Cartoon of tennis star Serena Williams not racist - Australia watchdog

 

FILE PHOTO: Sep 8, 2018; New York, NY, USA; Serena Williams of the United States smashes her racket during the women's final against Naomi Osaka of Japan (not pictured) on day thirteen of the 2018 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY SPORTS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A cartoon published in an Australian newspaper that depicted tennis star Serena Williams having a temper tantrum at the U.S. Open last year was not racist, Australia's media watchdog said on Monday.

 

The caricature of an angry Williams - with exaggerated lips and tongue and a wild plume of curly hair rising above her head as she stomped on her tennis racket - was condemned as racist by civil rights leaders, celebrities and fans.

 

Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper and cartoonist Mark Knight denied the image was racist.

 

The Australian Press Council said on Monday the cartoon did not breach its standards of practice.

 

"The Council considers that the cartoon uses exaggeration and absurdity to make its point, but accepts the publisher's claim that it does not depict Ms. Williams as an ape, rather showing her as 'spitting the dummy'," the council said, using an Australian phrase for a child having a temper tantrum.

 

The image was "a non-racist caricature familiar to most Australian readers," the council said in a statement.

 

The newspaper said the cartoon was intended as a lampoon of the tennis star's angry exchanges with chair umpire Carlos Ramos at the U.S. Women's Singles final in New York.

 

Williams clashed with Ramos over penalties she thought she did not deserve and ultimately lost to Naomi Osaka.

 

The U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists said at the time the cartoon was "repugnant on many levels" and "not only exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, but Williams' depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like."

 

"Sambo," a derogatory term for a black person, is the name of a folkloric figure usually depicted with an exaggerated mouth and an ape-like stance.

 

The Council acknowledged that some readers found the cartoon offensive.

 

"However ... there was a sufficient public interest in commenting on behaviour and sportsmanship during a significant dispute between a tennis player with a globally high profile and an umpire at the U.S. Open final," it said.

 

(Reporting by Paulina Duran; Editing by Darren Schuettler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-25

So would it have been racist if she had been white and throwing a temper tantrum, so much offence at anything these days due to social media.

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Sanity prevails. Any likeness to a baboon was because of her behaviour in the US Open final, not her race. That was abundantly clear to anyone with a rational brain...

It was a caricature illustration of an African American woman throwing a temper tantrum, that's all it was

The U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists said at the time the cartoon was "repugnant on many levels" and "not only exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, but Williams' depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like."

 

There is a PC culture these days, that is in itself repugnant. It is as Clint Eastwood said, "weak kneed, liberal nonsense". I do not buy into it for a nanosecond. I absolutely refuse to call any black person African American. I have a good friend who is black. He calls himself African American. Good on him. No bid deal. But, when I referred to him as a black man, he called me out. I told him that in this lifetime, I will never, ever use that term. I asked him, how many African countries have you been to? None. How many African languages do you speak? None. Where do your ancestors come from? What country? I do not know. What did they eat? I do not know. How many African dance styles are you familiar with? None. Who are your favorite African musicians? None. As a white man, I have ten favorites African musicians. Does that make me more African American than him? I love black people, and people of color. (I thank God for them, especially in the US, where the country would be the most boring nation on earth, without the color. Most white people in the US are boring!) The conversation went on like that for some time. It was beyond inane. My family immigrated from Russia a century ago. Do I call myself a Russian American? No way. Why? Nothing about me is Russian. 

 

Sometimes, you just have to say no to PC, and the weakness that it embodies. One can be polite and respectful, without being PC. Nearly every time I criticize Israeli policy, I am called a Jew hater. Pure BS. Nothing to it. Just an open, democratic discussion. Serena was way over the top with that outburst that is referred to, and she rightfully deserves ridicule for it. After all, she is a bizarre looking woman. It is fairly easy for a caricaturist to make fun of her. Samba like? I doubt it. 

 

Stop with the overly sensitive nonsense. Grow thicker skin. Man up. PC is BS.

Samba like? I doubt it

 

Absolutely agree - I saw no dancing at all, only a tantrum ????

I saw it when it first came out and thought it was not only damn funny, but dead on the mark. 

 

Judge for yourself

6 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Judge for yourself

It is called a caricature and this type of cartoon has been used for years, from icons through to celebrities and it can even be seen in cartoons in the Thai newspaper, The Nation.

 

It takes characteristics of the person and magnifies them.........look at those of Trump for example, and I remember one of Charles de Gaulle which pictured him with a huge hooter.

 

For me it is "artistic licence" nothing more, nothing less. 

I’ve drawn cartoons since I was a boy. The secret of a good cartoon is to pick a feature or characteristic and exaggerate it.

 

I once drew a cartoon of a company director walking out of the IT department with his flies undone and ‘lipstick lips’ on his exposed Y-fronts. 

 

He mobilised HR and all the department heads in a hunt for the culprit.

 

The culprit was of course the cartoonist, not the married director having an affair with the married IT manager.

 

It’s the truth that hurts.

29 minutes ago, xylophone said:

It is called a caricature and this type of cartoon has been used for years, from icons through to celebrities and it can even be seen in cartoons in the Thai newspaper, The Nation.

 

It takes characteristics of the person and magnifies them.........look at those of Trump for example, and I remember one of Charles de Gaulle which pictured him with a huge hooter.

 

For me it is "artistic licence" nothing more, nothing less. 

Yes, you are exactly right.  It's called a caricature. 

 

In fact from the OP it says,  "The caricature of an angry Williams - with exaggerated lips and tongue and a wild plume of curly hair rising above her head as she stomped on her tennis racket - was condemned as racist by civil rights leaders, celebrities and fans."

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists said at the time the cartoon was "repugnant on many levels" and "not only exudes racist, sexist caricatures of both women, but Williams' depiction is unnecessarily sambo-like."

 

There is a PC culture these days, that is in itself repugnant. It is as Clint Eastwood said, "weak kneed, liberal nonsense". I do not buy into it for a nanosecond. I absolutely refuse to call any black person African American. I have a good friend who is black. He calls himself African American. Good on him. No bid deal. But, when I referred to him as a black man, he called me out. I told him that in this lifetime, I will never, ever use that term. I asked him, how many African countries have you been to? None. How many African languages do you speak? None. Where do your ancestors come from? What country? I do not know. What did they eat? I do not know. How many African dance styles are you familiar with? None. Who are your favorite African musicians? None. As a white man, I have ten favorites African musicians. Does that make me more African American than him? I love black people, and people of color. (I thank God for them, especially in the US, where the country would be the most boring nation on earth, without the color. Most white people in the US are boring!) The conversation went on like that for some time. It was beyond inane. My family immigrated from Russia a century ago. Do I call myself a Russian American? No way. Why? Nothing about me is Russian. 

 

Sometimes, you just have to say no to PC, and the weakness that it embodies. One can be polite and respectful, without being PC. Nearly every time I criticize Israeli policy, I am called a Jew hater. Pure BS. Nothing to it. Just an open, democratic discussion. Serena was way over the top with that outburst that is referred to, and she rightfully deserves ridicule for it. After all, she is a bizarre looking woman. It is fairly easy for a caricaturist to make fun of her. Samba like? I doubt it. 

 

Stop with the overly sensitive nonsense. Grow thicker skin. Man up. PC is BS.

Good points. My son upbraids me for using the term black. I just say African - American is a clumsy construct, and any black person who wants to call me white or whitey can feel free to use those terms.

Features such as black skin or the epicanthic fold common in Asians are the result of beneficial genetic adaptations to an environment, as is the body hair on the Japanese Ainu. When I see PC organisations get up in arms about relatively innocuous issues, I start thinking of reverse racism.

47 minutes ago, Kelsall said:

Yes, you are exactly right.  It's called a caricature. 

 

In fact from the OP it says,  "The caricature of an angry Williams - with exaggerated lips and tongue and a wild plume of curly hair rising above her head as she stomped on her tennis racket - was condemned as racist by civil rights leaders, celebrities and fans."

todays "civil rights leaders, celebrities and fans."  are way out of line.

A cartoon caricature exaggerates any slight facial feature. Trump with his hair. Is it racial to draw Trump this way.

In context, Williams is immediately recognisable as she spat the dummy big time and smashed her racquet.

And abused the umpire. And said as a mother (invoking the children )... blah blah.

She was disgraceful on this occasion and completely drowned out the young Japanese lass that defeated her.

Sportswoman on this occasion. NO.

Racist or bigoted post. No.

Caricature. YES

  

Australians haven't really made a definite ruling yet. One day, voilence towards women is seen as funny, the next it's not.

Just go with the flow on each particular event.

Imo , probably a bit rough on the cartoon and its intention is clear, I.e. to insult at least Serena.

1 hour ago, stud858 said:

Australians haven't really made a definite ruling yet. One day, voilence towards women is seen as funny, the next it's not.

Just go with the flow on each particular event.

Imo , probably a bit rough on the cartoon and its intention is clear, I.e. to insult at least Serena.

A silly post. Who in this caricature was violent to women.

If you do not understand the caricature done to all politicians and people of sport who are not sports people,

well you have lost the plot. Do some research. It goes all the way back to European civilisation.

The French (Charlie), the British with pickwick papers have been doing this for centuries.

 And the people subject to caricature take it in a good humoured way.

Only Political correct nonsense from post like yours make it racist or insulting.

If you act like a buffoon, in the public arena, you deserve a caricature.

And Ms Williams deserved a caricature for her offensively display against the umpire and her opponent.

She spoiled the reward of her opponent winning a game and she should be made the subject of caricature.

Sad BAD LOSER.

Finally a bit of common sense.  Wish all these sooking snowflakes would crawl into their safe spaces and never come out again.

8 hours ago, stud858 said:

Australians haven't really made a definite ruling yet. One day, voilence towards women is seen as funny, the next it's not.

Just go with the flow on each particular event.

Imo , probably a bit rough on the cartoon and its intention is clear, I.e. to insult at least Serena.

It is not meant to insult. It is meant to mock a person's very poor behaviour. Maybe you do not know the difference. Maybe you are easily offended.

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

Finally a bit of common sense.  Wish all these sooking snowflakes would crawl into their safe spaces and never come out again.

The problem is that with social media is the ‘outrage machine’ can go into overdrive, sucking attention away from legitimate problems and issues in society. 

I must confess that while I don't want to insult anyone or cause them to feel insulted, this PC nonsense has gone way too far. 'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me' was a mantra from my parents era. Criminalising satire, comedy or, dare I say, free speech is bad policy.

My advice, grow a thicker skin.

For myself, one of the funniest parts of the cartoon was the baby"s dummy lying nearby on the ground.

13 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Good points. My son upbraids me for using the term black. I just say African - American is a clumsy construct, and any black person who wants to call me white or whitey can feel free to use those terms.

Features such as black skin or the epicanthic fold common in Asians are the result of beneficial genetic adaptations to an environment, as is the body hair on the Japanese Ainu. When I see PC organisations get up in arms about relatively innocuous issues, I start thinking of reverse racism.

I only have one black friend who asks to be called African American. I say do not be ridiculous, and continue to call him black. It is a totally respectful term. Do not let any of the weak PC crowd, including your son, tell you otherwise. 

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

I only have one black friend who asks to be called African American. I say do not be ridiculous, and continue to call him black. It is a totally respectful term. Do not let any of the weak PC crowd, including your son, tell you otherwise. 

Since you seem to think this is important, can you explain what identifying oneself as ‘African American’ has to do with Political Correctness?

I moved to the USA in the early 1970's. In all the time I lived there the name for black people changed a number of times.....so what do we call you? I like Mike's post and just call them black. And the term Sambo is pretty derogatory, but there used to be a chain of Sambo's restaurants in the USA. Amazingly there is still one left in Santa Barbara, that bastion of whiteness.

I think he should have had a hairy ball sack hanging out the bottom of her pants. She reminds me of a man  more than anything else. 

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Since you seem to think this is important, can you explain what identifying oneself as ‘African American’ has to do with Political Correctness?

It's down to the whole screwed up race issue in the US.  Would anyone have a problem with telling two women apart by saying one is blonde and one is brunette?  Or, one has blue eyes, one has brown?  Why not one is white and one is black?  

 

As for using geography as a means of identification, both of these people could be described as African American, but only one of them really is.   Which one?

looks like more "roid rage" from Sareena...

So as a welsh guy,if i went to live in Americawould i be Welsh American,or black people living in say Wales now to be called Welsh African.

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5 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Since you seem to think this is important, can you explain what identifying oneself as ‘African American’ has to do with Political Correctness?

It has everything to do with PC. PC is all about terminology. I am not gay, I am non binary. I am not black, I am African American. I am not lesbian, I am pansexual. And on and on and on. It has nothing to do with reality, and is all about trying not to offend anyone, anytime. Black people are as African American, as I am Russian American, and many of you are Irish American, or Somali Swedish, or British Thai. It means nothing. It is just a political term.

22 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Judge for yourself

That's a dead spit!

 

What's the issue?