HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERENA AND THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING UP

feeling rebloggy

As a black girl in Philadelphia traveling to the suburbs to play tournaments, these rules had special significance for me. If I protested a point, I would be considered undisciplined or angry. “Tennis is a mental game,” my dad would say. “Don’t let them break you.”

I thought about those unwritten rules while watching Williams play in this year’s US Open final. After the referee gave her a warning for a minor code violation, she protested, leading to a more serious penalty from the umpire, who called her response “verbal abuse.” 

Williams was visibly frustrated, and her game never recovered. It was clear she wasn’t just upset about a single penalty. From 

• enduring racial slurs on the court to 
• having her tennis outfit banned as "inappropriate,” [showing a lack of respect and
• being drug tested a lot more than white players. In fact she is one of tennis' most drug tested players]

Williams has been subject to discriminatory treatment for nearly two decades, simply for being a black woman in what is widely perceived as a white person’s game.

After the match, the angry black woman stereotype was repeatedly evoked to describe her frustration, and cartoonist Mark Knight depicted Williams as a racist caricature that resembled a monkey throwing a tantrum on the court.

As an attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), I know that the differential treatment black women receive from childhood takes a psychological toll. 

Last summer, LDF released a report documenting how black girls are more likely to be stereotyped as loud, angry and aggressive. 

When black girls challenge authority or violate norms, they are more likely to be punished at school for offenses subjectively labeled as defiant, disobedient, disrespectful and threatening. Like Serena, young black women are disciplined for wearing natural hairstyles, disproportionately targeted for increased surveillance and punished for dress code violations while similar clothing is interpreted as “innocent” when worn by girls of other races.

The result is that black girls are...

Read More: https://theundefeated.com/features/serena-williams-naacp-legal-defense-fund-black-girls/

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