Brittney Griner: A Target of Disguised Hatred
Photo from the WNBA
Rosa Martinez
“My dad was in Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years. I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do have pride for my country.”
Brittney Griner is a 32-year-old professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury. On February 17, 2022, she was on her way to Russia to play on her professional team during the WNBA offseason, which she has been playing on since 2014. Griner was detained in the airport in Moscow for being accused of carrying vape cartridges that had oil derived from cannabis in them, for which Griner has a U.S. doctor’s note stating it was recommended for pain. Since Griner’s release from Russia, she has faced thousands of messages of backlash and anger at her being released.
On the day that Griner was detained, there was no public announcement of what had occurred. The announcement came out on March 5, 15 days after she had been detained; this sparked the WNBA and Griner’s agent to speak out about their efforts to bring her home. She was faced with a maximum sentence of 10 years, as Russia takes drug charges very seriously. Not until May 3 did the U.S. Department of State declare Griner to be “wrongfully detained” by the Russian government. After this, they secretly started taking action in an attempt to negotiate with Russia and bring Griner home instead of waiting for the case against her to be finished. Twenty-two days later, Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, called out President Joe Biden on his lack of effort and vocalization to bring Griner back home. She said, “We're expecting him to use his power to get it done.”
Four days after Griner’s trial began, she sent a letter to President Biden saying, “I’m terrified I might be here forever,” and proceeded to ask Biden not to forget about her and the other detainees stuck in Russia. On August 4, Griner was sentenced to 9 years in prison, which lessened many people’s hopes and prayers for Griner to come home anytime soon. There was little news for a couple of months on how Griner was doing, but there was still talk about the urge for her to come home, especially after Russia passed another anti-LGBTQ+ law.
Griner was released on December 8 and was able to come back to the U.S. safely with a prisoner exchange. U.S. officials confirmed that they released Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer, in exchange for Griner’s release. It was later confirmed that months before she was released, the United States and Russia had been discussing a prisoner swap but wanted to keep quiet about the possibility.
Since Griner’s release, she has faced backlash from many different people including NFL star Micha Parsons. Parsons expressed his anger in a tweet where he says he is disgusted that Griner was brought home instead of Paul Whelan. Whelan is a former U.S. Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly four years. Many people share Parsons’ concerns that Whelan should have been brought home first because he is a former Marine and Griner has “no pride” for the U.S. The country has tried many times to bring Whelan back, but Russia refuses to make any exceptions with his release.
There are also accusations that Griner is actually a man because of her deep voice and larger figure. A tweet from @reeTronaldDump says, “Brittney Griner is a man. Anthony Fauci is a criminal. Joe Biden is a liar. Kyle Rittenhouse is innocent. Gender pronouns are idiotic…”
There are many other tweets sharing this rhetoric: “Brittney Griner is a man” and “Man of the Year: Brittney Griner.” It is unfair for Griner to get so much backlash, especially when she is being compared to Whelan. Whelan’s family has addressed others' concerns about Griner coming home before Whelan; they have agreed that if the U.S. had the chance to bring Griner home, it was smart for them to do it. Despite the Whelan family’s statement of being happy Griner is home, and Griner’s wife being vocal about Whelan’s imprisonment, people are still mad at Griner for coming home.
Many think this hate for Griner being home is rooted in intolerance of who she is: a Black WNBA player who has a wife. Many conservatives were beyond mad about the homecoming of a wrongfully detained woman in Russia. The fact that they are unhappy with her release shows utter disrespect to her, and many believe it is to spark racist and homophobic debates. They are comparing Whelan, a former Marine and white man, to Griner, a Black lesbian who has been outspoken about racial injustices for years.
Brittney Griner deserves everyone's support as she transitions back to being home and processes what she has gone through the past 10 months in a Russian prison. If Whelan were to come home today, everyone would be celebrating and happy for him. In future situations similar to this, we need to act differently and bring more attention to those being disrespectful.
Sources
Brittney Griner Russia drug case timeline - Prison, trial, release
Timeline of Brittney Griner's detention in Russia as US secures her release - ABC News
Micah Parsons Comparing Brittney Griner to Captured Marine Sparks Debate
