What Needs To Be Said About The Racist Serena Williams Cartoon

First things first - I'm aware of how complex this topic is and I want to emphasise from the beginning that this is an opinion post. From the conversations I've had over the last few days, the following points are the conclusions I've come to. I want this to be an opportunity for others to share their thoughts and I welcome the challenge of an intellectual discussion and debate about this issue. Please be respectful of opposing points of view, use this as a chance to learn, and allow yourself to entertain alternative approaches to the topic.

I'm finding it quite difficult to pin down exactly what issue people are trying to argue here because there are numerous conversations happening simultaneously. Before I even get to the cartoon let me just cover my interpretation of the events on court.

The umpire, Carlos Ramos, claimed to have seen Williams receive coaching from her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. According to tennis rules this is not allowed and resulted in an initial code violation. Williams was clearly upset by this decision as it suggested that she was cheating which questioned her integrity. You'd have to be a different level of apathetic to not understand how this would impact someone in a high-pressure, competitive, and emotional environment such a Grand Slam final. I am not well versed in the rules of tennis so this New York Times article explains the rule quite clearly; however anyone that has seen me in a competitive environment will understand that I relate to Serena getting upset.

Back to the event on court, to quote the New York Times article, "Williams [...] later smashed her racket, which is an automatic code violation. Because it was her second, it resulted in a point penalty. Williams, [...] accused Ramos of stealing the point from her, leading to a third violation for verbal abuse and the forfeiting of a game."

Now, within the rules of tennis - not taking the individual into consideration - Ramos was well within his right to make that call. I don't think what he did was wrong. However, this is where it begins to get complicated because we introduce two layers to the situation: a) Sexism - as claimed by Williams; b) Racism - as brought into the picture by the cartoonist, Mark Knight. Starting with sexism, Serena said that it was unfair because male tennis players get away with more than what she did. In the week since the event there have been numerous posts and articles to support this.

What comes into question here is the quality and consistency of refereeing. The manner in which Serena reacted was not the most appropriate but that does not mean she shouldn't have penalised for the 'verbal abuse'. In the same way that your justification for doing something wrong can't be that other people have done worse. However, from my understanding, she believed she was receiving harsher treatment for doing less than her male counterparts which she deemed as unfair. At this point I'm not getting into the underlying issue of how women, and in particular black women, are perceived when they lose their cool as opposed to 'passionate' males as that's another layer that makes this even more complex.

This is a simplified account of events but with that said, I'm completely on Serena's side with regards to calling out the unequal treatment of women in tennis.

Now I want to talk about the cartoon. In my opinion it is racist but Mark Knight has every right to publish it. To anyone asking why race and/or gender is ubiquitous in today's conversations - this post is most important for you. Regardless of this being an isolated incident of 'bad behaviour' it would be foolish and ignorant to ignore all the aspects. If this makes you feel uncomfortable then good; I'm not going to apologise about it or adapt my message for your sake.

I need to start off by saying this is difficult because we're trying to create a world in which people are free to say what they want and express their own views but simultaneously trying to create a world in which what we say does not offend or discriminate or insult a race, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc. However, I believe that those two cannot coexist; it's one or the other. You could try and find a safe middle ground but the cognitive dissonance makes that land on which you need to tread very lightly. Words have incredible power and the good intentions of the so-called 'PC Brigade' are smeared by people trying to tackle these empowering terms.

Let me get my wording right because the next couple of sentences need to be clear. Due to historical representations of black people in the media and entertainment, a narrative was created that they are wild and unreasonable, and as a result, unrelatable. One of the most notable comparisons is that to a monkey or an ape. Primitive and mentally underdeveloped. This mindset has been subliminally ingrained into society and normally remains dormant until controversial situations like these arise. The term has been and is still used to insult black people and is why the H&M "Coolest Monkey In The Jungle" scandal was such a big deal.

Looking at the cartoon, you can begin draw parallels between how Serena is depicted in the image with how black people have historically been represented in racially stemmed artwork. The exaggerated features to make them appear grotesque, unappealing and even beastly by Eurocentric standards. To go a step further, Naomi Osaka (of Japanese-Haitian heritage) is represented as a white blonde woman to directly contrast Serena. It's difficult to ignore the societal representation and expectation of femininity as petite, vulnerable, and more aligned with westernised beauty standards. I'm not even going to get into male insecurity and perceptions of having to be 'big & strong' to fulfil a fantasy fed for generations that women need saving; so when a strong woman starts speaking up they feel the need to bring them down a notch to protect their fragile ego.

Please don't counter with the "but what about the insulting cartoon of this white person". This main difference is that when a white person is portrayed in satirical cartoon form they are represented as an individual. The characteristics in question are that of a single person and not the entire race. Case in point, when there's a school shooting in the states it's not a white problem, it's the individual. When there's a terrorist attack it's a Muslim issue or when it's 'gang related thuggery' it's a black issue.

Screenshot of the controversial H&M advert

Here is where I want to defend Mark Knight's right to publish the cartoon. In a discussion with friends a counter-argument presented was the fact that the cartoon was an art-form and we can't begin to control and censor it. I completely agree with that. There needs to be art. Art is so important because it critiques and holds up a mirror to current issues but also shows them through a different lens. This can be used positively (i.e. to call out injustice and bring people together) or negatively (i.e. propaganda in order to divide). Whether this is positive or negative completely depends on what side of the issue you stand on. Especially as a cartoonist, a lot of their work focuses around the exaggeration and satirical representation of a controversial issue. However, I believe that whoever you are, you should be aware of your platform and the influence you have these topics.

These days it's not enough to plead ignorance and say that you were not aware of how a message may be interpreted - particularly if you have a platform such as Knight's. There is plenty of information out there to educate yourself. If 'white' people say that they didn't think of the racial connotation when they saw the picture that's because of the 'white' privilege of not having to be concerned of how their race is being depicted in the media. To put it bluntly. Even if there is no immediate or measurable consequence of the cartoon, what it does is reinforce old (and current) racial and sexist stereotypes about black people and black women in particular. Adding a layer to that, the "Could you just let her win" quote does imply that she needs to be given the permission to win from the 'white, calm, collected, polite' person. Serena Williams is one of the greatest tennis players to ever play so this is insulting to her ability as it suggests that she has been allowed to win.

That is why I believe the cartoon has racist and sexist undertones but the cartoonist was well within his right to publish it. However, he has to take responsibility of the way people respond to it and does not get a 'free pass'. As a result of wanting to have a world in which we can openly express ourselves, there are no 'legal' consequences for his actions (that I am aware of).

Everyone needs to take responsibility for their words and has to be aware of the more wildly known implications they may have. In different languages or cultures they may have different connotations. Going back to the H&M story for example, calling a child a cheeky monkey may be considered somewhat endearing. However, context is important because if a white person called a black child a cheeky monkey - even if they did not mean it with any racial implication - they need to understand how it could be interpreted. This is where I want to emphasise the need for everyone else to also appreciate context - particularly people of colour. Just because someone says something that may have a racial undertone doesn't mean they intended it to come across that way. This becomes really difficult on social media because the abstract concepts of language such as annunciation, sarcasm, irony, and exaggeration are really difficult to interpret. Due to the nature of social media arguments, people automatically assume there is a confrontational tone and, as a result, is countered by everyone going on the defensive. So BOTH sides need to be conscious of context; white and black people (and everyone else).

Finally, more often than not I'm comfortable to let these conversations boil over because within the next 10 days there will be another 'scandal' in the news and everyone forgets about this. The reason I chose to say something about this topic was because one of my good friends, Cesar Guitunga Jr., made a very important point: it's important to be outspoken about this because if we keep tolerating 'mild' acts of racism people will keep getting away with more and more. Before you know it, the threshold for what is deemed racist will be so high it will take something outrageous for people to take notice. This needs to be called out at every opportunity in order to let everyone know that we should have zero tolerance towards racism.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

Desmond Tutu

#serenawilliams #tennis #usopen #sexism #racism #cartoon