On the Basketball Court, Accountability Is Not “White Privilege” HE weighs in

Looks intentional to HE

An opinion column for the Hoosier Enquirer

During last Saturday’s Indiana Fever–Chicago Sky game, DiJonai Carrington struck Sophie Cunningham across the face and neck as Cunningham attempted a fast-break layup. Officials reviewed the play, assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected Carrington. Cunningham then confronted Carrington and had to be restrained.

Those are the facts. The rules supplied the appropriate response.

Yet minutes after leaving the game, Carrington posted the words “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever. She later said the message concerned broader systemic issues rather than her ejection specifically. That clarification deserves to be reported. It does not, however, resolve the larger problem exposed by the episode: Americans increasingly invoke privilege as a substitute for addressing the conduct directly in front of them.

A forearm does not become less dangerous because of the race of the player delivering it. An ejection does not become discriminatory merely because the penalized player is Black and the player struck is white. Cunningham herself noted that she was ejected for a comparable foul last season and deserved the punishment.

There is equal outrage that the “coach” didn’t stand with the straight girl or own player. She ended her career and any fan supports she had here, which wasn’t much! CC she holds back like NC Coach Dean Smith did to MJ in college.

That should be the standard—one rulebook, applied consistently.

America’s ancient racial history is real. No one today should seek to divide the Races, no basketball girl or even our first black or half black former President and his partners.

Slavery, segregation, redlining and discrimination created consequences that did not disappear when the laws changed. A serious society should be capable of acknowledging those facts without pretending that every disagreement between people of different races is proof of continuing racial oppression.

“White privilege” may describe certain historical or institutional advantages. It should not function as an all-purpose exemption from criticism, discipline or accountability. Used carelessly, the phrase turns individuals into racial symbols: one person becomes the permanent victim, another the permanent beneficiary, regardless of what either one actually did.

That is not equality. It is racial essentialism wearing progressive language.

Nor should Americans accept the equally destructive claim that hard work, punctuality, financial discipline or personal responsibility belong to white people. Getting up at 5 a.m., supporting a family, paying taxes and working for decades are not racial characteristics. Millions of Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous and white Americans live by those values every day. Suggesting otherwise insults the very people supposedly being defended.

Being white has sometimes carried advantages in American life. It has never guaranteed an easy life. Poverty, addiction, unemployment, family breakdown and despair do not check a person’s complexion before entering the home. Historical patterns matter, but they do not tell us everything about an individual’s sacrifices, opportunities or moral worth.

The old phrase “the white man’s burden” came from an imperial worldview that portrayed nonwhite people as dependents needing white supervision. We should not revive that degrading idea from either political direction. White Americans are neither appointed saviors nor hereditary defendants responsible for every disparity. Black Americans are neither helpless dependents nor people who should be held to a softer standard.

Citizenship requires something more demanding and more dignified: equal rights, equal opportunity and equal accountability.

Basketball offers a useful model when officials enforce its rules honestly. A foul is evaluated according to the action, not the offender’s ancestry. A player who crosses the line is penalized. A player who was wronged is protected. Nobody receives inherited innocence, and nobody carries inherited guilt.

The WNBA should follow that principle consistently. If similar plays receive different treatment, critics should present the video, the rule and the evidence. If media coverage favors one player over another, demonstrate the disparity. Specific claims deserve specific scrutiny.

But shouting “privilege” whenever a white person receives sympathy—or whenever a Black person faces consequences—does not advance racial justice. It weakens the concept by detaching it from evidence.

Indiana fans do not need to believe Sophie Cunningham is flawless to recognize what happened. Carrington committed a dangerous foul. Officials ejected her. Cunningham reacted angrily. Each action can be judged on its own merits.

That is not white privilege. It is accountability—and accountability is neither a burden nor a privilege belonging to one race. It is the price every equal citizen and every professional athlete should be expected to pay. Equal rights does not mean preferential treatment anywhere any longer. Everyone needs to pull on their own oar!

The factual account is supported by ESPN’s game report⁠ and Reuters’ report on Carrington’s subsequent clarification⁠.