Dawn Staley reflects on Inauguration Day: ‘I’m proud because it looks different’
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley was plenty busy Wednesday, practicing with her team to prepare for a turnaround from one Top 25 opponent in No. 15 Arkansas this past Sunday to another in No. 22 Georgia on Thursday.
But she made sure to take the time to watch the presidential inauguration. And as someone who has been particularly outspoken on issues of racial inequality, Staley was particularly happy to see Vice President Kamala Harris become the first Black woman and South Asian American person to hold the office.
“I mean it’s really an exhale, like, you know, you’re proud. I mean, you’re proud for a lot of reasons. I’m proud that she’s a Black woman that is doing something that is historical, that’s never been done before,” Staley said. “I’m proud because it looks different. I’m proud because our president, Joe Biden, decided to do something different, that nobody’s ever done before and win. And it’s a direct difference from what we’ve seen over the decades, not just the past four years.”
Staley and her players have been vocal on political issues over the past year, even selecting “What Matters” as their theme for the 2020-21 season. And while she acknowledged some people might not want her to address politics, she said Wednesday that she feels an urgent need to do so.
“I’m political because politics has a direct impact on my life, no matter how you want to look at it. And I think I’m especially aware of what’s taking place over the past four years, and I think it’s time for something different. And if you heard President Biden’s speech today, it wasn’t a one-sided speech. It was a speech for all people, all people,” Staley said. “And that’s what all people want to feel, like they’re part of, you know, what makes up our country and what makes our country great.”
Harris’ inauguration comes just a few days after South Carolina celebrated its own milestone — Gamecock great A’ja Wilson became the first Black woman to have a statue erected in her honor on USC’s campus.
Those two moments, Staley said, are indicative of some racial progress, especially considering the key role Black voters played in Biden and Harris being elected. But she sounded a cautious note about celebrating.
“So if we have that, I think we’re trending in the right direction, looking at it from that vantage point. If you look at it from other people’s, they probably (think) it’s poorest decisions on earth to have these people in these places and to bestow A’ja Wilson with a statue, to have Kamala as our vice president,” Staley said. “That’s where the growth needs to take place. I think we all can identify what has taken place — it is, you know, the backlash that people have for those things that are happening in our country and in our sport.”
When Staley was hired at South Carolina in 2008, she was a first as well — the first Black woman head coach in program history and the only one in the conference at the time.
“When you ask me to kind of reflect on what it is to be the first, I have to reflect on the opportunity that I received to come here to South Carolina. And I didn’t know what that would look like. I didn’t make this decision based on being the first Black female head coach here. It had nothing to do with race, it had nothing to do with color, it had nothing to do with anything besides the innocence of playing basketball and creating a national powerhouse here in South Carolina,” Staley said.
“I did not know what that would look like. I didn’t know what the fans would look like. I didn’t know how I would be received. But I didn’t care. And sometimes you have to go into things not caring because you could be prepared for something that will never happen. I am a ‘just-in-case’ type of person. But I’m also a person that can handle whatever is thrown at me in a way that is respectful.”
Now, seven of the conference’s 14 head coaches are Black women. Staley reflected on that progress Wednesday, noting the importance of having Black women coaching in a sport that is played by predominantly Black women, so they can help navigate shared experiences.
“It goes to show that, if given the opportunity, Black woman can be successful. And I’m not saying that excluding white coaches at all. It’s just, we’re doing something in the SEC that historically has never been done before,” Staley said.
The key to that success at South Carolina, Staley said, can be found in a tweet that sophomore forward Laeticia Amihere sent Wednesday, quoting the Bible and urging people to treat their neighbor as they want to be treated.
“I think what we’ve done here South Carolina is do just that — we treat people how we would want to be treated. And in return they turned us into an incredible place to to play, an incredible atmosphere for our student-athletes to experience. And then for me and my family, an incredible place to grow old, to be quite honest,” Staley said. “I mean it is that, and I hope that while we’re speaking on it, I hope that Madam Vice President Harris will be able to do that for our country. Because when you give Black women an opportunity, and I can speak for my own experience, we tend to be able to pivot and do well with the opportunity that we’ve been given.”
