The Angel Reese Controversy
Exemplifying the Negative Ramifications of Sportsmanship’s Racist, Sexist Origins
Emma Ward
Sept 2023
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images via NPR
In the 2023 NCAA Women’s Basketball Finals, Louisiana State University’s star player, Angel Reese, who is black, was attacked by the media and labeled “classless” by sports journalist Jose de Jesus Ortiz and by the founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, after she taunted one of her opponents by waving her hand in front of her face and pointing to her (championship) ring finger. On social media, people erupted in fury, pointing out that when Reese’s opponent, Caitlyn Clark, who is white, taunted her opponents using the exact same hand waving gesture a few games earlier in the tournament, she was praised by the media, and even had an ESPN segment dedicated to her, titled “The Queen of Clapbacks.”
This incident is the most recent example of both the more obvious and more subtle effects of the origin of sportsmanship. For years, scholars have studied how the white origin of the term “sportsmanship” has led to a discrepancy in the perception of sportsmanship among athletes of color. What was created as a white male concept has caused different standards of acceptable conduct for black and white, as well as male and female, athletes to emerge across different sports. In the past, a similar controversy surrounded the actions of one of tennis’s biggest stars: Serena Williams, a black female who was constantly attacked by the media for her displays of aggression. In her essay titled “Serena Williams and (the Perception of) Violence: Intersectionality, the Performance of Blackness, and Women’s Professional Tennis,” Kristi Tredway notes that Williams’ “performance of blackness disrupts the expert tennis imaginary” (1563), also noting the “lack of racial diversity within tennis places her actions under hyper surveillance” (1569). Further discussing how Williams is more susceptible to criticism for her actions due to not fitting in with tennis’s white, upper-class culture, Louisiana State University sociologist Lori Latrice Martin explained, “[Williams’] body type and power-filled performances do not necessarily conform to expectations…in tennis…where few black women, until recently, have played in substantial numbers in great success” (91).
While tennis is a historically white, elitist sport, and still is to some degree, basketball is less elitist and is dominated by athletes of color. While there has been research conducted on the discrepancies in penalty calling and media representation of sportsmanship among white and non-white athletes, my paper aims to discover if perceptions of sportsmanship differ among male and female athletes—and to explore how being both black and a woman leads to an athlete being more scrutinized by the media for displaying “unsportsmanlike” behavior. I compare the differences between the prevalence of penalties called against black female athletes who play historically white sports, such as tennis, to those of athletes who play historically less white sports, such as basketball. I will further analyze the media’s reaction to the Reese controversy and connect it to Williams’ situation to help unpack the notion that women, especially black women, are held to a higher standard of sportsmanlike conduct, which even varies among different sports; this double standard emerges from the origin of the term, along with the stereotype of the “Angry Black Woman” (Jones and Norwood) that surrounds black women who display aggression.
Before dissecting these discrepancies, it is important to look into the history of sportsmanship as it pertains to race, gender, and aggression. Professor of cultural history Malcolm McLaughlin details the history of sportsmanship, explaining how the term originated in the early 1900s when it was promoted by outdoor magazines and created a new idea of citizenship in the U.S. that mainly pertained to the northeastern white male elite. Sportsmanship was related to ideas of “individualism, fellowship, and social responsibility” (841) that pertained to upper class males, and eventually, it was adopted by the emerging middle class. Both the elite and middle classes at this time were predominantly white. The white-male-upper class origin of the term has led to current standards of sportsmanlike behavior to be linked to the behavior of white, upper-class individuals. Further, outdoor sports were masculine activities, and the use of “man” in the word “sportsmanship” implies this term originally pertained to the conduct of men, excluding women.
Weston Robertson further considers how the origin of the term causes actions associated with authentic black culture to be viewed as unsportsmanlike conduct in his thesis titled For the Love of the White Man’s Game: An Analysis of Race in Contemporary Major League Baseball. He explains the “white way” (29) to play baseball, which emerged from baseball’s origins as America’s “national pastime” (29). In discussing some of the unwritten rules of baseball, which include “chivalrous and orderly behaviors” (46) such as shaking hands, respecting opponents, and prohibiting deception or fighting, Robertson reveals how baseball’s conduct is based in white culture. Robertson points to non-white players who have been criticized for not sticking to this traditional culture of baseball, including those who flip their bats after a great hit. Further dissecting this double standard, author of the book Playing While White: Privilege and Power on and off the Field, Washington State University professor David J. Leonard wrote “To be a white athlete is to ‘play the right way’” and that “[while] black athletes are blamed for the intrusion of toxic values, the trash-talking of white athletes is either ignored or celebrated as evidence of their passion for the game and competitiveness” (qtd. in Freeman).
Understanding why black female athletes are held to the highest standard of sportsmanlike conduct requires not only discussing why and how black athletes are held to higher standards of sportsmanship, but also learning why and how female athletes are more heavily criticized. Susan J. Birrell, a professor of American Studies at the University of Iowa, studied how the ideal of sportsmanship varies among male and female athletes. She first discussed the origin of women in sports, quoting feminist Jan Felshin, who, in the early 1970s, stated “male domination and pervading discrimination [in sports] must be challenged, and so must the ethic of sport as men have defined it” (467). This quotation exposes the idea that the pioneers of women’s sports were committed to making women’s sports more ethical, and presumably more “sportsmanlike,” than men’s sports. Birrell then discusses how “certain sports provide ritual support for male dominance...they link maleness with the positively sanctioned use of aggression/force/violence” (484), revealing how it is typically more acceptable for male athletes to be more aggressive. She also notes that “women’s values and styles in sport are different from men’s” (489), explaining how a Webb Scale Study reported there were “gender differences in moral reasoning in sport situations” (489). Overall, Birrell’s essay exposes that women’s sports were created under the assumption that they would be more ethical than men’s, which implies that they would be more conducive to sportsmanlike behavior. What would this mean for displays of aggression among male and female athletes?
Numerous research studies reveal the greater acceptance of aggression in male sports. In a 2001 research study titled “Personal and Participatory Socializers of the Perceived Legitimacy of Aggressive Behavior in Sport,” researchers reported that male athletes “typically reported a greater tolerance for aggression than female [athletes]” (Conroy et al. 406). Further, in a research study investigating how coaching behaviors affect athletes’ “sportspersonship,” it was reported that “male athletes scored lower on sport moral reasoning and higher on endorsing…injurious acts than female athletes” (Bolter and Weiss 36). These findings, as with Birrell’s findings, prove that people are less likely to view aggression demonstrated by male athletes as unsportsmanlike.
The differences in the rules of NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball, along with the differences in the number of technical foul penalties between male and female professional basketball players, help to further expose that aggressive play is both more acceptable and more prevalent in the men’s game. Reviewing the 2021-2022 NCAA basketball men’s and women’s rulebooks, I discovered some variations. For instance, while men are allowed to move towards an airborne player, women are not. In the women’s game, illegal contact before the ball is live or after the ball is dead is an “intentional or disqualifying foul,” and not just a personal foul like it is in men’s basketball (“Men’s Basketball”). The stricter rules in the women’s game display a double standard created between female and male players that reinforces the paternalistic idea that women need to be more protected than men. Further, although technical fouls—which are commonly called for unsportsmanlike conduct—have similar definitions and criteria in both the NBA and WNBA, WNBA players have historically been more heavily penalized for committing such fouls. WNBA players have always been suspended after accumulating a certain threshold of technical fouls in the regular season, but a similar suspension rule was only adopted in the NBA in 2006. Before the implementation of this rule, top-offending NBA players like Rasheed Wallace and Karl Malone did not routinely receive suspensions. This past discrepancy exposes that people, including league officials, have often perceived women as needing more protection from aggressive behavior.
Thus, it is less acceptable for female athletes to display aggression on the court. Studying the reactions to Williams’ and Reese’s actions, it became evident that when a black female athlete did display unsportsmanlike behavior, she was heavily criticized and typically scrutinized more than her white female or black male counterpart. Most recently, Williams was criticized for her disagreement with the chair umpire in the 2018 U.S. Open. After he accused her of cheating, she engaged in an intense argument with him. After being penalized for this, she exclaimed “‘There’s a lot of men out here that have said a lot of things, and because they are men, [they don’t get penalized]’” (Tredway 1576). Williams’ frustration is shared by many female athletes, including Reese, who, after being scrutinized for taunting, stated, “when other people [taunt], y’all don’t say nothing.” Despite being aware of the double standards they face, even the most talented and famous black female athletes often feel powerless to act in the face of this racial and gender discrimination.
Studying the differences between the referee’s reaction to Williams’ behavior versus their reaction to Reese’s behavior, it is evident that tennis being a traditionally white, male, elitist sport made Williams’ behavior less acceptable than Reese’s. While black athletes began playing basketball in 1904, tennis was not open to black athletes until the 1950s. Further, as of 2023, 67% of NCAAW basketball players are black or African American, while only 8.9% of female tennis players are black or African American. These statistics reveal that tennis is historically a whiter sport, which creates a definition of sportsmanship that is even more influenced by traditional white cultural norms in tennis than in basketball. Thus, it makes sense that Williams’ actions were more heavily criticized by the officials than Reese’s. Williams’ actions were directly criticized by the umpire with whom she disagreed, she was the only player punished for verbal abuse in the 2018 U.S. Open, and her actions caused her to receive the largest fine issued in the tournament. Her actions being punished by the on-court referee exposes that her actions, which were deemed “aggressive,” were not accepted by the rules (or officials) of the sport. In contrast, while Reese was also criticized by the media for her actions, she was not penalized by the referees. This exposes that the demographics of each sport fosters specific notions of sportsmanship, holding black female players to a higher standard of sportsmanship in tennis than in basketball.
Further dissecting the Angel Reese controversy, despite basketball being more accepting of aggression overall, black female basketball players are still criticized more by the media for unsportsmanlike conduct in comparison with their white female and black male counterparts. The media positively responded to Clark’s actions, and articles were published titled “Caitlin Clark Seemingly Telling Hailey Van Lith ‘You Can’t See Me’ After 41-Point Triple-Double Was so Cold,” “Caitlin Clark has John Cena's Stamp of Approval,” and “Look: Caitlin Clark's Old Taunting Clip Is Going Viral Today.” Further, celebrities praised Clark on Twitter; WWE star John Cena tweeted “Even if they could see you…they couldn’t guard you! Congrats on the historical performance @CaitlinClark22” (Treisman). However, “no class” and “classless” became trending words on Twitter after Reese taunted her opponents (Salvador). Also, it is important to note that none of the cover pictures of the articles discussing Clark’s success feature her taunting her opponents. Yet, in an article discussing Reese’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deal, which, like the articles discussing Clark’s impressive performance, was centered around an accomplishment, the cover picture features Reese taunting her opponents. This reveals how the media more heavily scrutinized Reese than Clark for her actions. Following the game when Reese taunted her opponents, articles were published titled “We Must Not Let Sportsmanship Slip Away in Our Schools,” and “Angel Reese Displays Classless Behavior During Win Over Iowa.” These titles reveal how, unlike with Clark, the media was quick to criticize Reese’s display of aggression.
To highlight how the media is quicker to criticize black female athletes, I looked at the headlines surrounding one of men’s basketball’s biggest trash talkers: Michael Jordan, who is black. When Googling “Michael Jordan Trash Talking,” the following headlines appeared first: “The 4 Best Michael Jordan Trash Talking Moments,” “Michael Jordan’s Epic Trash Talk to Larry Bird in ‘The Last Dance’ Blew Twitter’s Mind,” and “The Best Michael Jordan Trash Talking Story.” Also, after Jordan’s documentary revealed him telling his opponent, Larry Bird, “You b****. F*** you,” tweets such as “That is the best compliment you can ever get from Michael Jordan,” and “[That was] the highlight of #TheLastDance” were posted (Hartwell). The use of the words ‘best’ and ‘epic,” and the positive reaction on Twitter to his unsportsmanlike comments, expose the notion that Jordan, a black male athlete, was often praised by the media for this aggressive behavior, unlike the black female, Reese, who was heavily criticized.
The history of the term sportsmanship helps explain why black and white, along with male and female, athletes are held to different standards of acceptable sportsmanlike conduct. The recent controversy surrounding Reese exposes the ongoing struggle black female athletes face, as the stereotype of the “angry black woman” makes them more susceptible to being charged with unsportsmanlike behavior. Black female athletes face the ramifications of their profession being created by white, upper-class males for white upper class males; however, athletes like Reese and Williams will continue to defy the boundaries, as Reese asserted, “for the girls that look like [her]...[f]or those that want to speak up for what they believe in.”