WNBA star Caitlin Clark said she is simply sharing her “truth” in regard to having “privilege” as a white person.
Clark spoke to Time magazine after being named “Athlete of the Year” and attributed at least some of her success to racism that has worked in her favor.
“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Clark shockingly said. “The more we can elevate black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing,” she explained.
Obviously, this spawned significant backlash after Clark received support for remaining neutral throughout the 2024 WNBA season when it came to woke and racial ideology.
Some of the blowback came from political commentator and host Megyn Kelly, who mocked Clark for her remarks.
“Look at this. She’s on the knee all but apologizing for being white and getting attention,” Kelly wrote on X. “The self-flagellation. The ‘oh pls pay attention to the black players who are REALY [sic] the ones you want to celebrate.’ Condescending. Fake. Transparent. Sad,” she added.
During an event titled “A Year in TIME” on Wednesday night, Clark was asked to directly address Kelly’s comments.
“I just want to know how you feel or how you respond to some of those criticisms,” NBC Sports’ Maria Taylor asked.
“I feel like I always have had good perspective on everything that’s kind of happened in my life, whether that’s been good, whether that’s been bad, and then obviously coming to the WNBA,” Clark began.
Then, Clark contradicted her previous comments, saying, “I feel like I’ve earned every single thing that’s happened to me over the course of my career.”
The 22-year-old expressed that she grew up a WNBA fan and said she knows “what this league is about.”
To Clark, that means the league is about “so many amazing black women that have been in this league.”
Clark continued, “Continuing to uplift them is very important, and that’s something I’m very aware of.”
The basketball star and rookie of the year also stated that her claim of white privilege and uplifting women of a particular race was actually her way of being honest.
“I try to just be real and authentic and share my truth, and I think that’s very easy for me. I’m very comfortable in my own skin, and that’s kind of how it’s been my entire life.”
Clark received raucous applause for the new remarks and said she felt the Time magazine article turned out “amazing.” Clark concluded by clarifying she only cares about the opinions of those she loves, including her teammates.
