WNBA Players Call for the Removal of Kelly Loeffler Following her Continued Opposition to BLM Movement
By: Bedaura Haseen
The Atlanta Dream’s co-owner, Senator Kelly Loeffler, is being called out for her objection to honor the Black Lives movement. A number of current and former WNBA players have asked Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to remove Sen. Loeffler as the co-owner of the Atlanta Dreams including Sheryl Swoopes, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Natasha Cloud, Alysha Clark, and Sue Bird.
The team’s plan was to wear warm-up jersey with “Black Lives Matter” on the front and “Say her name” on the back. The new jerseys will honor girls and women “who have been forgotten victims of police brutality and racial violence.” Some of the women they planned to honor were Sandra Bland, Breonna Taylor, and Vanessa Guillen.
Sen.Loffler wrote a letter to Commissioner Engelbert expressing the disapproval of the plan. In the letter, she wrote, "I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement." Sen.Loffler also had her own ideas for the uniforms. She told Engelbert to put an American Flag on all the uniforms and apparel. Sen. Loffler continues and says "The truth is, we need less — not more politics in sports. In a time when polarizing politics is as divisive as ever, sports has the power to be a unifying antidote."
In a response to the letter, Engelbert said: "The WNBA is based on the principle of equal and fair treatment of all people and we, along with the teams and players, will continue to use our platforms to vigorously advocate for social justice." The WNBA players also have responded to the letter by tweeting out: "E-N-O-U-G-H! O-U-T!" Breanna Stewart, of the Seattle Storm, tweeted out "Keep that negative energy out of our league." Los Angeles Sparks player Candace Parker said: "I think we've had a number of people that have stepped forward and listened, and have taken initiative and taken action, and we've had those that haven't and continue to make comments and show why we're still in this situation."
According to Engelbert, “Sen. Kelly Loeffler has not served as a Governor of the Atlanta Dream since October 2019 and is no longer involved in the day-to-day business of the team."
Over the weekend, Sen. Loeffler penned an editorial piece about ‘Cancel culture’ on the notoriously racist media site Daily Caller, in which she referred to the Black Lives Matter movement as a “Marxist group”, and doubled down on the rhetoric she’s used for the movement.
“The Black Lives Matter political organization is undeniably radical. This Marxist group proudly advocates for the defunding of police, calls for the removal of Jesus from churches, supports the disruption of the nuclear family structure, harbors anti-Semitic views and actively promotes violence and destruction across the country.
Having declared my emphatic opposition to this organization and its stated goals, the left is lashing out at me. They want to silence me and take away my business.”
The Atlanta Dream team appears to be unbothered, instead taking to their official Twitter account to tweet a message of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
