Analyzing an Editorial Cartoon of Serena Williams

New Offensive Editorial Cartoon of Serena Williams 

Image by Alex Pantling via GettyImages

  A recent tennis match between one of the most well known and influential tennis players, Serena Williams, versus another upcoming player, Naomi Osaka, left viewers everywhere outraged and confused. After receiving multiple penalties for William's performance, many of which she and a majority of people watching felt were unfair and uncalled for, Williams quickly voiced her frustrations to the game's umpire, Carlos Ramos. After going back and forth with Ramos, the penalties ultimately cost Williams a game. This was a major loss for Williams and she went on and  described her game experience as sexist and discriminatory. However, some people disagreed with Williams' comments and went on to mock and harass her through social media. An editorial cartoon even came out by Mark Knight depicting Serena in a racially offensive manner. 

Image by Mark Knight 

  In the editorial cartoon, Williams is shown jumping in the air with a broken tennis racket beneath her and a pacifier to the right. This image went viral and gained a lot of controversy because of the way Serena was drawn compared to the umpire and Naomi. The facial features on Williams were compared to those of drawings and cartoons from the Jim Crow era. While the artist of this drawing claimed it was not meant be racially offensive, the mocking of facial features on people of color such as big lips or noses has always been an issue. Not only can this image be viewed as an act of racism, it is also supporting the stereotype that black women are always angry and aggressive while white women are more civil. Aside from the racial aspects, this image completely disregards Williams' remarks about feeling like she had lost her match due to the fact that she felt the umpire was being sexist. The umpire is shown telling Naomi if she could let Williams win so she could stop throwing a tantrum. Overall, the tone of this image is meant to be humorous but ended up being offensive and hateful not only to Serena, but a lot of other people as well.