Jemele Hill and political activist engage in war of words over Caitlin Clark's comments on 'elevating' Black women in the WNBA

On Friday, two influential accounts on X engaged in a war of words over Caitlin Clark's recent plea about black players and white privilege.

Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_), a famous political activist who has amassed 1.4 million followers on X, has this to say about Clark's statement and position:

"No one was asking for Caitlin Clark to position herself as a right-wing hero. All she needed to do was remain neutral. She’s a phenom who inspires countless young girls to play & achieve, so I still have great admiration for her, but she missed the mark on this one," the viral post said.

As of this writing, the tweet by Gaines, which was posted on Wednesday, has already garnered more than 46,200 likes, 4,100 reposts, 3,100 comments, and 1.9 million views.

Gaines was called out by Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) as, according to her, the former advocates for women all the time, and when one stood up, she was disappointed. Hill, with a following of 1.3 million, quoted the tweet and posted it with a reply.

"You holler all the time about supporting and “protecting” women, and yet the moment that Caitlin Clark expresses appreciation and respect for the Black women in the WNBA (many of whom she grew up watching and idolizing), suddenly you’re acting like a disappointed parent. Chile, you could not tell on yourself any louder ," Hill responded.

The two went back and forth, fabricating a heated exchange on the platform.

"White privilege" in the WNBA is literally hilarious. Maybe you're like Sunny Hostin & think CC also has tall privilege, pretty privilege, and straight privilege. Theres lots of black players in the WNBA I love & respect too, but I don't admire them because they're black. I admire them for their game. That's the difference," Gaines uttered back.

Hill responded by saying Gaines was "intentionally missing the point." She said white privilege existed in every sphere of society and lauded Clark for being self-aware enough to realise the difference in opportunities she got as compared to other Black women.

"Prior to this year, every WNBA player who had their own shoe was white. For a long time, even when Serena Williams was the no 1 player in the world, Maria Sharapova made more money than her in endorsements because Serena wasn’t considered a “fit” for high end brands. What’s funny is that you can see the inequities that women face if they’re white and for some reason, you want to play dumb when it’s Black women," Hill explained.

Gaines, 24, is known not to shy away from her thoughts. Her activism started when she pushed against the inclusion of transgender women in the women's division of sports. Outside of being an activist, Gaines is a retired competitive swimmer with numerous awards. She currently hosts a podcast on Fox Nation.

Meanwhile, Hill, 48, is a sports journalist by profession and is a contributing writer for The Atlantic.

Clark's powerful plea

Clark's exact remarks, which were released by Time as she was named 2024 Athlete of the Year, were built on promoting more practices and exposure to uplift black players in the WNBA. She suggested that it would be beautiful if black players were encouraged and appreciated.

“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege. A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. ... I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing,” Clark said.

As of this writing, a tweet by X account NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) that encompasses Clark's statements has already amassed 17.5 million views with 73,000 likes, 8,400 reposts, and more than 7,500 replies.