Serena herself, in an email to USA Today, responded to racist accusations against Wozniacki by dismissing them, saying that she considered Wozniacki a friend. She says that other tennis players, like Djokovic, have imitated her before and questions why it is racist for Wozniacki to do it. But she does add some ambiguity by saying, "I must add, if people feel this way, she should take reason and do something different next time." Her nonchalance points to the conclusion that maybe people are too sensitive about a simple jest about a friend.
But why do people find it funny? Do they see it the same way as Serena with her nonchalance? Or are they laughing at it for the stereotype that it also may embody? Obviously the joke is about Serena so no one can tell her she is wrong to feel that way, but the same reason she finds it acceptable may not be the same reason that the crowd finds it funny. It does give the people what they want, and is that a good thing to want? No, if you were asking my opinion.
The first time I saw the image I thought it was Ugly. Later hearing and finding how Serena considered Wozniacki a friend, I started to rethink it, but it was my first impression that clouded my later judgments. No matter how much I think about the image as a somewhat teasing, joking, jest at Serena from a friend, I still find it ugly. I feel as though first impressions are what really dictate how we think about things. Meaning no matter how innocent Wozniacki meant for her actions to be it would still arouse negative feelings within other people, and these negative feelings can cloud latter judgments. I think this is especially true for a woman like Serena who's constantly had the "race question" attached to her, and who has such a negative emotion around her involving people in regards to her race, that even things that don't attack her or are not meant as attacks come into question. It is almost amazing how people can feel such strong emotions towards a situation they don't have all the facts for, or are involved in, yet also have the capacity to disregard, ignore, and dis-empower others.
ReplyDeleteI also found the image to be inappropriate. That said, I think Citizen leads the reader into perceiving the image in that way. Claudia Rankine possesses a clear, developed perspective on Wozniacki's actions: "Wozniacki (though there are a number of ways to interpret her actions - playful mocking of a peer, imitation of the mimicking antics of the tennis player known as the joker, Novak Djokovic) finally gives the people what they have wanted all along by embodying Serena's attributes while leaving Serena's 'angry nigger exterior' behind" (p. 36).
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