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Australian cartoonist Mark Knight is justifying his ignorance after being called out for a racist and sexist caricature of tennis superstar Serena Williams.
The editorial cartoonist for the Herald Sun mocks Williams’ controversial loss to Naomi Osaka during Saturday’s U.S. Open final by portraying the athlete with an exaggerated face and body, stomping on her tennis racket with a pacifier on the ground. Here, he insinuates she threw a child-like tantrum while contesting she didn’t receive illegal coaching and demanding an apology from umpire Carlos Ramos. The drawing also portrays Osaka, who is of Haitian and Japanese descent, as a blond, White woman.
My toon in today’s @theheraldsun on #SerenaWilliams @usopen pic.twitter.com/didwtQg1R5
— Mark Knight (@Knightcartoons) September 10, 2018
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling felt the drawing reduced, “one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes,” and turned “a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop.” ESPN’s Jemele Hill called the racism, “About as subtle as Fran Drescher’s voice.”
Well done on reducing one of the greatest sportswomen alive to racist and sexist tropes and turning a second great sportswoman into a faceless prop. https://t.co/YOxVMuTXEC
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 10, 2018
About as subtle as Fran Drescher’s voice ??♀️ https://t.co/VM23b4XnlI
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) September 10, 2018
“Don’t bring gender into it when it’s all about behavior,” Knight tweeted shortly after being called out for the offensive illustration.
Knight then shared a previous cartoon he drew about male player Nick Kyrgios receiving a “pep talk” after sulking during a tournament. It shows a male official speaking to Kyrgios, but the official in the next panel, holding Kyrgios by the ear, is a woman.
Well Julie here’s a cartoon I drew a few days before when Australian male tennis player Kyrgios at the US Open was behaving badly. Don’t bring gender into it when it’s all about behaviour. I’ll accept your apology in writing? pic.twitter.com/NLV0AjPGsY
— Mark Knight (@Knightcartoons) September 10, 2018
Many feel as though the second cartoon actually reinforces Williams’ point that men are treated differently, as she was fined $17,000 for three code violations during Saturday’s final, according to TMZ.
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