Since the beginning of organized sports in the United States 150 years ago, there has been a built-in contradiction: the myth of inclusion and the reality of exclusion. On the one hand, the sport was sold when it was launched as the best possible expression of the free United States. It was a place of equal competition, and anyone could have achieved it if they were good enough or worked hard enough.
Of course, it was an illusion. Sport is where women were told to get off the field, and blacks and browns were told to form their own leagues and stay out of the way. However, this exclusion was set as soon as the left-behind people began fighting for access. They made sports a battleground. There, athletes demanded inclusion and fairness and fought to level the unequal arena. From the beginning, sports have been more than just fun and games. It was a disputed political space, a clash of inclusion and exclusion. And this battle continues.
Allie Boston played at the South Carolina Gamecocks and was one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. During the national championship season, the 20-year-old forward was selected as a national player by the decisions of Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, NCAA Tournament Best Player, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. .. This year’s. Still, despite her praise, she wasn’t invited to ESPN’s award show, ESPY. There she was nominated for Best College Woman Athletes. Yes, it’s just an award show, and even by award standards it’s shown to be ridiculous, but this move is exclusive and against Boston and the sport she dominated throughout the season. It was very rude. Boston Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley resents and ESPN is forced to make public excuses for not inviting athletes to non-television awards, wondering why women are off the stage. I raised it unintentionally. .. He also said that invitations were limited in the cramped hall with 3,200 seats. Then, when the turmoil turned into a hustle and bustle, it turned back and sent an invitation to Boston. All this was very embarrassing for the network that advertised the 50th anniversary of Title IX last month and the hard-earned progress of women in the sports world.
At this point, Boston may just have been silent and had her coach talk for her. She may have decided to go to the Dan Awards show and hang out with Stephen Curry. But instead, she chose to confront that 150-year battle for access. In her statement, Boston wrote:
Being nominated for an ESPY this year meant the world for me and my family. It’s painful that I didn’t intend to join, knowing that they wouldn’t air that category, even though it aired last year … but when I saw ESPN’s course change, social media got on the wind. Inviting me for the first time is even more painful. In honor of me, I declined. I’m used to this. It is just another moment that the contempt and erasure of black women is wiped out as a “mistake” or “oversight.” Fifty years after Title IX, this is another excuse for why this milestone and achievement is not a “priority”. To all black girls and all black women: No one can take away what God has prepared for us. You are important You are precious You take precedence. You are seen and loved. Don’t let others tell you.
What makes these words special is that they need to be cut out and clipboarded or quoted in sports sociology textbooks. Boston didn’t spotlight himself, shining brightly on systemic repression far beyond ESPN. Her contempt may not make them feel lonely, as she also reached out to others she felt she was marginalized. Boston has shown that she doesn’t need an ESPY. But her ESPY certainly needs her. ESPN also needs people like her in the room where decisions are made. The network has made progress in various expressions in front of the camera. However, expression alone has not made progress. Progress came through the struggle, a 150-year struggle in sports, and Allie Boston made the inclusion side much stronger.
