From the beginning of organized sports in America 150 years ago, there was a built-in contradiction: There was a myth of inclusion and the reality of exclusion. For one thing, the sport was marketed when it was launched as the best possible expression of free America. It was a level playing field and anyone, if they were good enough or worked hard enough, could make it.
That was, of course, a fantasy. Sports were a place where women were told to get off the field, and black and brown people were told to form their own leagues and get out of the way. But as soon as this exclusion was established, the marginalized began to fight for access. They made sport a contested space, where athletes demanded inclusion and fairness and fought to level the uneven playing field. From the beginning, sport has been a space for more than just fun and games. It has been a contested political space, a clash between inclusion and exclusion. And this battle continues.
Aliyah Boston just had one of the best seasons in college basketball history, playing for the South Carolina Gamecocks. During a national championship season, the 20-year-old forward was named Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and, by unanimous decision, national player. of the year. And yet, despite her accolades, she was not invited to ESPN’s award show, the ESPYs, where she was nominated for Best Female College Athlete. Yes, it’s “just an awards show,” and even by awards show standards it’s silly, but the move was exclusionary and deeply disrespectful to Boston and the sport it dominated for an entire season. Boston Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley was outraged, and ESPN was forced to make a public excuse for not inviting athletes to awards that would not be presented on television, inadvertently raising the question of why women were not on stage. . She also said that invitations were limited in the packed 3,200-seat hall. Then, when the hubbub turned into a din, she backed down and sent an invitation to Boston. All of this was highly embarrassing for a network that had spent the last month promoting the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the hard-won advancement of women in sports.
At this point, Boston could have stayed quiet and let their coach speak for them. She could have decided to go to the dang awards show and hang out with Steph Curry. But instead, she made the decision to support that 150-year fight for access. In a statement, Boston wrote:
Being nominated for an ESPY this year meant a lot to me and my family. While it hurt me to learn that they wouldn’t be televising the category even though it was televised last year, and they had no intention of me attending…it hurt me more to see ESPN change course and invite me only after social media they found out. I respectfully declined. I’m used to this. It’s just another time when the disrespect and erasure of black women is dismissed as a “mistake” or an “oversight.” Another excuse for why our milestones and achievements are not a “priority” this time, even now, 50 years after Title IX. To every Black girl and Black woman: No one can take away what God has in store for us. You matter. You are valuable. You are a priority. You are seen and you are LOVED, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
What makes these words special, something to be cut out and clipboarded or quoted in sports sociology textbooks, is that Boston didn’t grab the spotlight for itself, but shone a bright light on systemic oppression so much. beyond ESPN. He also reached out to other people who feel marginalized, so that his disrespect might make them feel less alone. Boston proved that she doesn’t need ESPYs. But the ESPYs surely need it. ESPN also needs people like her in the rooms where decisions are made. The network has advanced in diverse representation in front of the camera. But representation alone is not progress. Progress comes through struggle, and in sports it’s a 150-year struggle, in which Aliyah Boston just made the inclusion side that much stronger.