#FreeBrittneyGriner: When We Do Not Value, Pay, or Trust Black Women
My daughter is a WNBA fan. She knew about Brittney Griner before I ever did (or thought I would). I am an equal-opportunity non-sports watcher. Yet, I have become fully aware of Brittney and how she is currently being held in Russia. In this moment, Brittney has been detained in Russia for 4 weeks.
Even our quick willingness to believe the Russian government’s report of the reason for her detainment is tinged in racism, as the usual reaction is not to simply believe what information comes out of the Russian machine. Yet, here we are, suddenly taking what Russia says at face value — -because something in us makes it easy to entertain the worst about Black women.
Brittney’s current plight is fully at the intersection of what it means to be Black, queer, and woman. In this identity, we come to understand (1) why there is not more of an outcry from mainstream America demanding her freedom or contact with her (2) why she was in Russia in the first place (3) why there does not appear to be as much spotlighting of her wife and an outpouring of support for her and the rest of Brittney’s family that is waiting for her.
In examining social media, I see not only my community but the larger American one shrugging their shoulders and saying, “she shouldn’t have broken the law”, as if Russia does not have a longstanding history of not requiring breaking of laws to punish those when it so chooses. We are not demanding evidence. We are displaying convenient amnesia about how totalitarian governments work. Many are refusing to see her as possibly a victim in a political battle.
Because we cannot fathom that Black women may be innocent, or at a minimum, not deserving of harsh punishment.
The argument that she should not have even been there is wrapped in the failure to address how pay disparities contribute to women having to make career decisions different from their male counterparts. Brittney Griner is one of the top players in the WNBA, and yet, she does not even make a third of what the 30th rookie selection made in the NBA in 2021–2022 (sportrac.com). If we truly paid women, then women would not have to make sacrifices in their off-seasons to support their families. Brittney is in Russia because America continues to not view women, or women’s sports as worthy of compensation.
If we gain nothing from what I am hoping will be Brittney Griner’s quick release, may we remember that
Black women are owed compassion
Black women are worthy of the same benefit of the doubt that we give cis-hetero white men
And as always
Pay Black women.
Dr. Dent is a licensed psychologist. Her hardest job is being a Black Woman who centers the experiences of Black women and girls. She is the mother of a Black girl who aspires to play in the WNBA — and hopes that if she does, she will be paid for her work.
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Photo: Instagram