Serena Williams: Cartoonist denies US Open depiction is racist

Image copyright AFP/Getty Photographs Image caption Serena Williams lost to Naomi Osaka at the US Open on the weekend

An Australian cartoonist has defended his depiction of Serena Williams on the US Open, after the image went viral and used to be criticised as racist and sexist.

Mark Knight’s newspaper cartoon showed Williams jumping above a damaged racquet subsequent to a baby’s dummy. Critics mentioned it portrayed racist stereotypes.

The cartoonist denied it was racist, pronouncing he had meant to depict most effective the tennis participant’s “negative behaviour”.

Some additionally mentioned Knight had “whitewashed” Jap player Naomi Osaka.

Williams sparked controversy throughout her loss to Osaka whilst she accused the umpire of sexism and being a “thief”.

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Others on social media talked about that Osaka seemed to were drawn as a “white woman” with a blonde hair.

The National Association of Black Newshounds in the u.s. denounced the cartoon as “repugnant on many ranges”.

“It not just exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, however Williams’ depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like,” it stated in a statement.

The 1899 children’s ebook, The Tale of Little Black Sambo, featured derogatory racial depictions – such as characters with thick purple lips.

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Knight stated he had “no knowledge of those cartoons or that period”, announcing on Tuesday that “the arena has just gone crazy”.

“The caricature used to be as regards to Serena on the day having a tantrum. That Is mainly it,” he informed the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Knight also rejected a proposal that he would not draw a similar symbol of a man. As proof, he tweeted his recent caricature of tennis player Nick Kyrgios.

Racism in Australian cartoons

One sociology professional instructed the BBC that Knight had used “a style that has a long historical past of racist affect”.

“the author may not even realise their own framing of the sector has been shaped via historical past of racism in Australia,” said emeritus Prof Andrew Jakubowicz from the School of Technology, Sydney.

He said there were “a tradition” in lots of Australian cartoons to magnify bodily features of minority teams, including indigenous Australians, to “trigger a reaction” – akin to humour.

Knight was once also accused of racism closing month for a caricature which confirmed faceless black figures preventing in a Melbourne subway, a connection with a debate approximately African-Australian side road gangs.

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