The Pill: Serena Williams is the Hillary Clinton of Tennis
by Shauna Jo Watson and Becky T. Chavez
Mark Twain once said, “History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” The racist abuse and unwarranted penalties heaped upon Serena Williams by white tennis umpire Carlos Ramos during the women’s final of the US Open was eerily similar to the outright theft of the 2016 election from the most qualified candidate in history — Hillary Clinton. What we witnessed on Saturday was the villainy of the white cis patriarchy haunting our past, and seemingly destined to strike well into the future. What we are witnessing now is the Hillary Clintoning of Serena Williams.
If there has ever been a time where we should draw a line in the sand and make a stand, it is now. Sadly, Drumpf’s stacking of the judiciary with his Federalist Society goons and his slavish support from the military is protecting him so far. While I’d love to join with the masses and physically remove Trump and carry Hillary into the “people’s house,” this isn’t yet an option. What we can do is right this wrong, correct this injustice at the US Open! Stripping Naomi Osaka of her unfairly awarded Grand Slam title (and the $3.7 million prize) is just the start. The prize payment should be doubled and given to Serena Williams, reparations for the trauma Ramos caused, and an official apology should be personally delivered by Katrina Adams, the president of the United States Tennis Association.
The mistreatment of one of the biggest role models for POC should be rectified in the way that the “loss” endured by Hillary has not been. People with a heart and that believe in justice, basically just us in the progressive/social democratic/feminist/LGBTQUIA2S movement, need to rise up and say, “You’ve gotten this far, no farther!” Letting the “rhyme” of the greatest theft in peoplekind’s history go unchallenged would be nothing short of an act of cowardice from the very people who have the most to lose from the continued mistreatment of womyn and POC.
When male tennis players act real on the court, they suffer no consequences — just look at the great treatment that John McEnroe got. When Serena Williams politely objects to an umpire, acting nowhere near as bad as McEnroe, she gets point and game penalties. Doesn’t this sound similar to how Hillary was punished for “bad” behavior while people praised Trump for obviously bad behavior? Let us also not forget that during the match, Williams was first punished by Carlos Ramos for the actions of her MALE coach, similar to how the right-wing political/media establishment punished Hillary for Bill Clinton’s “sins.” Under the cis-white patriarchy, even when it is the men who are the culprits, it is women who get punished.
Further research into the background of Carlos Ramos alone reveals a shocking record of misogynistic double standards in professional tennis. According to an investigation from The Guardian, Serena Williams’ sister, Venus, was also accused by Ramos of getting coaching during a match in the 2016 French Open. Is Venus Williams a coach? Exactly.
This contrasts with his behavior against men for infractions. During last year’s French Open, when Rafael Nadal was found guilty of slow play, Ramos gave him two warnings. As Nadal put it,
“I say it with sadness, but he is an umpire who scrutinises me more and who fixates on me more,” Nadal said after the match. “He also pressured me about coaching. I have respect for him and all I ask is for that to be reciprocated.”
Carlos Ramos also gave Novak Djokovic a mere warning at this year’s Wimbledon for throwing his racket to the ground. He also gave Andy Murray a slap on the wrist during the 2016 Olympics for calling Ramos “stupid.”
This pattern of being lenient on white men, but acting harsh towards women of color, is nothing short of misogyny and racism — misogynoir — which is what Williams was taking a stand against when she called Ramos a “thief” and told him the following:
“You will never, ever be on a court of mine as long as you live.”
The patriarchy in the media have reacted to this hate crime against Williams by reframing the narrative, claiming that the real story is Williams’ “mistreatment” of Naomi Osaka, the winner of the match. Naomi Osaka is the first Japanese person to win a US Open title. There is no surprise as to what is going on here — a crazy problematic Asian put her own self-advancement above that of Serena Williams and other women, especially women of color. Young and naive, she cowardly took the US Open trophy that should’ve went to Williams. Osaka set back women of color by generations with her myopic selfishness. Naomi Osaka is to tennis what white women were to the 2016 US Presidential election.
Fortunately, woke allies are speaking out and demanding change. In an article for ESPN, Peter Bodo called for an end to the no-coaching rule after it triggered Serena Williams. Legendary feminist tennis player Billie Jean King wrote an article in The Washington Post bashing Carlos Ramos for abuse of power and calling Serena Williams a “champion.” But the best and most relevant praise came from Katrina Adams, who said this at the opening of the awards ceremony:
“Perhaps it’s not the finish we were looking for today,” Adams said, “but Serena, you are a champion of all champions.” Addressing the crowd, Adams added, “This mama is a role model and respected by all.”
YASSS QUEEN! 🙌 And speaking of queens….
Just as Hillary is #OurPresident, Serena is #OurChampion 🏆
If you haven’t already, please read our older articles to awaken your mind to more ways to fight injustice. We come out with new articles regularly, so stay tuned, because the outrage never stops!
