USA Today has defended columnist Nancy Armour after she invoked Emmett Till in an op-ed about the rise of Caitlin Clark, which compared her fans to “white nationalists.”
As Breitbart News reported on Thursday, USA Today stoked severe controversy when Armour wrote that Caitlin Clark has been instigating racial hate while being a poor influence on the WNBA.
“It seems there is a white nationalist element to Clark’s fandom that is deeply, deeply problematic, made even more so because the WNBA is made up predominantly of Black women, many of them queer,” wrote Armour.
“When Clark claims fouls that don’t exist, when she goes on profanity-laced tirades at referees, those racists see her as a white woman in need of saving and take matters into their own hands,” she added.
It was then that Armour invoked the name of Emmett Till – a black child who was murdered in a hate crime by white supremacists.
“It shouldn’t need reminding this country has an awful history of Black people being harmed, even killed, in the name of ‘defending’ white women,” Armour wrote. “The WNBA’s All-Star Game this weekend is in Chicago, Emmett Till’s hometown, and a local art gallery is currently hosting an exhibit imagining his life if he hadn’t been lynched. While it’s incumbent on the WNBA to do more to protect its players, there also should be an expectation on Clark to recognize the wider consequences of her actions.”
While Armour did somewhat apologize after severe backlash, Lark-Marie Anton, chief communications and brand officer for USA Today, said that Armour will face no repercussions.
“Nancy is a Sports columnist, and her column is clearly labeled Opinion. Please note that the column has been updated for clarity, and Nancy has addressed the matter here (and below). We will not be commenting further,” she told Front Office Sports.
The apology that Anton referred to was posted on Armour’s Threads, which said that she only regretted being “inartful” about the invocation.
“In my recent column, I made an inartful comparison with the murder of Emmett Till. I intended to connect the issues the WNBA is currently facing with its All-Star Game being hosted in Till’s hometown of Chicago. I obviously did not provide enough context for that,” wrote Armour. “However, this point stands: There is a history in this country of perceived threats to white women being weaponized against African-Americans, and the danger that poses to Black players in the league. Players have been abused online and have reported receiving death threats. That has to be taken more seriously.”
“I sincerely regret that my lack of appropriate context is overshadowing that important conversation and the actions that need to be taken by the WNBA to address it directly—for the benefit of ALL players,” she added.