There is a popular saying that goes “Art imitates life.” In the real world, a material world, it should say that life reflects class relations. And under capitalism that reinforces the haves and have nots; inequality impacts every sector of society, no matter the form. Nothing is spared from this inequality, not even sports. A perfect example of this happened during the U.S. Tennis Open, the final Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year, held for two weeks starting the last week of August in Queens, New York. 

Taylor Townsend, a Black woman from the U.S. who happens to be one half of the number one ranked women’s doubles team in the world, was verbally insulted by Jelena Ostapenko, a white player from Latvia following a second round match Aug. 28. 

Townsend had just defeated Ostapenko. After Townsend shook her hand and said, “good match,” Ostapenko criticized her for failing to apologize when Townsend won a net chord point. That’s when her return ball clipped the top of the net before falling over to the other side. An apology following such a point is traditional but not required. 

Ostapenko could be seen by everyone in the arena stands and online sticking her finger in Townsend’s face as if she were a child being scolded by a parent. According to Townsend, Ostapenko accused her of being “classless” and “uneducated.” 

No matter what was said between the two players, the optics didn’t lie. What was very clear to any person of color is that a white woman was seen chastising a Black woman in a display of racist, insensitive behavior in front of the international media. 

When a Black reporter asked Townsend during the post-match press conference whether she thought Ostapenko berating her was a reflection of racism, Townsend responded: “So whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she [Ostapenko] can speak on. It’s okay to stand up and call people out for the bullshit.” 

She went on to say: “I’m sorry to say, because sometimes, I feel like in society, especially people of color, we are expected to be silenced, or sometimes there are times where we have to decide and be very strategic as to when we speak up. In these types of moments, it’s important for me to speak up, not only for myself, but for my culture.” (espn.com, Aug. 28)

Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian, stated on Aug. 29: “Obviously, it’s one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport. And granted I know Taylor, and I know how hard she’d worked, and I know how smart she is, so she’s the furthest thing from being uneducated.” (espn.com, Aug. 29)

Osaka has openly supported the Black Lives Movement, especially following the police lynching of George Floyd in 2020.

Other Black tennis players, current and retired, like Coco Gauff, Sloane Stevens and James Blake, have officially come to Townsend’s defense. 

To her credit, Ostapenko, after receiving much deserved flack , did apologize on social media for her behavior, although she did not mention Townsend’s name in the apology. 

Missing in action: support from white players

The elephant in the room is where were the voices of white tennis players when this incident happened? While white commentators praised Townsend on how she “handled” the situation, the top-ranked white tennis players were silent.  They did not issue any official public statements of support for Townsend, either individually or collectively. 

Why was it left up to the Black tennis players, a tiny minority within a still mainly white elite sport, to speak out against this insensitive outburst? Also why didn’t the governing board of the U.S. Open issue a public statement denouncing Ostapenko’s behavior and also express support for Townsend? Why does it mainly fall on Black people to speak out against the racism we face every day no matter the circumstances including sports? 

A simple act of white players publicly saying that they are in solidarity with Black players like Townsend could have gone a long way in not only building anti-racist unity throughout the tennis community but helping to raise social consciousness throughout society due to the popularity of the sport. 

Sports involve political issues under capitalism and therefore cannot be separated from white supremacy that permeates every sector in society including culture, as Townsend alluded to in her press statement. 

The legacy of Althea Gibson today

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the late pioneer Black tennis player, Althea Gibson, breaking the color barrier in professional tennis with the U.S. Tennis Open (originally the U.S. National Championships) in 1950. Three years prior, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier of the once all-white Major League Baseball in 1947. This year’s tournament theme entitled “Breaking the Barrier” honors Gibson’s immeasurable contributions to sports and society as a whole. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Gibson, like Robinson, was forced to endure horrific racism in whatever arena she played, especially during the era when segregation was the law of the land. But such anniversaries should be about moving forward with progress, not simply observing the past.

Gibson’s legacy certainly paved the way for more and more players of color, such as Serena Williams and Venus Williams, Coco Gauff and Townsend, but she would want her legacy to also serve as an important lesson for white players to speak out against racism whenever it rears its ugly head, as it did at the Aug. 28 event. 

This is especially important with an openly white supremacist occupying the White House, who is attempting to erase the history of Black peoples’ resistance to 400 years of racism in the U.S.