In the Fiercest Defense of Angel Reese
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Being a Black female athlete means understanding that the win justifies the means…
If you’ve been living under a rock or aren’t a sports fan (which I can relate to), I will briefly explain who Angel Reese is and why we’re here.
Angel Reese is a 20-year-old American college basketball player for the LSU Tigers. But, as fate (and talent) would have it, she actually helped lead the team to victory against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the Big Ten Conference.
Nevertheless, rather than being able to relax and enjoy her W, she has been the center of controversy for engaging in the same competitive antics as players of virtually all sports. Mainly, she did the “you can’t see me” motion, which involves waving your hand in front of your face to signal to someone else that they ‘can’t see you,’ or in other words, they can’t compete with you.
What’s particularly troubling about this instance is that she is being demonized for a playful antic used as a light-hearted way to promote the game.
Even more curious is the fact that Caitlyn Clark from the Iowa Hawkeyes was captured using this signal several times during the game as well. However, while Caitlyn was called cool and competitive for using it, Angel was called classless and tacky for using the very same action during the very same game.
What’s so Different?
So many people are racist, complacent, or in denial that they are attempting to make excuses for why this blatant hypocrisy is occurring. Nevertheless, if you’re honest with yourself, the only difference between what Angel and Caitlyn did is that Angel is a young Black woman while doing it.
This speaks to a more significant societal issue that penalizes Black women for succeeding and being great. Black women are not allowed to be openly competitive and proud of their wins. Instead, this typically leads to them being called masculine, undesirable, overly aggressive, difficult, etc.
