In what would have been an ideal alternative to denounce the racism that some WNBA gamers have skilled this season, the league’s commissioner Cathy Engelbert utterly missed the mark.
Engelbert was requested how the league can get forward of a few of the on-line hate gamers have been subjected to in an interview throughout a section on CNBC’s “Energy Lunch” tv present, however ducked the precise immediate, which referenced race and sexuality.
First, right here’s the complete query that was requested of Engelbert by anchor Tyler Mathisen:
“It appears, on some social media channels, to have taken a darker flip, a extra menacing flip, the place race has been launched into the dialog, the place sexuality is typically launched into the dialog. How do you try to keep forward of that, or act as a league when two of essentially the most seen gamers are concerned — not personally, it could appear, however their fanbases are concerned — in saying some very uncharitable issues concerning the different?”
Right here is Engelbert’s full response (with the video under):
“Effectively, the one factor that’s nice concerning the league proper now, we do sit at this intersection of tradition, and sports activities, and style, and music. Like, the WNBA gamers are actually checked out now as form of cultural icons. And when you have got that, you have got a number of consideration on you. There’s no apathy. All people cares. It’s a little little bit of that Fowl-Magic second, in the event you recall, from 1979. When these two rookies got here in from a giant school rivalry, one white, one black. And so now we have that second with these two. However the one factor I find out about sports activities, you want rivalry. That’s makes folks watch, they need to watch video games of consequence between rivals. They don’t need everyone being good to 1 one other. Social media is totally different at present than it was in 1979, when it didn’t exist, however I all the time inform the gamers — I used to be instructed a very long time in the past. If somebody’s typing one thing in, and also you wouldn’t ask their recommendation, ignore it. It’s a stability, however definitely from a advertising {dollars}, company companions are stepping as much as endorse these gamers way more than they had been 5 years in the past, as a result of they see the advantage of having ladies — and various ladies — representing their model.”
There are a few blatant points with Engelbert’s remarks. First, had the query concerning the rivalry been requested in a vacuum, this response might have been perceived as adequate. However, Mathisen particularly introduced up the “menacing flip” of social media… “the place race has been launched to the dialog, the place sexuality has been launched to the dialog.”
On the naked minimal, the commissioner’s preliminary response ought to have been to instantly denounce the racism, homophobia, and different types of bigotry that WNBA gamers have confronted within the league this season. In a great world, it could have prolonged even additional, delineating how the league plans to mitigate the net harassment gamers have endured, and the way their well-being comes initially. (The Sky, for instance, launched an AI marketing campaign to stop on-line harassment and bullying this season).
As a substitute, Engelbert used the second as a chance to debate how the rivalry between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese has been financially profitable, failing to handle the darker corners of the web that it is delivered to the forefront. Cathy Engelbert can’t be held liable for the conduct of each fan, however to denounce these behaviors needs to be a no brainer.
Moreover, by telling gamers to easily ignore the feedback, Engelbert signaled that she’s not taking the difficulty at hand severely sufficient — and never acknowledging that it extends far past simply imply feedback. We’ve seen disgusting photographs of Black WNBA gamers’ faces pasted onto the victims of police brutality amongst loads of different nasty, hateful feedback on-line, however there have additionally been incidents the place that hate has prolonged offline, whether or not it’s Sky gamers getting harassed exterior of their motels, or worse.
In her new podcast, “Unapologetically Angel”, Reese make clear a few of what she’s encountered when requested about her rivalry with Clark:
“Caitlin is an incredible participant, and I’ve all the time thought that she’s an incredible participant, so I actually suppose it’s simply the followers – her followers, the Iowa followers, now the Indiana followers. They trip for her, and I respect that, respectfully. However typically it’s very disrespectful, and I feel there’s a number of racism in relation to it, and I don’t consider she stands on any of that. However in relation to loss of life threats – like I’m speaking about folks come all the way down to my tackle, following me house, it comes all the way down to that. A number of events folks have made AI photos of me bare, actually. They’ve despatched it to my relations, uncles are sending it to me, like ‘are you bare on Instagram?’ It sucks to see that, and it’s actually arduous that I’ve to undergo that, and now seeing different gamers having to undergo that, however like on the finish of the day it’s a sport that we do each love, however there isn’t a hate.”
It’s potential that Engelbert didn’t know that Reese, amongst others, has needed to take care of loss of life threats, folks following her, and other people producing bare AI photos of her. If that’s the case, it’s her job to get knowledgeable and in control on what ladies within the league are coping with. To decide on to brush it apart as a result of it’s the simpler factor to do is unacceptable.
Whereas many WNBA gamers didn’t explicitly touch upon Engelbert’s remarks, a number of despatched out well timed tweets that appeared to react to the surfacing quote, together with Michaela Onyenwere and Brianna Turner of the Chicago Sky, Alysha Clark, Queen Egbo and Sydney Colson of the Las Vegas Aces, and DiJonai Carrington of the Connecticut Solar.
My eye have to be deceiving me bc ain’t no method
— Brianna Turner (@_Breezy_Briii) September 10, 2024
Turner additionally tweeted: “I stand in opposition to all types of discrimination, hatred, and bias, particularly in reference to sports activities. The intersection of racism and sports activities ought to all the time be rejected. No platform is simply too massive or too small to face for the precise factor. No excuses.”
On condition that the league is at such a vital second of progress, the results of the commissioner’s phrases (or lack thereof) might have a long-lasting impression. It’s vital at this second that gamers really feel protected by the league — a minimum of as a lot as potential. And, it’s necessary that the followers who interact in these behaviors don’t really feel empowered to proceed. A repudiation of a few of what the gamers have needed to take care of would have been the naked minimal. As a substitute, Engelbert utterly handed on the chance.
