Like so many societal ills that are showered with society’s hypocrisy of great change for the better, it can be said  of the game of professional tennis also, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”  This is especially so as it pertains to the way white Americans and their media view the “intrusion” into the game by Venus and Serena Williams, two African-Americans, and demonstrating their ability to be dominant.  So much resentment to their presence by whites have been shown  to beg the question, which in the last few year has been viewed as a problem of greater concern to some white Americans, the possibility  of a terrorist attack on some major American cities or that of the Williams sisters returning to the tennis arena and making as strong an impact as they were doing not long ago, or as Serena did recently at the 2007 Australian Open after being away for sometime due to injuries, as is still the case with Venus? And what if their success rate equals that of the past?

It is common knowledge internationally regarding the obsession of white Americans with American athletes coming out on top in all sporting events in which they compete. It is manifested in their endless boisterous ranting of “USA, USA, USA, USA,”  and their constant waving of the Stars and Stripes in miniature to giant  sizes. Sometimes  it seems overdone to the point of being seen more an act of embarrassment than an act of patriotism. But their reaction to Venus and Serena on the way to victory – being victorious – is so conspicuously different. It must be said that their reaction to other African-Americans victorious in other sports such as track and field, basketball, baseball and football does not come so ugly. But it must be said also that African-Americans were once banned from these sports on the mainstream level, and when finally they were grudgingly allowed to, a precious few , one or  two at a time, they were racially humiliated in the worst way. The fact that over the years they worked their way up to being the dominant force in these sports obviously means they cannot now be mistreated or wished away. In the game of tennis, however, the idea of it being a white game still strongly persists. Before the Williams sisters only two other African-Americans playing it made their presence felt: Althea Gibson in the 1950s and Arthur Ashe in the 1970s.  They were not exactly welcomed, either. Maybe because they did not seem to be as threatening as the Williams sisters. Other African-Americans who entered the arena were not regarded as being able to change the complexion of the game at the top to the point badly denting the idea of this almost-lone game dominated by whites going through a dramatic change racially as did others. Undoubtedly, the Williams Sisters seemed most capable of paving the road to such a transformation.

Admittedly, white Americans tended not to consistently boo the Williams sisters when they were dominating white players from any white nations. Their silence, though, could be likened to that expected in a graveyard at midnight.  But their hypocrisy would be shamelessly exposed whenever any white competitor seemed to be getting the upper hand of the Williams sisters, for they would react with great euphoria.

There was a time when Venus and Serena were subjected to frequent bad-mouthing from white competitors who thought it was somehow detrimental to them that both sisters were competing in the same tournaments. If questioned about their comments, they would ease themselves out of the situation and shift the blame to Daddy Williams, who did the unexplainable and coached his two daughters from nothing to success outside of the regular system, on public tennis courts, claiming he was too much of a showoff, too arrogant.  Thinking of their trials, is it not a cause to wonder  if their often absence from competition might be attributed to this?  Not belittling their courage – for Venus especially seems to have a lot of this – but it does take tremendous amounts of courage in the face of constant adversity to hold one’s ground like Muhammad Ali – or the first Black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson many years earlier – elected to do.

It is obviously not a case of a loss of desire among white Americans for the prevailing of American domination but that it would be much more satisfying to them if white competitors would be the ones responsible for bringing about this domination.  For it would then make it so much easier to associate with America that responsibility generated by the likes of the Williams Sisters.

Once the proven excellent ability of the Williams sisters made that transformation up from the category of good potential, the white media became a part of this hypocrisy. Articles regularly portrayed  them as two Black girls on whom Mother Nature had bestowed extra physical powers to which fragile white girls would inevitably capitulate; they were said to be overly muscular. The same attitudes directed at  (Australian) Aborigine tennis player Evonne Goolagong in the 1970s when she dominated any favored white competitor, white spectators  and their media not perceiving then, either, of a lowly Aborigine girl with this required ability; hence exhibited their intolerance for such. Goolagon was no more physically imposing than some of her white competitors.

There are those among the competitors of the Williams sisters who are physically bigger. At six feet tall, Venus is not only shorter than some, but also slimmer. American Lindsay Davenport stands two inches over six feet. France’s Mauresma about the same. The same is true of some of the Russian competitors. Sharapova, for instance, is taller than all. Serena is a few inches under six feet. She is a few pounds heavier than some, but to judge her  honestly for being overweight or for possessing the very curvaceous and voluptuous  body many females wished they possessed, and even more men salivate over, she would be judged by the latter.

The Recent Bad Photo Portrayal of Serena Deliberate?

This brings this report to the latest deliberate media berating of Serena as she returned to the tennis scene after a long absence and won the 2007 Australian Open by managing to: comfortably hold her own; struggle valiantly to avoid defeat when at a big disadvantage; eventually comprehensively destroy the highly touted number one ranked player, Russia’s Maria Sharapova, in straight  sets. With so much praise heaped on Sharapova, “the blonde beauty”  -- as  her compatriot Anna Kournikova  was adored and hailed even though incapable of a significant win -- the New York Times,  a newspaper that promotes itself as New York’s leading paper of objective journalism, that publishes “All the news that’s fit to print,” felt it had to jump in and rescue Sharapova from the bad feelings the unexpected bad loss brought upon her and her countless fans. This rescue came in the form of a photo of Serena, obviously deliberately computer doctored to show her with triceps-biceps fitting for a Mr. America competitor. Hence, the Sharapova fans may find solace in convincing themselves that the loss resulted because a fragile white girl was faced with the mammoth task of having been defeated by a Black girl of massive muscular proportions.

The New York Times engaged in as prejudiced an act as did Time magazine during the O. J. Simpson murder trial when a Time artist was ordered to blacken a Simpson picture meant for its cover, for in so doing it  was assumed to make sure to make him look more like the demon Time wanted him to look like. After much denial, Time did confess and apologized. The New York Times should do the same and apologize to Serena.