Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson & The Attack on the Black Female Athlete Image by the Mainstream

Written by Alberta Parish

Angel Reese & A'ja Wilson 

I knew deep down inside that this day would come, and I dreaded it. I knew the day would come when I was no longer a fan of Caitlin Clark. There's no need for me to go back to the very beginning of when I first began following Clark's career. Instead, let's start at the point when I began condemning Indiana Fever fans (Caitlin Clark fans) for racism, homophobia and misogyny against Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson, and other black WNBA players, and Caitlin's passive attitude towards what she saw clearly happening to her colleagues, and even her own teammates.

The coordinated effort by major networks, and other smaller media groups, many of which pay multiple content creators to produce videos & posts for YouTube and X, daily attacking the integrity, character, professional reputation, and brand of multiple black and lesbian athletes in the WNBA made me look at Caitlin Clark differently for perhaps the first time. The lofty ideals that I once held for Clark has dissipated in the face of online racial onslaughts aimed at me by her fans, attacking my integrity, and even my genuineness as a former fan of Caitlin. 

Today, I see her as just another rich person...another person who has become part of the problem. These conservative voices out there that she knows about along with the major social media personalities uses her as a proxy to push agendas denigrating and undervaluing the success of Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson and black women who helped build a league that she's now part of, and whom many of her fans have never respected due to the color of their skin. In June of last year when she finally spoke to reporters, it felt like her response to everything happening around her was a bit too late. It seemed like she didn't really want to give a statement, but was pressed by a black reporter before finally caving. Many of her now conservative fanboys and fangirls, who are not real fans of the W, have kept their vicious attacks at a minimum over the past 20 years until Caitlin Clark entered the W. Some of them are reporters who have covered the W, who have devolved into what they are today.

Caitlin's passiveness in not being more vocal in speaking out against various content creators and networks using her as their mascot is another reminder that people like her can't be trusted.

Something clearly happened at the Chicago Sky/Indiana Fever matchup on May 17, 2025 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse despite the WNBA's investigation into racist fan conduct, which the league later ruled as unsubstantiated. 

Since then, I've watched Angel Reese get battered by the press and social media, and also by various content creators, many of which are paid opposition, promoted by the smaller media groups to target Angel Reese and other black female athletes, often accusing the WNBA of targeting Caitlin Clark because she's white. But the athletes I see consistently targeted by her fans and the media is Angel Reese, A'ja Wilson, and DiJonai Carrington. I believe the only reason Kamilla Cardoso isn't being targeted on the same level as Angel Reese right now is because Cardoso starred alongside Caitlin Clark and Kiki Rice in ESPN's documentary, Full Court Press.

While Caitlin Clark's fans cry how the handling of the racist fan conduct investigation by the WNBA is an act of incompetence and racism against Indiana Fever fans and Caitlin Clark, they continuously target the image, reputation, professional character, and integrity of black and lesbian athletes, drawing more negative attention to themselves. Today, Simone Biles is the new target. Who's next? 

Clark's silence at the wrong time when she could be aggressively vocal and demand an end of misogynoir against black WNBA players, namely Angel Reese and A'ja Wilson, and not when it's convenient to make her look good in the press is the most concerning part about all of this. While the media has gone on an absolute witch hunt against Angel Reese, Clark's conveniently playing the role of the good girl or the innocent one, consistently playing the victim just like at the post game press conference following the flagrant 1 foul call she received for the take foul on Angel Reese at the first Sky/Fever matchup. But just nine months ago, it was convenient for her to praise black women to TIME magazine? Meanwhile, at a time when her voice and platform could be very influential in stopping the current racist memes, tropes, and AI-altered images of Angel Reese in the real world, she's conveniently silent. Right now, her fans are really bad for the WNBA. As her silence becomes more deafening, her silence also gives them more ammunition to add fuel to an already burning house, which will probably have major consequences in the future. But she's the type of person who would probably see me as the threat. "How dare you?" she'd probably say.

This Golden Goose that I once looked up to and admired is a disappointment. Just another manufactured superstar like LeBron James playing a role even down to her signings of autographs. Nothing she says out of her mouth at a post game press conference or at practice when speaking to reporters can I truly believe, and take at face value.

I saw her at the Indiana Fever/Atlanta Dream game on Tuesday, and looked at her while she was conveniently self-controlled for once during a game. Not all the antics she got away with during the Fever/Sky rematch on June 7th inside the United Center. This rematch was the 3rd highest rated televised game of the season, over 19,000 spectators in attendance. But Clark didn't play.

While Clark has been skipping around at Pacers' games and getting in the faces of referees at Fever games, her team now has a 2-3 record without her. Many people believe Caitlin Clark still could've played basketball, and helped her team win games despite having a minor strain in her quad muscle.

Caitlin Clark is not bigger than the league, and the moment her fans realize she is not, perhaps, they will become real fans of the W.

The End