Cannot see what’s racist about Williams drawing
I think cartoon creator Mark Knight’s sketch is excellent (“Storm grows over ‘racist’ Serena cartoon”, September 13).
Of course, the ugly scene that played out during the US Open women’s tennis final is regrettable and I think Williams would rather it never happened.
However, Carlos Ramos, the umpire on the day, saw fit to penalise Williams and Williams objected to the punishment on the grounds that male tennis players had been throwing tantrums and smashing rackets for many years with seemingly no consequences.
Fair point from Williams, but it is for her to take the matter up with the authorities in a proper manner.
What puzzles me, however, is how this cartoon can be judged either racist or feminist.
The hue and cry that erupted around Knight’s sketch is unfounded and shortsighted.
Take it out on the umpire, by all means but Williams is a person of colour.
She could hardly have been depicted as white.
She is also female. Could Knight have drawn the sketch in any other way?
This caricature has nothing to do with racism or feminism.
The artist is purely depicting the funny side of the incident and he did it well, I thought.
Those who reacted so strongly to the sketch probably belong to the many millions who, all their lives, accepted racism and feminism as part of the norm.
The worldwide reaction to these two evils has found traction for some years now and one hopes that, in the future, it may be a distant and unpleasant memory.
Those who have a tainted conscience may well overreact in their haste to correct these wrongs from the past, but don’t confuse the issue here.
There is no racism or feminism in Knight’s work in this instance, none that I can find.