As part of its ongoing belief that the rights of white people are in peril and require government protection, the White House earlier this week released a 162-page report accusing the National Museum of American History of engaging in "anti-White activism", declaring that exhibits at the various Smithsonian museums were prepared by "people who don't want you to love your country". Two days later, a group of nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers led by Texas representative August Pfluger threatened to send the Department of Justice after the WNBA unless it makes itself "accountable" for presumably not protecting embattled Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark against the physicality of game's Black players. Pfluger implied hard fouls against Clark "may be racially motivated", and threatened a civil rights lawsuit against the WNBA on Clark's behalf could be an option.
The Pfluger letter represents the third time in less than a month the Trump administration and its loyalists have interfered in sports, twice using it as a front in its ongoing culture war, putting the Justice Department on high alert against anything it considers to be anti-white, anti-straight, anti-Christian. Enlisting Clark is pitting her against her own teammates and the culture of her league, but maybe the government believes she's already there.
Related: Republicans ask WNBA to protect Caitlin Clark from possible 'racially motivated' attacks
In a sense, time is running out on Clark. She has spent the last few days centering her public comments on the toxicity of social media, but the entirety of her five years as a national superstar deftly avoiding any direct link between her vague personal politics and the anti-Black portions of her fan base who loudly claim her. The government implying she needs federal protection from her Black opponents further forces her hand to speak declaratively about being positioned as a target by her sport.
It is yet another step in a dystopian continuum. In June, the Trump DOJ announced it would investigate if Major League Baseball's Pride Night discriminated against Christian players. Trump last week called Fifa head Gianni Infantino to have a one-game suspension against by US national men's soccer team forward Folarin Balogun rescinded before Team USA's quarter-final loss to Belgium.
The Pfluger letter represents the third time in less than a month the Trump administration and its loyalists have interfered in sports, twice using it as a front in its ongoing culture war, putting the Justice Department on high alert against anything it considers to be anti-white, anti-straight, anti-Christian. Enlisting Clark is pitting her against her own teammates and the culture of her league, but maybe the government believes she's already there.
Related: Republicans ask WNBA to protect Caitlin Clark from possible 'racially motivated' attacks
In a sense, time is running out on Clark. She has spent the last few days centering her public comments on the toxicity of social media, but the entirety of her five years as a national superstar deftly avoiding any direct link between her vague personal politics and the anti-Black portions of her fan base who loudly claim her. The government implying she needs federal protection from her Black opponents further forces her hand to speak declaratively about being positioned as a target by her sport.
It is yet another step in a dystopian continuum. In June, the Trump DOJ announced it would investigate if Major League Baseball's Pride Night discriminated against Christian players. Trump last week called Fifa head Gianni Infantino to have a one-game suspension against by US national men's soccer team forward Folarin Balogun rescinded before Team USA's quarter-final loss to Belgium.
4 months ago
