Why is Angel Reese the Villain? Black Women in Basketball
Title IX was passed in 1972 as an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965. The legislation does not mention sports, but Title IX led to a dramatic increase in the number of women who compete in amateur and professional athletics. Long before Title IX, HBCUs had been early supporters of women’s involvement in sports. This law increased opportunities to compete as athletes and also opened doors to African American women as coaches and administrators.
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), was founded in 1996 with eight teams and has since expanded. As the game evolved throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, black women have helped the game reach unprecedented heights as both players and coaches. In 2023, over 60 percent of players in the Women’s National Basketball Association were African American.
Lusia Mae Harris (February 10, 1955 — January 18, 2022) was the first black woman to play basketball and an American professional basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women’s basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977.
Black women continued to play basketball throughout the 1930s and 1940s, they could not enjoy many opportunities that the game afforded Black men, including national recognition and real money. The history of American basketball tells a compelling story about athletic competition in a nation struggling to live up to its ideals of gender equity. Basketball is a sport transformed by the presence of African Americans and other non-white players. It offers cultural and social changes in the United States.
African American women such as Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Lusia Harris, Tina Charles, Seimone Augustus, Candice Parker, Angel Goodrich, Maya Moore, A’ja Riyadh Wilson, Alysha Angelica Clark, and yes Angel Reese have put the presence of female power in full view.
Angel Reese is an American professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky of the Women’s National Basketball Association. She played college basketball at LSU and Maryland. Reese attended Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was awarded McDonald’s All-American honors in 2020 and was ranked the number two player in her class by ESPN. Angel Reese comes from a family of basketball players. Reese’s mother, Angel Reese Webb played college basketball for UMBC, where she was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame and her number 10 jersey was retired. She later played professionally in Luxembourg. Michael Reese, her father, played basketball for Boston College and Loyola (Maryland) before embarking on a professional career in Luxembourg, Cyprus, Austria and Portugal. Her younger brother, Julian, plays college basketball for Maryland and competed for St. Frances Academy. Reese’s stepbrother, Mikael Hopkins, is a professional basketball player. Her cousin, Jordan Hawkins, plays in the NBA and helped the UConn Huskies men’s team win the 2023 NCAA championship.
The National Organization for Women issued a statement on April 2, 2024 stating “Women deserve a safe space to do their jobs. Before the end of this tournament, TV commentators, social media influencers, and all those who profit from women’s sports need to step up and show they care about women athletes and their fans alike. Stop the hate and let these women play sports.”
As I was doing research for this article, most articles spoke mostly of another player when researching Angel Reese or black women in the league. Why? Is it impossible to talk about Angel Reese without mentioning other players? Commentators and influencers speak about new fans and a certain player putting the WNBA on the map and it’s simply not true. I have been a fan of the WNBA for a long time and I started watching Angel Reese when she was made a villain for doing the same thing as another certain player. When commentators talk about why there are new fans and new money for the WNBA, I feel like saying “ain’t nobody coming to see you Otis”. The WNBA is bigger than one player. Black Women have contributed to the league vastly and make up over 60% of the league.
Second, what money? Women are still being paid less than men in the league and they play twice as hard.
Let’s look at the real issues, systematic racism and gender equality. Yes, in 2024 systematic racism still exists, loud and louder. Black women in sports face double discrimination. Simone Biles, Sha’carria Richardson, Brittney Grimes and others have all faced the racism that Angel Reese has had to endure. Title IX exists but does not address the need towards race and gender in its totality.
Angel Reese is dominating and deserves to be recognized for her contribution to the league (and her community) along with A’ja Wilson, Kamilla Cardoso, Chennedy Carter, Allisha Gray, Cheyanne Parker, Tina Charles and Naz Hillmon.
I applaud all of them and wish them nothing but success. Let’s stop the hate, pay the players along with our teachers (that’s a topic for a different day) an equitable wage and let them play the game.
Signed A Strong and Proud Black Woman of Color
Triana Arnold James
Resources:
https://aaregistry.org/story/black-women-are-changing-pro-basketball
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusia_Harris
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/leveling-playing-field-womens-basketball
