UW women’s basketball coach Jody Wynn apologizes for ‘hurtful’ statement on racial injustice
Washington head women’s basketball coach Jody Wynn issued an apology on Wednesday for her original statement on the topic of racial injustice.
Several UW coaches released statements in the wake of George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests against police brutality and racial injustice across the country. Floyd, a black man, died last week in Minneapolis while in police custody. A video showed Floyd on the ground, pleading that he couldn’t breathe as a white police officer kept a knee on his neck.
Wynn released her original comments Sunday night on Twitter.
They read as follows:
“I continue to be sickened by the racial discriminations in our world today! I’ve felt & seen the racial divide & acts of racism more than ever the past few years.
As a mother & wife of Black Americans, I have seen first-hand racist attitudes and actions up close and personal to me and my family.
We are all human beings. I see no color; never have. I am angry with our leadership & the blind eye to this ever-growing problem. Enough is enough. NO ONE should be killed nor discriminated against based on the color of their skin! We must stand with our Black Americans & seek justice! Black, brown, yellow…
ALL lives matter.
Teach your children — it’s your duty! I will never know first hand how the people of color feel & the lens they see from directly, but I will stand up for human race!
##GeorgeFloyd #AmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor # Trayvon Martin”
The tweet remained on her account for about 15 minutes and received swift backlash — including from several former UW women’s basketball players — before it was deleted and replaced with a new thread of tweets.
In that thread, Wynn eliminated the part of her statement that read, “Black, brown, yellow … ALL lives matter” and replaced it with, “Black lives matter!”
Wynn’s account was deactivated on Tuesday but was reactivated on Wednesday when she released an apology statement.
It read as follows:
“I would like to strongly apologize for comments I made in a statement on Sunday night. The thoughts and emotions that I was feeling were not properly conveyed as I tried to express my deep care and concern, and I know that my words were hurtful to people of color. My message was to stand in support of the Black community and not to nullify the message we all need to hear.
“Black Lives Matter.
“I’ve learned a hard and important lesson in this moment and am committed to educating myself by first listening to our players, alumni and the entire community on how we can best create change. Real change.
“I stand with Black Lives Matter and vow to use my platform to be a part of the change that is needed to collectively work together to end racism.”
Wynn arrived at UW in 2017. In three seasons with the Huskies, she’s compiled an 18-44 overall record, including 3-32 in Pac-12 play. UW finished 13-16 in 2019-20 with a 5-13 conference record.
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 5:46 PM.
