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Serena Williams is owed an apology


Serena Williams met with Naomi Osaka at the end of a highly anticipated U.S. Open. As a Black Woman, seeing two Black Women athletes meet at the top match of a typically less 'colorful' sport, such as tennis, is exciting, to say the least.

However, their match was less than the epic battle of rackets and ponytails we expected. In fact, it was less about the athletes and more about the umpires. Umpires who insisted Serena Williams, champion and the greatest athlete alive, was cheating.

What happened next further cemented Serena's legacy for me. Yes, she is a champion, yes she is the athlete of all athletes, yes, she is a beautiful, bold, brown woman making a difference in a time when we need her. But this powerful moment that happened when Serena crossed the court, glowering with all the strength of the ancestors at umpire Carlos Ramos after he accused her of receiving coaching and declared "You owe me an apology. I have never cheated in my life. I have a daughter and stand for what’s right for her." encapsulates so much of what it is like to be a Black Woman.

"You owe me an apology."

And so many of us are owed apologies, for being told we "speak so well" or asked if that is "all your hair" or being called "sassy" or "unapproachable". We are owed apologies because people believed the stereotypical view of Black Women over the actual, tangible, present, diverse group of Black Women that stand before them. Black Women face this all of the time, that suddenly we become a frightening ranting and raving monster in the eyes of others when reality proves otherwise.

And yet, demanding that apology, in the dignified and direct way that Serena did, lost her not only the point, but the match, and the U.S. Open. It has also garnered her the mockery of the same social critics who will shape their Twitter fingers to say that she "lost it", "went ballistic", and "had a meltdown" are the same people who dismiss a borderline brawl in baseball, basketball, or even in the same sport of Tennis, by men as "passionate".

I am not the only one who has observed this. In fact, so many others have lent their voices to the discussion.



Serena has only begun a comeback of a lifetime, which began only five months after a life-threatening complication following giving birth. Her legacy is being inscribed with every Virgil Abloh designed tutu twirl, every Nike swoosh, every catsuit ban, every whip of her racket, every smile, and every tear. And while this moment may sting, it will be forgotten in the waves of continued wins that Serena continues to deliver.

But the conversation this moment has begun, I hope, will continue. Until then, Serena Williams is definitely owed an apology.
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