DiJonai Carrington added to the ongoing WNBA saga of race and politics packaged in a basketball game when she tweeted out “white privilege” following her ejection for a Flagrant 2 foul to the next of popular Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham.
That was of course the perfect social media post to incite a riot. WNBA fans who took exception to her post came flying into the comments with receipts that they feel prove Carrington, who graduated from graduated from Stanford University in 2020 with multiple undergraduate degrees: a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in African and African American Studies. is not only a poseur, but a beneficiary of great privilege herself in life. The image that certain fan bases have tried to portray about her doesn’t fit who she really is.
So now they are attacking her truth.
Fans Attack DiJonai Carrington For Not Being Ghetto and From The Hood
One fan pointed out Carrington’s own privilege in a recent post on X.
“DiJonai Carrington is the daughter of Darren Carrington who played Safety for 8 years in the NFL. She went to a private school in San Diego growing up with more opportunities than most Americans could ever dream of. She went to college at Stanford which is where she likely picked up on her crazy notions of White privilege despite being economically privileged herself,” the post captioned above a screenshot of her Wikipedia page and a video of Carrington discussing her family and privileged upbringing. ”
The post also included a repost of a Fox News post citing the same things with video evidence as proof.
“Who really is DiJonai Carrington? One of the WNBA’s biggest drama queens had a highly-structured upbringing in an affluent and Christian sports-focused family, and she originally planned to pursue her PhD when she started college at Stanford,” the post from Fox News Digital reporter Jackson Thompson began.
“Now she is most known for smacking Sophie Cunningham in the face, blaming White privilege for an ejection, poking Caitlin Clark in the eye, having a highly-publicized relationship and messy breakup with another player, and wearing a ‘F–k Donald Trump’ t-shirt,” he added.
DiJonai Carrington Had Upper Class Lifestyle Growing Up
The video shows Carrington as a junior at prestigious Stanford talking about her life. Both of her parents were on collegiate scholarships. Her Dad had a lengthy NFL career and her mom ran track. Her sister played basketball in college at the University of New Orleans, her brother played at Oregon and Utah. Her mom was her head coach and her dad was the associate head coach and her sister was an assistant coach for her.
“It was a cool experience just to have my family surrounding me,” Carrington said in the video. “I hope to go back to school to get my Masters and PHD in psychology and when I further that education I want to become either a forensics psychologist or behavioral analysis profiler.”
White Privilege Vs. Economic Privilege
The video led to another heated discussion about what “white privilege” is compared to economic or social privilege and there were plenty of opinions.
“You know that shows you how much you know about black life experience. That is the privilege you have to think that money insulates us from racism and bigots. Check the history of our nation. Stop acting as if someone is race baiting and you should be more offended by racism,” one fan on X objected.
“As white guy whose fam went broke and had to struggle, I think it’s so silly that ppl conflate economic & white privilege. When my ass was broke that’s when I needed WP most. Sophie has #2 selling jersey despite 9 ppg? Got endorsements for hammering Jacy. That’s F’n W privilege!,” author, civil and sports acitvist Chick Modi commented.
“Having economic privilege and experiencing racial privilege aren’t mutually exclusive. A person can grow up financially comfortable, attend an elite school, and still have experiences shaped by race that someone else doesn’t have. Likewise, having racial privilege doesn’t mean someone’s life was easy or that they didn’t work hard,” a netizen agreed.
“If we’re going to discuss Carrington’s views on privilege, it’s more productive to address what she’s actually saying rather than assume that her family’s income or her education somehow invalidates her perspective,” another fan added on X.
White Fans Are Perplexed By Carrington Who Grew Up Financially Privileged
The flip side is that she deserved the flagrant and her complaining about it and blaming white privilege is the true sin.
“Bro wtf are you talking about? She got ejected from a basketball game. She didn’t experience some sort of social injustice. She posted “white privilege” over being ejected from a f*cking basketball game. Y’all really gotta stop with this BS. She overreacted and was on the wrong. She doesn’t get a free pass,” one fan commented on X.
“Based upon her upbringing and her current lifestyle she has no standing to discuss privilege. The color of HER skin and her parentage automatically gives her privileges whites haven’t had for 20 years,” added another.
“She went to high school in Rancho Santa Fe. One of the richest places in the USA,” one netizen noted.
“How does one evolve into hateful, violent ghetto trash with a background like that? Stanford should be so proud,” said one insulting netizen.
To which one fan — taking all lof the background information people are discovering about Carrington into account, clarified — “not ghetto trash she’s privileged, mansion trash.”
As fans and players continue to feed into social media drama and divisive narratives, the WNBA engagement continues to skyrocket. Some players are riding this all the way to the bank.
