It is a diva throwing a tantrum. Not every unattractive image is racist.

See any resemblance?


Took just a few seconds searching "sambo".

Any explanation for the suddenly Aryan opponent being asked by the very white ref to just let her win?

It's virtually impossible to draw a caricature of a black figure, for example, without an immediate barrage of RACIST! charges. I once drew a cartoon of Obama dancing. It appeared here on DU, and even DUers sent me nasty-grams saying that it was racist to show a black man dancing. Keep in mind, I dressed him in a dark suit and tie, very dapper. No exaggeration of facial features, a pretty good representation. But it was showing a black man DANCING that upset DUers (and others). So this cartoon of Serena is pretty tame. It's merely a drawing of a woman having a temper tantrum. I see nothing wrong with it, other than Jimmy Conners and John McEnroe not being there with her receiving $17,000 fines for not acting lady-like while black.

A disgusting portrayal. If you have watched the video you know that Williams was restrained in her body language the entire time.

Last edited Tue Sep 11, 2018, 11:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Exaggerating features and look how she is compared to her opponent. It disrespects both of them imo.

The cartoonist has a history of racist cartoons

That Racist Serena Williams Cartoon Is Sadly Illustrative of Australian Cartoonists

Knight, one of Australia’s most infamous cartoonists, has previously been called out for his racism and sexism. Just last month he was lambasted over his dehumanizing depiction of African teenagers in Melbourne trashing a train station, which stoked an ongoing racist dog whistle driven by erstwhile almost–prime minister Peter Dutton (and faithfully carried out by the Herald Sun). In 2012, he used the annual Australia Day debate to joke about the genocide of Indigenous Australians, with a cartoon of then–Prime Minister Julia Gillard fleeing an Indigenous protest while saying, “Geez, if the Aboriginals had’ve put up a fight like this in 1788, we might not be bloody well here celebrating Australia Day…!”

Knight is no stranger to sexist portrayals of powerful women, with a 1999 cartoon portraying the female leader of the centrist Australian Democrats in bed with conservative Prime Minister John Howard. Beds are continued to be a favorite Knight trope for depicting the deal-making of women in politics—he portrayed Gillard, Australia’s first and only female PM, in bed with male leaders on multiple occasions throughout her 2010–13 reign. Her partner, Tim, was predictably emasculated by Knight, while her conversations with then–Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were “girl talk.” (Also, handbags!) The exaggerated Gillard profile—long nose, large ass—is distinctly Knightian, and although it was perpetuated and reinforced by other political cartoonists and at disgusting opposition party fundraisers, it’s fair to argue Knight is most responsible for its ubiquity.

(Snip)

The late Bill Leak regularly inspired backlash with his racist drawings, from depicting an Indigenous man as a drunk who’s unable to remember his son’s name to depicting an Indonesian as a dog mounting a West Papuan. (Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull denied Leak was a racist, calling him a “controversialist.”) Leak also compared the LGBTQ community to Nazis and continually fought what he saw as the gay agenda.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/mark-knight-australian-cartoon-serena-williams-sexist-racist.html

I had a lot of arguments with people about Serena's behavior, which I thought was completely unwarranted and typical of how she acts when she's behind in a match (if Serena can't win, nobody can win, basically).

But this cartoon completely undermines the actual issues. The real problems are what appears to be a bone in her nose, and the baffling portrayal of her opponent as a white girl with a blonde ponytail.