|
Faced With
Much Racism from White America and its Media –Including New York Times --
Venus
and Serena Williams Can Still Be Victorious.
By ODIMUMBA KWAMDELA (J. Ashton Brathwaite)
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
two accompanying shots of the same photo will prove to even a fool the fact of
the accusation here. It is a pity that the person responsible for this computer
doctoring did so to only one of her arms.
In spite of the attempt to make the doctored addition look like the real
thing, the normal outline of Serena’s bicep is evident within the
fake addition.
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.
It is doubtful if white American tennis
fans in particular would apologize for their ugly prejudice attitudes toward
Venus and Serena – as was done to Serena by gangs of white spectators at a
French Open when she questioned a return from Belgium Justine
Hardenne that was judged in when
the cameras saw it as out – even if like the New York Times and Time magazine
they had the capability of doing so nationally. But they should
be told. Those Australians who all but harassed Serena to tears as
she was dominating the Belgium Kim Clijsters should be ashamed. Imagine
that they were according her similar treatment to that fellow Australians gave
Jack Johnson in the same Australia when he followed heavyweight champion Tommy
Burns there pleading for his chance to fight for the title, which until then no
Black was allowed to do even if he had Johnson’s reputation of being the best.
And believe it or not, these situations were almost 100 years apart. Starting
this article with such a paradoxical adage pertaining to racial prejudice –“ the
more things change, the more they remain the same” – no doubt cause readers to
forthwith wonder why. But in this case, at a time when
much claim is made about the significant changes made along racial lines,
thought must be given to Johnson’s time, also Serena’s. True, there is no
evidence that either Sharapova or Clijsters ever engaged in racial attitudes
against Serena – America tennis icon John McEnroe has done it – Burns
subtly delighted in doing against Johnson. And while she did not react as
mean as Johnson did to Burns once they finally met in the ring, it was obvious
that she was no less intent on administering a comprehensive defeat as payback
for the disrespect from other sources
Odimumba Kwamdela is the author of 14 books of non-fiction, fiction and poetry.
His latest are: Journey
 Through
Jailhouse Jeopardy: A Good New York Teacher Ends up Down
Bad Rikers Island Jail
&
Mighty Sparrow: Calypso King of the World.
Older titles now back in print include:
Black British Soldier, Niggers This Is Canada
& Back
To Penny Hole ( Barbados) Forever.
INFORMATION:
kibobooks@aol.com
Phone-Fax: 718-858-5881. Visit Web:
www.kibobooks.com
Kibo Books, P.O.Box 21442, Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11202.
Prompt response-mailing
assured.
|
