Why Is It Taking So Long To Be Paid?
Well, I just don’t know anymore what to think of the New Zealand Herald ? Why haven’t I been paid yet? Last month on June 5th 2007 John Gardner the associate editor of the New Zealand Herald said he wanted to publish my article “Shades Of Blackface.” Of course, I was excited because the hard work I had put into the article was finally over or so I thought. Well over a month later I still have not received payment for the article. I have three reasons why I really wanted the article published.
1. I wanted to get the article published because I believe it is important
2. The money
3. No North American publication would agree to publish the article in its original form.
Now the money for the article was decent amount even after the exchange rate.
However, I did not anticipate all this fucking bullshit. The editor John Gardner gets mad at me because I dared to ask him the payment date. I think after a month a writer has a right to ask about payment. Next, I receive an e-mail last week from Sabrina Fernandes the news room administrator. Fernandes tells me that I can receive direct payment if I send my banking details to Christine Kopell and the accounting department. I call my bank I ask my bank what info I have to provide for direct deposit and I send it to Kopell. Well, what a surprise, I e-mail Kopell early this morning because New Zealand has a 16 hour time difference. Kopell says the ” payment will be made tonite” her words not mine. I called my bank again and they tell me that if the payment was indeed supposed to be direct deposit I should of received it instantenously. Well I didn’t. And now I know what I had suspected all along the New Zealand Herald had absoultely no intention of paying me. It is a painful learning experience but yes a learning experience.
Under normal circumstances I would not want my work published in the New Zealand Herald because New Zealand is out of the sphere of influence of North America. I now know that maybe I should of been more specific? I should of asked about a specific payment date?
Venus Williams wins Wimbledon for the fourth time. Why is the racism of white women Tracy Austin, Martina Navratilova, Mary Carillo, Pam Shriver, and Chris Evert accepted and ignored?
Tennis goddess Venus Williams is now a four time Wimbledon champion. The photos above Venus are of Tracy Austin a two slam wonder, Martina Navratilova a former 18 time grand slam champion, Mary Carillo the pernicious tennis analyst, and Pam Shriver best known as Navratilova’s doubles sidekick. The last picture is of former 18 time grand slam champion Chris Evert.
The contempt Austin, Navratilova, Carillo, Shriver, and Evert have for Venus and Serena Williams knows no boundaries. I also must point out Austin, Navratilova, Carillo, Shriver, and Evert are also Americans just like the Williams Sisters. Yet in the American tennis establishment the Williams Sisters are treated like outsiders despite their amazing success.
Why is the racism of white women accepted and ignored? It’s no surprise that the most vociferous critics of the Williams Sisters are of course white females. Some white women are so jealous of hard working successful black women such as the Williams Sisters. Whenever black women achieve white women are the first ones to complain. Venus and Serena earned their money through ambition, determination, drive, and hard work to succeed.
It’s also not exactly shocking that the white women will go out their way to praise the new “white” tennis hope Russian Maria Sharapova. I think they hype Sharapova so much because she represents the Eurocentric standard of beauty. Sharapova is considered “beautiful” because she is white, young, tall, and a natural blonde. In white culture blonde women are considered the essence of white beauty. Now to Sharapova’s credit she does have talent but the excessive media attention about her so called beauty is a complete joke. I have seen women on the subway, street car, at the bus stop, at the public library that are much more beautiful then Sharapova.
The same white tennis critics aren’t exactly fond of Justine Henin either. Henin is the current world number one and she is from Belgium. Of course, they like Henin more then the Williams Sisters because she’s white. The Williams Sisters raised the bar in women’s tennis taking women’s tennis to a new level in terms of their serving ability, their speed, power, intelligence and athleticism. I place emphasis on the word “intelligence” because these white female tennis critics always try to downplay the Williams Sisters court sense and their “intelligence.” Venus and Serena are very smart players and they know how to play the game they know the percentrages.
At the 2007 Australian Open, on ESPN television Mary Carillo and Pam Shriver started the sewer journalism and immediately they attacked Serena on her physique. Serena does not conform to Eurocentric beauty standards of beauty. Carillo and Shriver claimed Serena was so out of shape and the made constant negative remarks about her body trying to say she was lazy. Serena is never going to look like a bean pole she has curves. Serena even lashed out at the “haters” on her own blog after she won the Australian Open this year for the third time.
On ESPN television, Mary Carillo compares James Blake’s father death from cancer to the horrible tragedy of Yetunde Price being shot to death in Compton California. Carillo attempts to frame herself as a tennis anaylst but she is just a racist.
Why did Carillo compare the tragedies of Serena and James Blake just because they are both black? What right does Carillo have to tell Serena how to deal with tragedy and pain? What right does Carillo have to spew her venom on live television? Of course ESPN television glossed over the incident like the white American sports media always does.
It’s like a broken record each of these white female tennis commentators have complained at one point or another that Venus or Serena have a “lack of commitment” to the game. It is the same lame tired speech they make whenever the sisters are losing. Venus and Serena have a life outside tennis and thank goodness for that.
Would the white female tennis commentators want the Williams Sisters to end up like that loser Jennifer Capriati ? During Wimbledon Capriati had another sob story interview that was published in the NY Daily News about how hard her life is. Yes it must be so hard for Jennifer Capriati to be a multi millionaire. Jennifer can afford therapy while poor people that are depressed cannot. Poor people suffering from depression have to go to work, pay the bills, and struggle through life. And poor people don’t get the NY Daily News to write articles about how “tough” their lives are. Jennifer is thirty one years old yet she acts like an immature teenager and a spoiled rich brat. She really needs to get a life and get it together and move on from tennis. Why don’t the white female tennis critics complain about her? Capriati has got to be the worst tennis personality to ever play the game. Capriati is all about herself she is such a pathetic, selfish, and self loathing individual.
It’s great to know that Venus and Serena have balanced lives and they enjoy life. Venus and Serena give back to the community in terms of tennis clinics for youth, they run their own charity. Yet the Williams Sisters do not get respect for their off court contributions. The Williams Sisters have done so much and are really the best things that has EVER happened to women’s tennis or tennis EVER. There will NEVER EVER be another Venus and Serena Williams. We should be blessed that they play tennis.
The white female tennis commentators always slam the Williams Sisters every single opportunity they get. They believe Venus and Serena are supposed to be robots that eat, sleep, and think about tennis all day long. Yet when Venus and Serena won grand slams this year all the sudden the white female tennis commentators are silent.
The white female tennis commentators will on and on about Maria Sharapova. Now let me first say yes Maria Sharapova is very talented and she is a champion. She’s not like the losers such as Gabriela Sabatini or Anna Kournikova those two are a disgrace to women’s tennis. At least Sharapova does have the grand slams to back up the media attention.
However, Sharapova is not even American but she does have the currency of being white and blonde and that goes a long way in the USA. Venus and Serena also play Federation Cup for America. Venus and Serena are the only Americans winning grand slams these days. And once again just like the year 2005 Serena and Venus soared to glory and became grand slam champions once again this year.
In the African Diaspora, we have a lot of love and respect for the Williams Sisters because we know how amazing they truly are not just as tennis players but as human beings. Venus and her sister Serena do play for America but they might as well be considered outsiders or foreigners because they are not white despite being Americans.
Chris Evert reached a new low when she wrote a very deleterious and pernicious open letter in the spring of 2006 in tennis magazine. Evert lashed out at Serena Williams saying she wasn’t being serious with her tennis. Evert did not call Serena or ask Serena what was going on in her life. Evert did not care that Serena was at the murder trial for the killer of her deceased sister Yetunde Price. Serena also has chronic knee injuries. Evert did not care about the emotional, psychological, or physical pain Serena was going through. All Evert cared about was selling more copies of tennis magazine and generating some press.
Would Evert write an open letter criticizing white American tennis pros Lindsay Davenport or Jennifer Capriati? I doubt it. Yet Evert believes since Serena is a black woman she has a “right” to disrespect her and degrade her. The fallacy of the women’s movement is that there is a “sisterhood” between white women and black women and that is a lie. Oprah Winfery preaches this garbage on her talk show daily. The truth of the matter is white women and black women are not “friends” not when some white women believe they are superior to black women due to race. Some white women have a racist superiority complex and believe they can put down black women any chance they get.
I watched the final on NBC unfortunately Carillo was the commentator for the match along with her weasel sidekick Ted Robinson. Carillo had to fight really hard to give Venus praise because Carillo just like Austin, Shriver, and Navratilova have to give Venus backhanded complements. Venus was in the zone she really hammered Marion Bartoli of France easily 6-4 6-1 in straight sets. Venus played well from the baseline and the net. Venus also has moved into legend territory at Wimbledon she has won more Wimbledons then Chris Evert and Margaret Court. Venus along with with Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, and Billie Jean King as the only women in the Open era to have won 4 Wimbledons or more. Venus has also been in the Wimbledon finals six times in the last eight years. Yet does Venus get the respect she deserves from American tennis experts and critics? Of course not. Venus Williams despite being a six time grand slam champion is still discriminated against despite her awesome talent because she’s a young black woman.
Venus also fought hard for equal prize money for women tennis players at all four grand slams. Finally, the French Open and Wimbledon decided to give equal prize money to women tennis players. The rest of the WTA can thank Venus Williams for her efforts for speaking out against the entrenched misogyny in pro tennis. Venus and Serena brought women’s tennis to the masses and made women’s tennis more popular then the men’s game. The Williams Sisters also caught the world’s attention with their incredible talent. When Venus spoke out the world media took notice. Venus took a stand she had courage to speak out when most of the other top WTA players only followed Venus lead. The French tennis federation even admitted that they paid special attention to Venus comments in the media about sexism and equal prize money. Venus also became the first woman to earn equal prize money with the men’s champion Roger Federer. Venus won $1.4 million dollars for her efforts equal to Federer. Yet does the press give Venus the respect for being the only woman on the WTA that had private meetings with the Wimbledon executive committee or writing articles about sex discrimination in tennis, or talking openly about sexism in tennis? Of course not. Its always black women doing the hard work yet never getting the praise.
Venus will move back into the WTA top 20. However, I couldn’t believe the attitude of the British crowd during the finals they were all on Bartoli’s side. One argument is that Bartoli is the underdog but this is stuffy racist England so of course the resentment for Venus was racially motivated. And on top of that why wasn’t the 50th anniversary of former Wimbledon champion Althea Gibson triumph of breaking the colour barrier ignored by the All England Club?
The racist All England Club at Wimbledon doesn’t want the reminder of their racist and sexist history. Yet history is important if we ignore history we ignore the truth. The truth is Wimbledon is as racist as ever. I agree that progress has been made but we have a long way to go.
Could you believe that loser Michael Stich the BBC tennis expert trying to say Serena faked her injury? I swear the racist tennis commentators they just come out in droves. It was just like clockwork. I knew one of them would try to bash Serena. I loved Serena’s comeback she slammed Michael Stich saying “my career is actually more stellar then his.” And of course Serena is correct. Martina Navratilova also took her pot shot at Serena calling her a “drama queen.” If anyone is a drama queen in women’s tennis its Martina Navratilova. Navratilova always has something negative to say about the Williams Sisters her bigotry is like clockwork you just expect it.
Navratilova may complain about being a white lesbian but she is still a white woman and still a part of the white majority. You would think Navratilova a woman that has experienced discrimination due to her gender and sexual orientation would have more empathy or be cognizant of covert prejudice. Yet Navratilova is no better then the other white female tennis commentators she dishes out the racism just like Carillo, Austin, Shriver, and Evert.
Once again, whenever the Williams Sisters achieve these racists in the tennis world are like vultures they wait for something bad to happen and then they attack. I wish someone would speak out against these covert racists. Yet notice in the USA media no white reporters or editors have ever written articles criticizing other whites for their pernicious racism against the Williams Sisters?
Why hasn’t Billie Jean King said anything about this covert racism? King champions herself as a white lesbian feminist that is against injustice. King just wants Venus to play World Team Tennis and help her league sell tickets. After all Venus is the current Wimbledon champion she could of pulled out of World Team Tennis or decided not to play but she chose to. Venus also played World Team Tennis in 2005 when she won Wimbledon two years ago. Do you honestly think Venus Williams would play World Team Tennis and support King if she acted just like the other white female tennis commentators? Venus even praised King during her Wimbledon victory speech. Yet King is friends with all the other white female tennis commentators especially fellow white lesbian Martina Navratilova.
The racist white female tennis experts are very careful not to use the N word or other racial slurs. Yet being a racist isn’t just about being overt. Actions speak louder then words and covert racism is indeed taking place in the tennis world.
I find it interesting in the media everyone is silent to the obvious covert racism against the Williams Sisters. I will not accept silence because silence means we accept racism and sexism. Black women since the days of slavery have had to endure both. Black men we must support black women and say racism and sexism will not be tolerated.
One of the most vocal haters of the Williams Sisters is Tracy Austin she cannot hide her contempt for the Williams Sisters. Yet what has Austin accomplished? Austin was just a former burnout teen prodigy that won only two slams. Austin is no legend she is not at the same level of a great champion such as Venus Williams. Austin’s recent MSNBC.COM article after Venus won Wimbledon for the fourth time is a perfect example of Austin’s vindictive attitude towards Venus. In the article Austin says Venus fourth Wimbledon title was “magic”.
The word “magic” is condescending and cruel but not surprising since its coming from the termagant Tracy Austin. Austin’s hatred for Venus is so obvious for the eye to see yet Austin’s comments illustrate her illogical perspective. Austin uses language to not only mask but express her bigotry. Its not “magic” when Venus won Wimbledon for the fourth time its called talent. Venus has now won Wimbledon four times her incredible talent cannot be disputed. It must be very hard for Austin to admit Venus is a great champion because she always attempts to discredit Venus anytime she gets.
Just remember tennis fans Austin is also a friend of Lindsay Davenport and they shared a former coach Robert Landsdorf. Venus is 3-0 against Davenport in grand slam finals add Serena to the mix and the Williams Sisters have a stunning 4-0 record against Davenport. The Williams Sisters were the road blocks in Davenport’s career. And don’t forget tennis fans Davenport choked the 2005 Australian Open finals against Serena Williams losing 2-6 6-3 6-0.
Also remember Austin was very bitter when Davenport choked the Wimbledon final two years ago. I mean we all remember Venus incredible victory fighting off a match point 4-6 7-6 9-7 win over Lindsay Davenport. Many of the tennis experts thought this would be Venus last slam. Venus sure showed them when she destroyed the competition and won Wimbledon again for her sixth grand slam title this year.
Austin’s bitterness after Venus victory cannot be ignored. The venom and the pernicious racism of Tracy Austin is deleterious. We cannot allow racists such as Tracy Austin to get away with her bigotry.
Its interesting there was the uproar about Don Imus racist and sexist comments. I believe part of the reason the media made a big deal about it was because Imus was the patriarch he is a white male. Yet what about the racism of white women in relation to sports? Why does the racism of white women go ignored?
Ditto for Mary Carillo, Pam Shriver, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova the other racist white female tennis experts. People always ignore the racism of white women. I wonder why? Just because white women encounter discrimination because of their gender doesn’t mean they cannot be racist?
Black feminists such as bell hooks, Audre Lorde and many more have written about white women and their racism. The feminist movement has a lot of racists in it. Black feminists and other feminists of colour have spoken about this hypocrisy of white women for decades. The problem with the feminist movement I believe are white women they complain about gender yet always ignore race and class. “The Combahee River Collective” a black feminist organization have pointed out black women cannot divorce themselves from their race or gender. Black women struggle with racism and sexism. And I believe the Williams Sisters have a lot of grace and class. However, I cannot imagine they are oblivious to this obvious racism and sexism against them. The Sisters parents have raised them well. I notice that no one white in the tennis world has the guts or should I say class to speak out against the obvious abhorrent covert racism the sisters encounter. I am so sickened and disgusted with the racist and sexist treatment they have endured over the years. It just goes to show that in the 21st century covert racism is palatable.
I also believe the public can make a difference complain to ESPN and NBC television if you believe these racist termagants are out of line. When the public speaks the producers will listen. We must not be silent about this obvious racism and sexism against the Williams Sisters.
Congrats Venus for winning Wimbledon again! Well done!!!! Congrats Venus for being a classy young woman and being a role model!!!!
Here is the link to ESPN to complain about the racism and sexism against the Williams Sisters. Let ESPN know you are calling out the termagants for their bigotry and prejudice!
Gayblackcanada 
