Caitlin Clark spoke about white privilege, and the belief that she’s benefitted from it, during an interview with Time Magazine after being named the publication’s Athlete of The Year. Clark’s comments caused quite a stir across the media landscape, and now the WNBA star is clarifying the point she was trying to make while addressing her critics.
“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Caitlin Clark said in her Athlete of the Year interview. “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…”I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
Clark has – or in this case, had – completely stayed out of political and cultural conversations during her young career, so her formally addressing the race-obsessed crowd that has been hyper-focused on her white skin was a punch to the gut to the common-sense having crowd that recognizes that the color of Clark’s skin has nothing to do with her story or successes.
Given that we’re living in the year 2024, however, it was a matter of when, not if, Clark would jump into the exhausting conversation about race and present a feeling of guilt about being a white girl in a league dominated by minorities.
Political commentator Megyn Kelly was among the group that was most critical of Clark’s white privilege comments, and even labeled them as being fake and condescending.
With Kelly being a conservative, everything she writes or says gets criticized by the same group of folks who have been screaming for Clark to bend the knee, and her comments about the Indiana Fever star quickly made the rounds on social media.
READ: Sheryl Swoopes Reacts To Caitlin Clark As TIME Athlete Of The Year, Wants To Know The Criteria
Clark took the stage in New York City on Wednesday night to reflect on being named Time’s Athlete of the Year, and was predictably asked about Kelly’s comments specifically.
“I feel like I always have had good perspective on everything that’s kind of happened in my life, whether that’s been good, whether that’s been bad and then obviously coming to the WNBA — like I said, I feel like I’ve earned every single thing that’s happened to me over the course of my career,” Clark told NBC Sports host Maria Taylor on stage.
“But I also I grew up a fan of this league from a very young age. My favorite player was Maya Moore. I know what this league was about … it’s only been around 25-plus years, and so I know there has been so many amazing black women that have been in this league — and continuing to uplift them is very important and that’s something I’m very aware of.”
“I try to just be real and authentic and share my truth and I think that’s very easy for me,” Clark continued. “I’m very comfortable in my own skin and that’s kind of how it’s been my entire life.”
Caitlin Clark Stayed Away From The ‘White Privilege’ Talk As Long As She Could
The key takeaway from this exhausting topic is that Clark could have avoided it entirely, just as she managed to do throughout her college career and rookie year in the WNBA. Now, she’s in a lose-lose situation after starting the conversation about ‘white privilege as a WNBA player.’
The crowd obsessed with shouting about oppression and inequality will latch on to her using the word ‘privilege’ in an interview and will beg her to do so every time she steps in front of a microphone.
The WNBA has never been more popular than it is today, and that reality has practically everything to do with Clark’s style and abilities, but her essentially apologizing for being a Caucasian woman could certainly slow down momentum.
Being the most popular female basketball player on the planet and steering clear of anything considered to be remotely controversial sounds like an incredible way to live, but not even Clark could stay away from the never-ending cycle in today’s media.
