What’s Happening to Gayle King Can Happen to Any Black Woman
What the controversial reactions can teach us about listening to and respecting Black women
Twenty-one years ago, when an ultrasound revealed I was carrying a baby boy, I cried. I knew his life in America would be hard. I knew this nation could chew Black men up and spit them out. I didn’t want him to experience that sort of mutilation. Eighteen years later, pregnant for the second time, I learned I was carrying a daughter and rejoiced. But perhaps I should have cried as well. Because the world isn’t any easier for a Black woman.
If you ever wondered whether Black women are treated more harshly than others, consider the recent treatment of journalist Gayle King after her interview with former WNBA player Lisa Leslie where she asked Leslie about her thoughts on Kobe Bryant’s complex legacy. Since the interview between King and Leslie aired, King has been mercilessly derided for what some perceive as inappropriate questioning in reference to Bryant’s trial for alleged sexual assault.
Many people questioned King’s timing. Was it too soon after Bryant’s untimely death to discuss the dark spots in his past? Others accused King and her best friend Oprah Winfrey of being on a campaign to tarnish the legacy of prominent Black men following…
