Caitlin Clark Denounces Use of Her Name for Racism and Misogyny: ‘People Should Not Be Using My Name to Push Those Agendas’

Caitlin Clark is finally calling for the fans using her name to stoke the flames of racism and misogyny to stop.

via Complex:

Before Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Dream, the Indiana Fever rookie, 22, told the Athletic’s James Boyd that she disapproved of anyone misusing her name to justify their own prejudices.

“I think it’s disappointing. I think everybody in our world deserves the same amount of respect,” said Clark. “The women in our league deserve the same amount of respect. So people should not be using my name to push those agendas. It’s disappointing, it’s not acceptable.”

Clark continued, “This league is a league I grew up admiring and wanting to be a part of. Some of the women in this league were my biggest idols and role models growing up and helped me wanting to achieve this moment right here that I get to play in every single night. Just treating every single woman in this league with the same amount of respect—I think it’s just a basic human thing that everybody should do.”

“Just be a kind person and treat them, you know, how you would want to be treated. I think it’s very simple,” she added.

As noted by USA Today’s Mike Freeman, the outrage from Clark being left off the U.S. Olympic team may have kicked off a “culture war” based on discussions surrounding the player outside of basketball.

Freeman argues that many right-wing commentators, who generally show no real knowledge or interest in women’s basketball, have been exploiting Clark’s circumstances to stoke racial and cultural tensions. These commentators have been supposedly focused on the idea that Clark was excluded from the Olympic team because she is white.

Sportscaster Dan Dakich, 61, agrees that Clark is “being targeted.”

“There’s a little bit of racism or sexism in there, you know, straight white girl, okay, but that ain’t it to me,” said Dakich to TMZ Sports prior to the Olympics snub.

During last Friday’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the 68-year-old commentator placed some blame on Clark’s teammates.

“Women’s basketball got on my radar — like everybody’s — because of Caitlin Clark,” Maher said, per Page Six. “And the other girls and the league are delighted for her success. … I’m joking of course.

They fucking hate her.”He continued, “It’s not always racism when a white person succeeds. It’s also not always racism when black people hip-check them either. Both are at play. I think it’s natural for a mega-star to come in and people say, ‘I’m kind of tired of hearing about it.’”

“Women are catty. The league is very lesbian and she’s not, and there’s race,” he added. “There’s a lot going on.”

During Thursday’s shootaround, Clark said what people say about her in these conversations are out of her control.

“So I don’t put too much thought and time into thinking about things like that, and to be honest, I don’t see a lot of it,” said Clark, per the Athletic. “Like I said, basketball is my job. Everything on the outside, I can’t control that, so I’m not going to spend time thinking about that.”

Her response drew criticism from Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, 26, who argued that ignoring the misuse of one’s name is problematic.

“Dawg. How one can not be bothered by their name being used to justify racism, bigotry, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia & the intersectionalities of them all is nuts,” Carrington wrote on X on Thursday. “We all see the sh*t. We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury.”

We’re glad she finally spoke out — but it definitely took her long enough.

The post Caitlin Clark Denounces Use of Her Name for Racism and Misogyny: ‘People Should Not Be Using My Name to Push Those Agendas’ appeared first on LOVEBSCOTT.