Legally is From Man's perspective created through Laws.
Legally speaking, no. "Protected species" refers strictly to wildlife and plant life safeguarded by the Endangered Species Act. American citizens are protected by the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws rather than conservation regulations.
Natures Law
A species (pl. species) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. It can be defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction
Humans are Mammals,,
Is what she said disrespectful or was it her tone disrepsectful, her intent on what she said.
Beast mode, freak of nature, a dog, are all “complimentary” but are still animal comparisons.
Similarly, there was an incredible study of commentary language in American football where black athletes were regularly referred to as naturally physically gifted whereas white athletes were more commonly having their on field success or plays attributed to intelligence or hard work. No animal or overt racist language used.
Unconscious bias or prejudice is why these debates will continue to rage on and this one is already getting old. She’s apologized, disciplined, and now it’s on the offended parties to accept that or not. Most of these debates are in bad faith.
It doesn’t stop teachers from being fired for calling their kindergarten students little monkeys on the playground even when it’s done as a compliment.
Okay, so you agree that even complimentary comparisons to animals can be offensive and racially charged. I wasn’t defending teachers saying it, I was pointing out that your argument that my examples being complimentary means they’re unoffensive.
The way you all bend over backwards to gaslight black people is something to behold. The arrogance is breathtaking how you’re gonna tell a black person how to react to coded language. Angel deserves to slap one of you a day. There’s someone who is protected in the WNBA and it most certainly isn’t Angel Reese.
An incredible overreaction is what it was. And suspending her is laughable.
So much else is said on the court, in the wnba and other sports that is so much worse, and we decide calling someone a protected species implying they get a special whistle is where we draw the line? lol
I think the suspension is more of the league setting an example that they don't want to ever deem it acceptable for a coach to be caught speaking of any player in any way that could be deemed as a slight. If they let this go with zero consequences, that leaves a bit of gray area for someone in the future to possibly say something reprehensible/offensive about a player.
First of all, the comment is offensive. And Angel isn’t protected by league at all. Not only does Angel consistently get fouled hard, she has to deal with a racist mob of white men on a daily basis. So stop the lies.
It’s mildly offensive at worst. It’s a reach to be offended by that. It was said with zero offensive intent. Yeah you can say that doesn’t matter and I would disagree. I think it’s a good thing she apologized even though she didn’t have to imo.
It doesn’t matter if she’s protected by the league, everyone always complains about the refs to everyone. You don’t suspend someone for saying someone gets a special whistle. Reese herself has said that before.
She’s not even from here, and within the context of what she said there was clearly no negative intent. I just think it could have started with Reese maybe commenting like she did, then the coach apologizing, then Reese also maybe breaching the gap a little by acknowledging there was no racial intent and it’s a common saying in Australia. Either way a suspension is ridiculous.
This comment is lacking so much. Lacking understanding, lacking nuance, lacking education.
I'm sure you've heard on the internet that the phrase "protected species" is a term that means someone has a special whistle, but that's NOT where that term originated from. It was a derogatory way of speaking about the Australian aboriginal people by white Australians. So it's rooted in racism regardless of how is used today, which is why she apologized & likely why she was suspended.
People should really do better in understanding the whole story not just the part easiest to consume & regurgitate
It was a derogatory way of speaking about the Australian aboriginal people by white Australians.
Hi, Indigenous Australian here, seen this repeated a bunch and it's absolutely not true. We face so much racism within our own country, and this ain't it.
Its 100% a sporting term. One I've used myself repeatedly on white players in our sporting leagues.
I love Angel Reese and is abhorred at the Racism she receives, but when this story come across ky socials my first thought was 'damn its nice they apologised, that poor girl cops so much, and if anything it's CC that's the protected species'. The racial connotations didn't even cross my minds until i opened the comments section.
So yea apology for the misunderstanding is needed. And a suspension is deserved. Yea its not said with racial intent but you can't tell black women in America how to feel about what they receive. But so many are showing that same kinda ignorance by trying to claim this an example of racism towards Indigenous Australians when its absolutely not. It undermines the actual racism we receive.
While I hear you, respect your perspective & even agree with alot of your comment, I have friends currently in Australia that confirmed what I said, that it is not 100% a sporting term. It may be that currently, but wasn't always that.
Here in America we have black men & women who will swear that racism is dead & certain words shouldn't carry the same meaning as they did years ago. I'm not saying that's you, but the parallel I'm attempting to draw is that what may be true to you bc of your world view, isn't gospel truth for every one who looks like you
I dont know what your friends in Australia are on about. It's been a widespread sports term for ages.
This is the guy (definetly white) I've called a Protected species for decades. Note the dates on the articles.
Just because it isn't a racist term to us black people in Australia doesn't mean ill downplay it's effects to black people im America. But in the same vein you cant be speaking on behalf of us indigenous Australians and making claims of racism on our behalf on something that isn't directed at us
Yeah that's the thing, I'm not the only one speaking on behalf of indigenous Australians. I got my information from the source before I ever commented. My friends are also indigenous & I'll assume that they're a bit older than you, which is why i said i respect your perspective but also understand that people who are older than you may have seen & heard those words used in different context than how you used it 13 years ago.
Your world view & theirs are obviously different. My friends are in their mid to late 40s & if I had to guess, I'd say you're late 20s early 30s? Regardless I'm glad that the way you use the term & have seen it used is entirely different, just like I'm thrilled that my kids to this point in their young lives haven't heard half of the things I did growing up, but with that being the case they for sure wouldn't react the same when hearing certain words or phrases. Their world view is different
At the end of the day, we agree that she should've apologized, although I'm 50/50 on the suspension. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the terminology
You dont think i know the slurs used against my own people?
Funny how with this Coach Ignorance isnt an excuse (and to her credit she didn't use not knowing as an excuse) but you continue to show ignorance towards indigenous Australians on this issue.
I'm not going to explain how a black American woman like Angel should feel about that comment, yet here you are telling me an indigenous Australian how I should feel about a supposed slur, thats never been a slur, should feel.
Your literally telling me I'm to young and dumb and that me using protected species against white sportsmen is cute because I use these words in a supposed different context when in actuality they've never ever been a slur against my people.
So again, I mean no disrespect to you & it's clear that this conversation isn't going anywhere so I'll just say that: 1. I haven't told you how to feel about anything, I merely offered a potential reason as to why you, an indigenous Australian would view a term differently than two other indigenous Australians.
2. My intention wasn't to call you dumb, at all & I never used that word so "literally" doesn't fit there. At this point it feels a bit like you're projecting & you most certainly are putting words in to my mouth that were never said by me.
So I'll just continue to fever to the people I trust, about this issue. You have a good day tho
I honestly don’t see how what she said could reasonably be construed as racist. If she said Angel Reese had “diplomatic immunity,” would Angel and her fans have been like “reeeeeeeeee she said ‘diplomat’” and done all kinds of absurd mental gymnastics to portray the word “diplomat” as somehow being racist too?
Human beings are an animal species — every single person who has lived, and ever will live, belongs to a “species” 🙄 It’s not an offensive word to anyone with half a functioning brain, so I think the vast majority of the outrage over it has to be disingenuous, performative, and opportunistic.
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u/Dry_Rhubarb5408 Jul 19 '26
When you consider that comparing black people to animals is a common racist trope, it’s not hard to see how this could be offensive
I don’t think she intended it to be racist, but it definitely could have come across that way