As the WNBA’s popularity has soared to an all-time high, Black women in the league continue to face a dual mix of racist abuse and misogyny— issues that have historically plagued all sports.
In July, Las Vegas Aces point guard and guard Chelsea Gray posted a racist and abusive message that included being called a “n*gger,” which she received after her team lost to the Indiana Fever. That same month, Toronto Tempo Coach Sandy Brondello was suspended by the WNBA for one game without pay after being overheard calling Angel Reese a “protected species.” Brondello, who is Australian, claimed that the phrase – historically used to dehumanize Black people – is common in her country to express frustration in sports.
“People act like we just make this s— up. And the audacity to tell us as athletes to ‘shut up and dribble’,” Gray posted on social media.
Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and former WNBA player Candace Parker both said they have been called racist names and condemned Brondello’s defensive comments.
“What Sandy said doesn’t fly here,” Parker said on their podcast Post Moves.
These encounters are not new. They are a form of misogynoir, a term coined by scholar Moya Bailey to describe a type of oppression experienced by Black women at the intersection of misogyny and anti-Black racism.
Misogynoir has been pervasive across the sports world ever since Black women were allowed to compete because of Black women are saddled with stereotypes and viewed as inferior to other groups, said Akilah Carter-Francique, dean for the School of Education, Health, and Human Services at Benedict College.
“Black women, and in many ways … have been those that have been the most oppressed, the most underrepresented in those particular spaces,” Carter-Francique told The Emancipator.
The oppression and underrepresentation prevalent in the early 20th century continues today, even as Black women break barriers.
Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes made history as the first Black women selected to compete in the 1932 Olympics but were still separated from White athletes on Team USA. Both faced racist and sexist abuse from their teammates and, before the competition, were replaced with White teammates and not allowed to compete.
Tennis star Althea Gibson, sprinter Wilma Rudolph, Ora Washington, who excelled on both the tennis and basketball court, and French figure skater Surya Varuna Bonaly – are a few of other Black women who faced humiliating racist incidents during their careers.
Fast forward a few decades and athletes such as gymnast Gabby Douglas and tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams faced racism, sexism and disparate disciplinary action over their attire and physiques.
In one instance in 2018, Serena Williams was reprimanded by then-French Tennis Federation President Bernard Giudicelli for wearing a Puma catsuit to the French Open, saying she “must respect the game and the place.” Williams was banned from wearing it again.
Black women have also faced punitive actions during heated moments of play that were perceived as “aggressive” – a racist trope about Black women not often applied to White women.
Reactions to Gray and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas’ game encounters with Indiana Fever point guard and guard Caitlin Clark — elevated by White fans as a savior in a league dominated by Black women – are particularly racist. Thomas faced racist abuse and death threats after making contact with Clark during a game in June and receiving a one-game suspension.
“There’s a difference between trolling and there’s a difference between hatred,” Thomas said. “A lot of us, myself included, didn’t even know the play took place until after the game. Now we’re being painted as thugs. There’s death threats out on us. It’s really unacceptable. It’s something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it.”
Impassioned play during the heat of the game by Black players on the court with Clark have been characterized by some White fans as “aggressive” and criminal behavior. The racist narrative around Clark and Black players is not being driven by Clark herself, but media and the business itself, according to Carter-Francique.
And the threats, racist abuse and misogynistic perspectives are being amplified by not only social media but now a political climate that allows racist narratives to fester.
A group of Republican House lawmakers led by Texas Rep. August Pfluger wrote a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in July asking for the league to protect Clark as someone who “has become one of the most influential figures in the history of women’s basketball” and suggested hip checks, pokes and other moves are “attacks against Caitlin Clark [that] may be racially motivated.”
“There is definitely a remnant of a sort of a great White hope narrative with Caitlin. I don’t think she created it,” Carter-Francique said. “Our current political climate is also one that is creating a platform or an opportunity to say it’s okay to say these things. It’s okay to bring threats to people. It’s okay to degrade individuals.”
Misogynoir is not only pervasive in professional sports, it also permeates collegiate and high school sports, Carter-Francique said.
“There are stories of those young Black women that are in our elementary, our middle, and our high schools that aren’t having a good experience because of the isms that permeate the sport culture,” she said. “Our college women, I know they go through ups and downs and navigation, and then those that are in our professional and Olympic settings also have varying challenges because of the nature of the sport and the level of play in which they are participating.”
Carter-Francique, a former track and field athlete for the University of Houston’s track and field team, said some of the misogynoir she experienced included being “objectified” and called a modern-day “jezebel” because of her uniform. There was an assumption that continues today that because of the sport and the clothing worn that track athletes are “sexually promiscuous,” she said. That misogyny follows athletes throughout their careers and is difficult to navigate.
During the 2023-2024 college basketball season, female athletes faced racist abuse online during the March Madness tournaments, according to a pilot study by the NCAA released in June 2025.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has condemned the racist abuse against players, calling it “unacceptable” during a press conference last month. The WNBA and the Women’s National Basketball Players Association also met in July over the recent racist abuse players have faced.
“The conversation underscored the importance of addressing issues early through proactive communication and strengthening the league-union relationship,” both said in a joint statement after the meeting. “The league committed to continuing to enhance security resources and will work with the players’ union to explore collaborations with organizations that share the values of our league and advance our shared priorities.”
The Emancipator has reached out to the WNBA for additional comment on plans to address racism against its players. But more should be done besides talking and it is the responsibility of not only the league, but also social media companies to hold people accountable, according to Carter-Francique.
“You have to protect your product. You have to protect those women,” she said. “It’s incumbent, I believe, upon each team and the organization itself providing direction to say these are the things that need to surround your athletes from a holistic standpoint.”
