Racist Serena Williams Cartoon
Everything about the racist Serena Williams cartoon
On September 8th, 2018, at the U.S open final championships, Serena Williams played against 20-year-old Naomi Osaka for the winning spot. But what occurred during the game was very controversial as the umpire Carlos Ramos gave Serena Williams a warning for coaching that Serena quickly disputed and said 'I don't cheat, I'd rather lose'. After she was broken by her opponent, Williams was given a code violation for smashing her tennis racket which resulted to a point penalty. In response, she said ' every time I play here I have problems I did not have coaching, I don't cheat, you need to make an announcement, I have a daughter at home and I stand for what is right. you owe me an apology'. After Serena called him a thief for taking away her point, the umpire resulted to call verbal abuse and when the match finished she refused to shake the umpire's hand and she demanded an apology. Serena Williams was fined 17,000 for U.S open final code violations in which will be deducted from Williams' runner-up prize that is 1.85million.
The cartoon by Mark Knight - an Australian journalist reached international headlines for the racist style 'Sambo' that was used in the early 20th century in America to dehumanise black Americans. As you can see here he draws Serena with an oversized mouth that completely contrasts to what Serena Williams actually looks like. Also, the denotations in the cartoon of Serena's opponent as a white woman with blonde hair when in reality Naomi Oaska is a Black-Japanese American this emphasises the lack of knowledge Knight has and the racist/colourist cartoon portrays Serena as an angry black woman as the white woman in the cartoon looks calm and unbothered. Decoding the cartoon, the broken tennis racket has a polysemic meaning firstly it represents that the recent event has taken a dip in Serena's career and secondly represents when Serena threw the tennis racket on the court out of frustration. Furthermore, the dummy on the court connotes child-like behaviour and the ideology beneath the cartoon shows that Knight thinks that Serena was being a bad sports-woman. This also reinforces the stereotypes of when women don't get what they want, they throw a tantrum. The codes and conventions of the quote " Can you just let her win ?" conveys Knights view on the situation which disrespects Serena and her sport also being a mouthpiece for the umpire.
Famous Journalists and writers spoke out on the racist cartoon of Serena; JK Rowling tweeted " well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop". Mark Knight spoke openly on his cartoon of Serena Williams on Twitter and said " I'm upset that people are offended, but I'm not going to take the cartoon down, I can't undraw the cartoon. I think people have just misinterpreted. Maybe there's a different understanding of cartooning in Australia to America...It was a cartoon based on her tantrum on the day and that's all it was. (2018)" he also said he had never heard of Sambo which is hard to believe as he is a cartoonist and would've studied different types of styles of art.
A feminist would perceive this cartoon to be offensive towards women as Knight presents women in this cartoon to be spoilt and childish. Whereas a misogynist would think that the stereotype is true and would agree with Knight's ideology of Serena Williams, which is that Serena was being a bad sportswoman and would've done anything to win even if it was to embarrass herself and linking back to the idea of females throwing tantrums they'd support this idea.
In conclusion, I think that Knight purposely drew Naomi as a white woman to portray a black woman in the media as aggressive and violent supporting the stereotypes. As this is very offensive to black females worldwide seeing the cartoon as it could make them question their beauty and their role in society and how society views us. In my opinion you can clearly see the contrast in how he drew the white woman to be slim, tall and none of her features are exaggerated just like the white umpire which is why I think Knight purposely racially attacked Serena in the cartoon to not only share his opinion on the recent event but to gain recognition.
Famous Journalists and writers spoke out on the racist cartoon of Serena; JK Rowling tweeted " well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop". Mark Knight spoke openly on his cartoon of Serena Williams on Twitter and said " I'm upset that people are offended, but I'm not going to take the cartoon down, I can't undraw the cartoon. I think people have just misinterpreted. Maybe there's a different understanding of cartooning in Australia to America...It was a cartoon based on her tantrum on the day and that's all it was. (2018)" he also said he had never heard of Sambo which is hard to believe as he is a cartoonist and would've studied different types of styles of art.
A feminist would perceive this cartoon to be offensive towards women as Knight presents women in this cartoon to be spoilt and childish. Whereas a misogynist would think that the stereotype is true and would agree with Knight's ideology of Serena Williams, which is that Serena was being a bad sportswoman and would've done anything to win even if it was to embarrass herself and linking back to the idea of females throwing tantrums they'd support this idea.
In conclusion, I think that Knight purposely drew Naomi as a white woman to portray a black woman in the media as aggressive and violent supporting the stereotypes. As this is very offensive to black females worldwide seeing the cartoon as it could make them question their beauty and their role in society and how society views us. In my opinion you can clearly see the contrast in how he drew the white woman to be slim, tall and none of her features are exaggerated just like the white umpire which is why I think Knight purposely racially attacked Serena in the cartoon to not only share his opinion on the recent event but to gain recognition.
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