What the Women’s College Basketball Final Just Reminded Us
March Madness, which ironically finishes in April each year, brought fans an incredible slate of games, miraculous buzzer-beaters, and remarkable athleticism from so many talented players. Two of the greatest players in women’s basketball squared off against each other in the Women’s Final, Angel Reece (LSU) and Caitlin Clark (Iowa) and basketball fans everywhere were not disappointed by either of these women’s performances on the court. They both electrified and entertained, with LSU coming out on top and Angel Reece being named the player of the tournament.
As great as this tournament and final matchup truly were for Women’s Basketball in our country, too much of the game has been overshadowed by the post-game chatter regarding Angel Reece’s end-of-game taunt to Caitlin Clark, a taunt she replicated from Clark earlier in the tournament. While little fanfare was made of Clark’s taunt in the previous final four game, there was a ton of controversy over Reece’s taunt, and the ensuing conversations on Twitter and elsewhere has quickly devolved into a back-and-forth about race and culture.
While my own opinion on this women’s basketball controversy is a bit nuanced and doesn’t really belong in this blog post, I believe it is fair to say that people really do want to talk about race and social conflict – that much was evidenced by the millions of people doing it after this big game on Monday. What the Women’s Basketball Final just revealed to us is that much of what we see and interpret in our culture is still heavily influenced by the experiences we’ve had in our own skins. Many people of color and many of those identifying as white came away with two very different conclusions about the Angel Reece / Caitlin Clark taunts.
The question really comes down to whether or not we want to talk with each other, or if we’re content to talk at each other. Social media posts on Facebook and Twitter are designed to have us talking at each other. In the absence of real, meaningful back-and-forth conversation where people can empathize, listen, and respond gracefully and transparently, the internet allows opinions and thoughts to simply be tossed out to cyberspace.
Oak Ridge Periodic Tables is interested in spaces that allow our city to talk with each other, not at each other. We’re interested in meaningful conversations that foster empathy and stretch the cultural boundaries between us regardless of our politics, racial identity, age, religion, or sexual orientation. We like asking the question, “What Needs Healing Here?” and following it up with questions like, “What Do We Have in Common Here?”
The nation is awash with opinions, keyboard commentators, and we’re drowning under wave after wave of views and ideas being created in cultural echo chambers. The internet allows us to remain siloed and buried in our “bunkers of sameness,” hidden away from genuine community. To be in genuine community, we are embodied and present. We are forced to see each other’s hurts and pains, and we’re better able to foster the empathy we need to traverse difficult divisions.
The Women’s Basketball final revealed we still have a long way to go understanding each other. Is Oak Ridge willing to do the real work of community building? I believe we are, and I believe the back-and-forth of the national conversation doesn’t really capture the empathetic middle that most of us live and breath each day. We’re larger and more nuanced than anything “one side” of an issue can ever say about us regardless of the issue. Together we can generate understanding and build community. Together we can model for the nation what it means to walk in lockstep with each other, sorting our own biases, confronting our expectations and prejudices, enjoying good food and good conversation along the way.
I believe in Oak Ridge Periodic Tables, and I hope you will too. Stay connected to Periodic Tables and to opportunities we will be hosting to listen, learn, and grow!