Serena Williams cartoon not racist, Australian media watchdog rules

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Serena Williams cartoon not racist, Australian media watchdog rules

Herald Sun newspaper’s depiction of player ‘spitting the dummy’ at US Open had been widely condemned

Amanda Meade
Sun 24 Feb 2019 23.32 GMT Last modified on Sun 24 Feb 2019 23.52 GMT

A Herald Sun cartoon that depicted Serena Williams jumping in the air and “spitting the dummy” after losing a match to Naomi Osaka was not racist, the Press Council has found.

The News Corp cartoon came under global condemnation in September last year for publishing what some saw as a racist, sexist cartoon.

But in an adjudication published in the tabloid on Monday, the Australian Press Council accepted the Herald Sun’s argument that the cartoon was in response to Williams’ “outburst” on the court at the US Open final, and rejected suggestions that the tennis champion was in an ape-like pose.

“(The Herald Sun) said it was depicting the moment when, in a highly animated tantrum, Ms Williams smashed a racquet and loudly abused the chair umpire, calling him a thief, a liar and threatening that he would never umpire her matches again,” the council said.

“It said it wanted to capture the on-court tantrum of Ms Williams using satire, caricature, exaggeration and humour, and the cartoon intended to depict her behaviour as childish by showing her spitting a pacifier out while she jumps up and down.”

Link to tweet

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/feb/25/serena-williams-cartoon-not-racist-australian-media-watchdog-rules

[Beakybird]

1. Nothing wrong with satire, but the lips look racist to me.

[True Dough]

2. Tough call.

Caricatures emphasize facial features. That's what cartoonists have always done, exaggerate facial and/or bodily features:

[JonLP24]

7. Cartoon doesn't look like Serena or Osaka who actually is two inches taller

Serena with undertones of classic racial stereotypes, including the apelike stance and oversized pink lips reminiscent of the coon caricature and Sambo cartoons

https://www.theroot.com/why-the-serena-williams-cartoon-is-racist-sexist-trash-1828970379

At least those cartoons you posted actually look like their subjects.

[spicysista]

3. Well, I guess that settles that!

[LenaBaby61]

4. Is that Osaka in the background ...

Looking NON-Asian and very white-washed?

Yep, it looks just like Naomi

[iluvtennis]

5. Yep, that was supposed 2 be Osaka-the newspaper got called on that. And to me the cartoon was racist

[quickesst]

6. Most people...

... who have little or no grasp of the concept of caricature will probably find this cartoon racist. It's not, but that won't stop them.