About halfway through the second meeting of Read What You Sow, a book club founded by New York Liberty forward Jocelyn Willoughby, a member clicks to raise her hand and participate in the virtual discussion. For an hour the topics are manifold, loosely guided by Willoughby’s own questions. One in particular rouses a response: Why is subtle racism so often excused or ignored when committed by someone who doesn’t seem like a white supremacist?
From a small Zoom window, the woman shares a personal story: Shortly after her family moved into the snow-white New Jersey suburb where she ultimately lived for 20 years, they were visited by police officers, summoned by a neighbor who deemed it necessary to report her father for trespassing on his own property.