Angel Reese is a Black woman in America. Remember that

Viewership for women’s college basketball is at an all- time high, but not everyone watching has the cultural, social and political aptitude to take in all aspects of the game, including how a player’s identity shapes commentary around it.

Louisiana State University’s Angel Reese is publicly bearing the brunt of that reality ( again). The superstar just announced that she’s declaring for the

WNBA draft. And she did so in style — as an exclusive in Vogue. It would be nice if that story were the only one about Reese on everyone’s lips. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.

Instead, that news occurred at the same time she was being attacked for comments she made during a press conference after LSU lost to Iowa.

Through tears, Reese pleaded for her humanity and discussed how she “stands strong” despite receiving “death threats,” being “sexualized” and not feeling at “peace” since winning the national championship in 2023.

Many, including her White teammate Hailey Van Lith, have acknowledged that the root of Reese’s mistreatment is racism. “We do have a lot of Black women on this team, and unfortunately, that bias does exist still today, and a lot of the people that are making those comments are being racist towards my teammates,” she said to reporters last month. “I’m in a unique situation where I see with myself, I’ll talk trash and I’ll get a different reaction than if Angel talks trash.”

Others, including Fox Sports analyst Emmanuel Acho, took precious air time to essentially call Reese a sore loser and to remind her that she’s the villain in the situation. He prefaced his comments by saying he was doing a “gender- neutral, racially indifferent take.” But, as Acho’s cohost Joy Taylor pointedly put it: “Who made her the villain?”

The answer to that question is why viewing sports through a race-, gender- or class- neutral lens disregards how competition can magnify social inequity.

Let’s start with race and gender. Last year, when a passionate Reese won against an equally impassioned Caitlin Clark, Reese waved one hand in front of her face in a gesture that wrestler John Cena made popular. It wasn’t a problem when Cena

( a White man) did it, but it was when Reese ( a Black woman) did it to Clark ( a White woman).

Reese vulnerably shared her experiences of misogynoir since that moment and, in return, was met with more of it. Moya Bailey coined the term to capture the specific “hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against Black women.” ( White people aren’t the only ones who engage in this.)

The money pouring into college players through name, image and likeness ( NIL) deals adds another reality for Black women.

Reese is one of the highest NIL earners in college sport. According to NIL analysis site On3, she’s at $ 1.8 million a year. Critics attempted to use her NIL earnings as a valid reason for why she should remain silent about her disparaging experiences.

Expecting her to isolate the pain of racist, sexist and lifethreatening commentary because she has financial success is ludicrous. Implicit in that is the idea that women’s sports should tolerate misogyny in exchange for viewership. As analysts and fans develop an affinity for women’s basketball, they must consider how their “hot takes” could participate in the objectification of women, especially Black women.

Last year, Angel’s celebration was picked apart, and this year, some thought she didn’t accept her loss in the right way. Black women athletes are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

Are there things for which Reese can be critiqued as a basketball player? Yes. She’s not asking for special treatment. She has a very reasonable request: to be treated humanely.

Like many Black girls and young Black women, Reese’s oncourt persona is labeled “hood,” “bad,” a “villain”, and she is not afforded the protections of ( White) girlhood and ( White) womanhood. Black women’s presence in sporting spaces has a longer history of resistance — but does this need to continue to be the case? One day, I hope not.

For now, we have something equally important: a young prominent athlete decided that she wasn’t going to adhere to the harmful “strong Black woman” stereotype. The LSU and Iowa game is already celebrated and cemented in history as a significant moment, but Reese’s comments were just as monumental.

My hope is that future athletes who see themselves in her will tune out the naysayers and focus instead on everyone else who supported her — and recognize that they, too, are worthy of protection and support.