Why Racism Won’t Let Black Women Like Angel Reese Enjoy The Limelight
Why White feminism and misogynoir always show up to downplay the accomplishments of Black women.
This past weekend Louisiana State University beat the University of Iowa in the women's NCAA tournament final to win their first championship. It was a historical win, to see LSU take the stage and win the title was a proud moment for many Black people across the globe. However, the LSU Tigers' dominance and great accomplishments are being overshadowed by two agents of racism; White feminism and misogynoir.
It seems that whenever Black women are vocal and expressive of their emotions—good or bad—they get criticised for being their unapologetic and authentic selves. LSU player Angel Reese was undoubtedly fantastic throughout the tournament as she was named the 2023 Women's Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Though when Angel showcased her emotions and competitive nature the internet was outraged, outraged to see a Black woman win and receive her flowers.
Society will attempt to find any avenue to attack Black women when we are expressive of our emotions. It happened to Angel Reese when she was labelled as “classless”, and “disrespectful” for pointing her ring finger and making a “you can’t see me” gesture to her opponent Caitlin Clark. Reese was condemned for bad sportsmanship, but her opponent, Clark, of Iowa was not criticized when she made the exact same gesture. Some may say that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's competitiveness wrongly is being made about race, but that is the reality of it, it is about race. As a White player, Caitlin Clark did not receive backlash for making the “you can’t see me” gesture to Angel Reese she was perceived as being competitive. But for Angel Reese, the same standards don't apply because she is a Black woman, who has achieved an outstanding accomplishment, in a society that does not like to give Black women praise. So instead of congratulating Angel Reese society decided to police Angel Reese for doing the same thing her White opponent Caitlin Clark did.
This is the pinnacle of how racism always permeates itself into spaces where Black women simply exist without disrupting anyone. Because of racism and sexism Black women face misogynoir. There is an ingrained prejudice in society's mind to downplay anything a Black woman does or doesn't do. For Angel Reese to be condemned by critics as unprofessional is a double standard when non-Black players quite frankly do the same actions as she did; simply being expressive.
Racism won't let Angel Reese enjoy the limelight because of White feminism. LSU is a team with a majority of Black players and that fact bothers people because large parts of society do not want to see Black women reach new heights. They expect Black women to sit down in silence and seek White validation. Although, Black women will no longer sit in silence and be hushed by racism. When Black women love themselves and on their own accord, racism rumbles because racism cannot survive without whiteness being the centre of attention.
On Monday, Jill Biden congratulated both teams for their Sunday performances.
“Last night, I attended the NCAA women’s basketball championship,” said Biden, while speaking at an event at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver.
“So I know we’ll have the champions come to the White House, we always do. So, we hope LSU will come but, you know, I’m going to tell Joe [Biden] I think Iowa should come, too, because they played such a good game.” (Via CNN)
The First Lady's suggestion to invite Iowa is the perfect example of White feminism because even as national champions, LSU is being denied the opportunity to shine. Inviting the University of Iowa to the White House is a slap in the face to LSU because once again Black women would have to share the stage with the runner-up and White women's feelings would be re-directed to centre stage.
Even though Jill Biden's press secretary walked back on the comment about inviting Iowa to the White House, saying that she meant to applaud “all women athletes” it still downplays the accomplishments of the LSU team because putting the word all diminishes Black women's existence as Black women have a nuanced experience and cannot be clumped into the category of all.
Iowa’s Caitlin Clark said Tuesday that Iowa shouldn’t be invited to the White House.
“I don’t think runner-ups usually go to the White House. I think LSU should enjoy that moment for them and congratulations, obviously, they deserve to go there. Maybe I could go to the White House on different terms though,” Clark said. “That’s for LSU. That’s a pretty cool moment and they should enjoy every single second of being a champion.” (Via CNN)
To divert the attention to Iowa is directly downplaying the accomplishments of the Black women on LSU's team. Racism should not be able to sweep through and water down LSU's title win.
It is important to acknowledge and call out racism when it permeates itself into every space where Black women exist and makes their presence felt. The backlash towards Angel Reese clearly showcases some members of society's stance on their attitudes towards seeing Black women succeed. Our success and our presence on the main stage under the bright lights clearly makes people uncomfortable because of the abrasiveness towards Blackness. People will continue to downplay the achievements of Black athletes under respectability politics, misogynoir and prejudice but Blackness will always prevail. The Louisiana State Tigers should enjoy their title win without racism's jealousy.
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