Serena Williams's shocking U.S. Open loss to Naomi Osaka has set off a storm of debate about professionalism and double standards in the sport. Williams maintains that she was penalized more harshly than a male player would have been (more harshly, in fact, than they've been punished in the past), but she had the poise to congratulate and support Osaka despite her disappointment and anger.
On Monday, the Herald Sun, an Australian newspaper, published a cartoon lampooning the incident. The cartoon shows a player who's supposed to be Williams, squat, muscular, with a squinting and big-lipped facelifted straight out of Little Black Sambo cartoons, furiously stomping on a broken racket as the tennis official asks a slim, blonde player (presumably Osaka) if she'll just let her opponent win. In no time, critics called the depiction as racist, and it's hard to find an argument that it isn't. But despite that, the cartoonist, Mark Knight, insists that he wasn't trying to be racist. The Herald-Sun published a response to the backlash, saying: Knight said the online hate he received was unfair as the cartoon was about her flare-ups during the US Open final and not racism or sexism.“I drew this cartoon Sunday night after seeing the US Open final, and seeing the world’s best tennis player has a tantrum and thought that was interesting,” he said.“The cartoon about Serena is about her poor behaviour on the day, not about race. The world has just gone crazy.”
Knight's editor at the Sun agrees with Knight's interpretation.
damon johnston
✔@damonheraldsun
@Knightcartoons cartoon is not racist or sexist .... it rightly mocks poor behaviour by a tennis legend ... Mark has the full support of everyone @theheraldsun
1:39 AM - Sep 11, 2018
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So maybe it wasn't Knight's intent to make a racist cartoon. Maybe he was sincerely trying to lampoon one of the highest-profile athletes in the world not behaving as professionally as he thought she should be.