Double Standards rears its ugly head in the NCAA Tournament: White and sassy vs. Black and trashy 

The NCAA women’s championship game between LSU and Iowa on Sunday in Dallas was worth every minute of play as the two teams battled it out for the right to be standing on top as the NCAA champion. Iowa played a great game but LSU came out on top. The old saying is that to the victor goes the spoils or something like that.

LSU’s 102-85 victory over Iowa during the national championship game was the most-viewed NCAA women’s basketball game on record. There were 9.9 million viewers on ABC and ESPN2 according to fast national numbers by Nielsen.

Following the LSU women capturing the NCAA tournament title, a lot of back and forth has been occurring on social media from fans, critics, and even soccer moms regarding two female athletes from different teams in the NCAA tournament displaying the same trash-talking and gestures that goes on in these types of arenas. The problem is the White player has been deemed Sassy, while the Black player was deemed Trashy. The only difference between what the two players did was the color of their skin. 

Another poke in the eye was Dr. Jill Biden’s suggestion that both teams visit the white house, which has always been reserved for the winner. Point. Blank. Period. 

In response to the Binden suggestion, LSU star Angel Reese tweeted a link to that story that included the words “ A JOKE,” along with three rolling-on-floor-laughing emojis. I agree with Reese. I don’t think Dr. Biden meant any disrespect, but it was pretty disrespectful. Makes you wonder if Jill would have invited LSU if they had lost and Iowa had won.. 

Both women were outstanding in their own rights. Reese, whose team won the whole darn thing, was selected as the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. Caitlin Clark set the record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament with 191 in six games, which was outstanding. Both have bragging rights from the tournament that will follow them for the rest of their lives and both used John Cena’s you can’t see me as they were defeating their opponent.

Reese was unapologetic and remains so as she pointed out the double standard that comes from the media and all others hyped up on social media that have been attacking her. Said Reese at the press conference, “All year, I was critiqued about who I was. I don’t fit in a box that y’all want me to be in. I’m too hood. I’m too ghetto. But when other people do it, y’all say nothing. So this was for the girls that look like me, that’s going to speak up on what they believe in. It’s unapologetically you.”

Some believed Reese was in her lane as the winner to offer a little trash-talking, which is part of the game, while others condemned her for lacking grace in victory. Would Clark have done the same thing if Iowa had won the tournament – would she have flashed the “You can’t see me” hand gesture at Reese? The world will never know, but we do know that she had it in her to do so because she offered the same hand gesture to a player from an opposing team the night before.

Congratulations LSU and Reese for a fine tournament. Congratulations Clark for your scoring record. Can we move on?