Dear Serena Williams, Just Give Up.

By:  Black Conservative (@BlackConservative93)

Serena Williams has been dominating tennis since childhood.  Her success came with resentment from both some of black America, but the majority of white America.  For black people we love how she is the embodiment of #BlackGirlGagic.  Despite facing racism, it has not stopped her from being the most talented and wealthiest tennis athlete of all time.  Yet with her success, black men side-eyed her as she recently responded that her lose to Naomi Osaka was due to sexism from the umpire rather than racism.  Williams reputation was further damaged when she married Alex Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit.  It was a stab in the black that despite black men always cheering her on and recognizing her humanity, a white man swooped her off her feet.  It was white men who would call her a man or transexual.  It was white men clowning her African features and skin tone.  We rescue her from shame multiple times, yet she continues to entertain white people further and find the one white man who saw her as a woman (literally).

White people low key love Serena Williams because of her timidness on racial issues.  Inc., a weekly magazine compared her response to her ‘catsuit’ ban to Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, you go high.”  White people know they can bully and manipulate Serena.  She might even be as gullible to play naked and without a racket due to a suggested new rule that only singles her out.  Serena is not a hero, but rather a simple-minded athlete.  I fear her inability to speak out, especially in this racial climate, it tells enough about how scared and vulnerable she is.  Serena is the blackest woman in the whitest sport in the world.  I know she is inspiring a new generation of black girls in tennis.  Haitian-Japanese protégée Naomi Osaka has made a name for herself and has beaten her idol in a controversial finish.  Regardless, we could see Serena passing the torch to Osaka, yet will the racial issues go along with it?  

For starters, Osaka has been in the mainstream media as simply a Japanese athlete minus her Haitian background from her father who also guided and funded her career.  To the untrained eye Osaka is seen by whites as the perfect biracial girl mixed enough to opt out of being black, but Osaka did not want to accept that privilege.  Granted, Osaka is racially conscious and does not appreciate the continuing the image of homogeneous Japan.  She loves her Haitian heritage and she is not afraid to show love to her African American brothers and sisters.  As much as I love Osaka, the tennis arena does not her deserve her.  My fear is that she will eventually crack and forget who raised her to fame.  Is there a price to deny her blackness and remain silent of racism?  Even if she becomes the ‘Angela Davis’ of tennis spitting hard right strokes with woke statements, Osaka’s talent does not carry the anger that white men have on black people dominating their sports and spaces.  There is no convincing white women that they are no match for black women when they have equal opportunities to train and win champions.  White America tokenizes Osaka as a humble Japanese girl who can beat Serena.  The victory exposed Serena’s insecurities and failure to talk about race as white commentators mock her for crying sexism.

Tennis does not need Serena and will do everything in their power to erase her legacy.  In my opinion, she needs to retire and start her own league.  She has the money so why not create fair and equal opportunities for black girls interested in tennis.  I do not care if the airtime is only on YouTube or PBS, Serena has put tennis on the map only for white men to disrespect her in front the world.  I do not want to see Osaka go through this after white people betray her.  Black people have to let these sports die without us.  If whites are going to boycott the NFL because of Colin Kaepernick then our sons do not need to risk their lives for a million dollars or their career over black men being killed by rogue police officers.  It is either we quit being athletes or create or own league.  It is just that simple.