>\n<p>Acquiescing to a bully doesn&rsquo;t placate the bully, it emboldens them. They know they can push her around now.&nbsp;We saw this happen immediately after the unveiling of the TIME cover, when Sheila Johnson, a co-owner of The Washington Mystics, criticized TIME Magazine&rsquo;s decision to name Caitlin Clark as its &ldquo;Athlete of the Year.&rdquo; On CNN, she questioned why TIME <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/12\/14\/sports\/mystics-sheila-johnson-takes-exception-with-caitlin-clarks-time-magazine-cover\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&ldquo;couldn&rsquo;t have put the whole WNBA on that cover<\/a>.&rdquo; There was no congratulations to Clark for the honor. There was no acknowledgment of what Clark said to promote black women players or for helping to elevate the status of the WNBA. Clark was summarily dismissed by Sheila Johnson because she is white.<\/p>\n<p>When Clark felt the need to apologize for being white, she bought the false narrative that the only reason why people like her game is because she is white and the only reason why other WNBA players are not as popular is because they&rsquo;re black. People are not fans of Clark because she&rsquo;s white; they&rsquo;re fans of hers because she&rsquo;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-trump-unloads-on-lebron-james-his-racist-rants-are-divisive-nasty-insulting-and-demeaning\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Trump Unloads On LeBron James: \u2018His RACIST Rants Are Divisive, Nasty, Insulting, And Demeaning\u2019\">great basketball player<\/a>, and her style of play is different than many other women in the WNBA. I like her game because she shoots logo threes (a mid-court shot) and is a phenomenal passer. That&rsquo;s why most people like to watch her play. That style of play brings excitement to an otherwise unexciting style of basketball. <\/p>\n<p>Angel Reese&rsquo;s game of backing her defender down on the block and shooting layups is a boring style of basketball. That is the 1950s style of basketball &mdash; the George Mikan era. Clark brought the shooting of Steph Curry and the passing of Magic Johnson all in one player to the WNBA, and that is why she has developed in extraordinarily large fanbase.<\/p>\n<p>Don&rsquo;t buy the false narrative that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/boycott-disney-new-marvel-show-agatha-all-along-hyped-as-gayest-show-yet\/\" title=\"Boycott Disney: New Marvel Show \u2018Agatha All Along\u2019 Hyped as &#039;Gayest&#039; Show Yet\">people weren&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t watching the WNBA because black females were dominating it. Serena Williams, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/time-magazine-names-simone-biles-as-athlete-of-the-year-for-withdrawing-from-2020-olympics\/\" title=\"Time Magazine Names Simone Biles as &#039;Athlete of the Year&#039; for Withdrawing from 2020 Olympics\">black female athlete<\/a>, has an unbelievable fan base. Simone Biles has a very large fan base in a sport that historically has been dominated by white women. The most popular professional athletes in America, Michael Jordan and LeBron James, are black. When Clark stops hitting logo threes and stops throwing dimes, people aren&rsquo;t going to like her as much anymore, regardless of the color of her skin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If anything, one of the things that endeared Clark to her fans was that she appeared to be all about basketball. She is a fiery competitor who was only concerned with playing the game and winning. She managed to stay above the fray of the racial politics that continually tried to pull her into that maelstrom. There was something decidedly refreshing about an athlete who just wanted to play the game and was reluctant to use their sports platform to shove their opinions and politics down our throats.<\/p>\n<p>  Sports fans have become tired of the kneeling, the gestures, the slogans, and the lectures. They just want to watch the game. Clark would be wise to remember that her talent on the court does not make her opinions on politics or social issues any more valuable than mine or any fans who pay to see her play. We thought she knew that. That was one of the reasons why we rooted for her. But now she has changed all of that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Judd Garrett is a graduate of Princeton University and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website RealClearPolitics. He has recently published his first novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/s?k=judd+garrett+no+wind&amp;crid=349BRYWT8KFAF&amp;sprefix=judd+ga%2Caps%2C194&amp;ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_7\">&#8220;No Wind.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Caitlin Clark, WNBA star, named TIME&#8217;s Athlete of the Year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3534,"featured_media":2380858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-16-at-10.32.15-PM-1024x578.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28553,7142,32078,46952,46953],"class_list":["post-2380857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-sportsmanship","tag-basketball","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-diversity-in-sports","tag-talent-over-appearance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-16-at-10.32.15-PM-1024x578.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3534"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2380857"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2380861,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2380857\/revisions\/2380861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2380858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2380857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2380857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2380857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}