By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
(Trice Edney Wire) – A few days ago, Angel Reese finished a game with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She tied Candace Parker for most consecutive double-doubles in a season. She was the youngest player in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to have nine consecutive double-doubles. Now the average person might have no idea who Angel Reese is and why I am writing about a basketball player when I so often write about women who were civil and human rights subjects.
Well, even if you don’t like basketball, you do understand historically the difference in treatment for African American women and other women—especially white women.
If you don’t know who Angel Reese is, as a daughter of Louisiana, I know her from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I know her as a super star basketball player. I know her as a young woman who earned her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with concentrations and minors in Communication Studies, Leadership Development and Psychology. In her two seasons at LSU, Angel was unstoppable, earning All-America honors both seasons. While at LSU, she received all kinds of top awards.
Angel is now with the Chicago Sky. Just a few days ago Angel’s team won over Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever team—a team Angel’s team won over the Indiana Fever by a score of 88-87. The game came to be known as “The rookie battle between Reese and Clark.” Until that observation, the game was just a game between the Sky and the Fever. After all, there were other young women playing and donated to the score of both teams.
It’s obvious some of the critics want to promote a battle between Angel and Caitlin. Both young women are obviously great players, but being an African American woman, I can see the attempt by some to make Angel the “bad guy.” She’s not. Refuse to listen to the critics who are doing their best to put the young women up against each other and praise both for their talent! Angel has expressed her frustration with what she sees as preferential treatment toward Clark. She said, “It feels like Caitlin gets all the attention and praise, while the rest of us work just as hard.”
My advice to Angel is, “Don’t allow the disparate treatment to prevent you from doing your very best every time you go on the basketball court. Black women are accustomed to the disparate treatment no matter what we do, so just don’t worry about what is said in the media. Just focus on doing what you do, and let the media do what they do.”
President Joe Biden spoke after he was rated badly in the Presidential debate a few days ago, but he didn’t quit. He gave the best advice in North Carolina at a massive rally. He said, “When you fall down, just get up.” In the eyes of those of us who know Angel and know how talented she is, will pull for her every time she goes on the court. We don’t care about her critics. We love her, admire her and know she’ll be a true star in the WNBA! Among the women we know who love basketball also know great skill when we see it. Angel has got it and we are her eternal fan club! “There are young women across the world who see Angel and want to be like her. She’s the inspiration so many Black youth need. I pray that she’ll never stop being the real star she is. I know I’m a member of ‘Angel’s Fan Club.’”
It’s my wish that she never forgets the great influence she’s having on young people and that she’ll remind them of the urgency of voting.
