By: Youeal Abera
On Saturday, September 8, the tennis world was in awe of Serena Williams during her epic match against Naomi Osaka at the 2018 US Open. Although she lost, Serena lent inspiration to all when, after losing to her opponent, she told the 23,771-member crowd to stop booing Osaka, and proceeded to embrace the new winner. For those who know Serena, and the incomparable legacy she has built for herself, these actions of grace and honorability should come as no surprise.
However, what was a surprise was the racist image that Mark Knight, cartoonist for the Herald Sun, created and shared with the world on his Twitter account. Days after the match, Knight tweeted an image of Serena who, drawn with exaggerated lips and other racist features, is shown stomping on her tennis racket.
In addition to the baby pacifier flung on the court near Serena, the cartoon depicts Osaka asking the chair umpire, “Can you just let her win?”
What’s even more aggravating about Knight’s sectarian image is how it represents Osaka. The cartoonist drew Osaka, who is of Haitian and Hawaiian descent, as a skinny, blonde white woman. In contrast, Williams, who is of African-American heritage, was drawn as a large, angry, and menacing individual.
The racism strewn within Knight’s image is quite apparent. Serena, a darker-toned Black woman, is depicted as the villain. While Williams stood up for herself in the US Open match, Knight’s concocted image panders to the problematic fallacy that Black women are overly aggressive, loud-mouthed individuals who are unable to control their emotions.
Knight’s portrayal of Osaka is equally damaging. Osaka, although light-skinned, is still Afrocentric due to her Haitian roots. Nevertheless, Knight’s cartoon presents Osaka as a white woman, an innocent being victimized by the “aggressive” behavior of the big, bad Serena. Even in the absence of critical analysis, Knight’s image clearly reinforces the old narrative that lighter-skinned women are generally more diplomatic and feminine, whereas women with darker complexions are uncivilized, lacking the propensity to act graciously.
Mark Knight’s cartoon is inarguably problematic, both for Williams’ racist portrayal and the agent of colorism present in his illustration of Osaka. However, it’s also unfortunate that Williams and Osaka, both talented athletes who can attribute their success to hard work and great skill, now have their legendary US Open match tainted with this disgusting cartoon.
This match is significant for Osaka and Williams, albeit for very different reasons. For Osaka, this US Open Match serves as the day where she was able to play and win against her childhood hero. For Williams, this was a match where her courage and tenacity inspired women from all around the world as she stood up for herself against the chair umpire’s questionable calls.
Sure, Williams may have won if the chair umpire had refrained from making these calls: however, through the sportsmanship and solidarity she expressed towards Osaka, Williams was still a champion when the match ended.
What people tend to forget is that when artists draw and distribute such racist images online, portraying people’s likenesses without their knowledge or permission, it drags the individuals involved into an interminable negative experience.
It’s a terrible shame that because of Mark Knight, Williams and Osaka, after their legendary tennis match, have unwillingly become part of a racist illustration that will live on the internet forever. Just like Knight’s racism, the robbing of Williams’ and Osaka’s agency, through the drawing of this cartoon, is truly disheartening.
