Great White Hope and the Double Standard of Race in Sports

I'm an avid sports fan. As a native Bostonian, growing up, I followed all of the teams and still do. The Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics are my teams, whether they win or lose. Basketball is my favorite sport. I grew up during the era of the Celtics and Lakers rivalry. Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Larry Bird, Robert Parrish, Cedric Maxwell, Dennis Johnson, and Danny Ainge were household names in the Boston Garden. As a kid, I sat at my father's knee as he watched the games. He later took me out on the court and taught me how to shoot layups, foul shots, and jumpers. I went on to play basketball and run track in high school. My parents instilled in me a hunger for winning, so to say I’m competitive would be an understatement. I was determined to win on the court, the track, and the classroom.

Gender Bias

When you are a competitor, you talk trash. Michael Jordan was the ultimate smack-talker on the court. Even in his hall of fame speech, he talked about his fierce competitiveness. No one could check him, so he’s arguably the GOAT. Has anyone talked about Jordan or any other male player talking trash? Nope! Because they're men.

When men show their competitive edge, it's appropriate, but when women do it, it’s not.

If it weren’t for gender bias, there’s no way the vitriol and venom being spewed about Angel Reese after LSU won the women's basketball championship would have occurred if she was a man.

For those that don’t watch basketball, at the end of the championship game, LSU star forward Angel Reese waved her hand in front of her face, stared at Iowa guard Caitlin Clark and pointed toward her ring finger. The image of that gesture and her hand over her face letting Caitlin know “you can’t see me,” has sparked outrage in sports around the world. ?And the 20-year-old young Black woman who led her school to its first-ever championship is called classless, ghetto, and a thug.

When asked about the gesture after the game, she defended her response and stated, ?

“All year, I was critiqued for who I was. I don’t fit the narrative. I don’t fit the box that ya’ll want me to be in. I’m too ‘hood. I’m too ghetto. Ya’ll told me that all year.,” Then in reference to Clark, she added, “ When other people do it, ya’ll don’t say nothing. So, this is for the girls that look like me. For those that want to speak up for what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you.”

Reese refers to the fact that Caitlin Clark made the same “ you can't see me” gesture against Louisville and South Carolina.

Clark is arguably a great player, but she’s no Rebecca Lobo. She’s earned the right to talk trash. But there appears to be a double standard when a white player claps back and when a Black player does the same thing. Clark is called confident and brash. Yet Reese is classless and ghetto.

Great White Hope

The expression Great White Hope from the early 1900s is based on heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. He fought against other boxers and had to deal with racism and discrimination. Fans were so resentful of his success inside the ring that they searched for a white boxer, a great white hope, to defeat him.

Whenever there is a great White player in a sport dominated by Blacks, they are often referred to as the Great White Hope. These players can do no wrong. They are adored and praised by the masses. The media loves them. Over the years, A few notable Great White Hopes have emerged, including Larry Bird, Christian Laettner, and Bill Walton. Now Clark joins the ranks.

Racial Bias

Racial bias in sports has always existed. Even though the majority of teams in football and basketball are Black, disparate treatment of the players exists in relation to opportunity and punishment.

Colin Kaepernick lost his football career because he kneeled in response to police brutality. Serena Williams was fined $10,000 for breaking her racket. Yet Andre Agassi was fined only $3000 for spitting and swearing at a referee. Michael Vick went to jail for dog fighting, but Ben Roethlisberger, a rapist, never spent a day in jail. As a Michigan alum, I recall the Fab Five called thugs because they wore long, baggy shorts. While teams like Duke and UNC were good guys.

Now that Black women are dominating women's basketball, we see the same tropes evolving. Black women are street fighters, where White women are confident competitors. ?

?South Carolina's Coach Dawn Staley addressed it in her post-game comments by putting the media on notice; I see and hear what you’re saying about us.

?

"We're not bar fighters. We're not thugs. We're not monkeys. We're not street fighters. ... So watch what you say when you're in public and you're talking about my team in particular. Just watch what you say about our team because it's wrong. You've got young lives who are really — if you really knew them, if you really knew them, like you really want to know other players that represent this game, you would think differently. So don't judge us by the color of our skin. Judge us by how we approach the game."

Even with fifty years of women's athletics behind us, there are still challenges in the perception and opportunities between Black and White players. Historically, sports have been the great equalizer, ?when people of all races have put their differences aside for the love of the game. ?

As more players like Angel Reese and Lebron James and coaches like Steve Kerr and Dawn Staley speak out, hopefully, the playing field will begin to level, and athletes will be able to play hard for the love of the game without being scrutinized and stereotyped.

About The Perry Report:

The Perry Report newsletter is a monthly LinkedIn newsletter dedicated to stimulating conversations on race, equity, leadership, and everything in between. The newsletter is authored by Dr.Venessa Marie Perry, psychologist, writer, consultant, executive coach, and speaker. Venessa’s work focuses on partnering with people and organizations that want to advance racial equity through systematic, institutional, community-based, and societal change. If you want to learn more about our work and how we can assist you, visit us?here.

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