DiJonai Carrington says one of the biggest assumptions surrounding her “WHITE PRIVILEGE” social-media post was wrong. The Chicago Sky guard said she never claimed that officials’ decision to assess her a Flagrant 2 foul against Sophie Cunningham was itself an example of white privilege.
The clarification came after former NFL player Emmanuel Acho criticized Carrington’s post and argued that the foul call was justified. Carrington responded that connecting her message directly to the officiating decision was Acho’s assumption, according to Reuters.
She said Monday that her concerns extended beyond the single play and that she had already spoken with people who could potentially help create the type of change she wants to see.
The dispute began during Chicago’s August 8 game against the Indiana Fever, when Carrington made contact with Cunningham’s head and face while trying to stop a fast-break layup. Officials reviewed the play, upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 and automatically ejected Carrington.
Carrington Says Acho Made an Assumption About Her Post
Acho addressed the controversy on his Speakeasy show and criticized the apparent suggestion that race had influenced the foul ruling. “It was just very ignorant, and to some degree asinine, by DiJonai Carrington to suggest that that call was based on white privilege,” Acho said.
Carrington rejected that interpretation. “I’ve never once claimed that the assessment of the foul was white privilege (that was your assumption),” she wrote, as reported by TMZ.
She also pushed back on Acho’s characterization of her comments as ignorant, pointing to her academic background and saying she understood the historical and social significance of the term.
“I would never use that term as a rhetorical weapon knowing the historical and social weight it holds without having the proper evidence to substantiate it,” Carrington wrote.
Her Original Post Came Shortly After the Ejection
Shortly after she was ejected from Chicago’s 90-86 loss to Indiana, Carrington posted “WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever” on Threads. Reuters reported that the post appeared shortly after the ejection, reportedly while Carrington was still in the locker room.
Cunningham rejected the suggestion that race had influenced the Flagrant 2 decision when she was asked about Carrington’s post after the game. She pointed to her own previous ejection for a hard foul and said she believed Carrington deserved the same punishment. Carrington declined to comment immediately after the Fever game.
She Says Her Concerns Extend to Officiating Consistency
Speaking before Chicago’s August 10 game against Seattle, Carrington said she had already raised her broader concerns with people who could potentially create change.
“I already spoke with people who potentially will have the agency to create the change that I’m hoping comes about from not just this incident, but ones in the past and that are obviously going to be coming up in the near future, probably,” she said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The newspaper reported that Carrington was not encouraged by her conversation with the league, but she said she intends to continue pushing for greater consistency.
Cunningham got up and gave Carrington a small shove, but officials did not assess her a technical foul. Officiating crew chief Maj Forsberg said after the game that Cunningham’s response was considered an “acceptable” reaction to the severity of the contact.
“I would just love consistency across the board when it comes to things like that,” Carrington said. She said that should apply regardless of “the name on your jersey or your skin color or the score of the game.” Carrington added that she does not believe the league has reached that level of consistency yet.
Carrington and Cunningham Disagree About the Intent Behind the Foul
Cunningham said after the game that she believed Carrington’s contact was intentional. Fever coach Stephanie White took a different position. She described it as a hard foul and agreed with the Flagrant 2 ruling but said she did not believe Carrington deliberately set out to strike Cunningham across the neck.
Carrington also denied trying to hurt Cunningham. “It was unfortunate that I made contact with her in the way that I did, but it was never intentional,” she told reporters. Carrington said she would continue playing aggressively and trying to prevent open layups but maintained that she never intends to injure another player.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh also backed Carrington’s assertion that the contact was not intentional. Asked more broadly whether racism and unconscious bias need to be addressed in officiating, Marsh told the Sun-Times that it would be “ignorant” to believe those forces do not exist in society, but said he did not believe they influence officiating calls.
Two days after the ejection, Carrington returned against the Seattle Storm and scored a career-high 26 points while adding six rebounds and five steals. Chicago lost 97-88.