Republican Congressman August Pfluger is demanding action from the WNBA to protect Caitlin Clark. According to the Texas lawmaker, there’s enough evidence to show that the Indiana Fever has been the target of several attacks during her WNBA career that merit league protection and could violate federal civil rights law if not addressed.
On Monday, Pfluger responded to a tweet by Dave Portnoy, in which the owner of Barstool Sports discussed Cathy Engelbert’s failures as commissioner of the WNBA. The congressman used this as a starting point to fire off a warning towards Engelbert:
“Commissioner Engelbert has had every chance to protect Caitlin Clark and hold those responsible accountable, and instead we’ve gotten crickets. You can’t demand to be taken seriously as a league while ignoring what’s happening on your own courts. I look forward to hearing from her by July 24,” wrote Pluger
August Pfluger was the lead signatory of a letter sent last week by members of Congress to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, demanding greater accountability following repeated acts of physical violence towards Caitlin Clark.
Cari Champion doesn’t believe that Caitlin Clark is the object of racism in the WNBA
In a panel on CNN on Friday night, former ESPN host Cari Champion opened up about what she felt was the conclusion drawn by many around the league concerning the treatment of Caitlin Clark. Many feel that Clark has been the recipient of reverse racism, where African American players were intentionally targeting her due to her Caucasian background.
Champion vehemently pushed back against that characterization:
“To suggest that it is intentional or that people are being racist towards her leaves out a long history of women who have supported this league and started this league who were Black. It’s very disrespectful to them,” Champion told the panel.
Her view is not shared by everyone, with other commentators, like Bobby Burack, a writer for the conservative sports outlet Outkick who appears on Fox, saying that it’s Clark’s identity as a straight Caucasian women which seems to be at odds with the progressive values promoted by the WNBA.
Burack and Pfluger are white.
It seems Clark’s career has become yet another battleground for the incessant culture wars that have characterized the United States public discourse over the last decade.
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