Naomi Osaka Rises Above Racism In America

Naomi Osaka Rises Above Racism In America | Sports Takes & News | TooAthletic.com

Even though Naomi Osaka is one of the best tennis players in the world, she still deals with racism. Osaka, who has chosen to represent her birth nation of Japan in this year’s Summer Olympic Games, and in doing so, ended up facing an avalanche of hate from American tennis fans. Thankfully, Naomi Osaka is strong enough to rise above the racism in America, and in doing so, is teaching a few of those looking to tear her down a lesson about how the world is in 2021.

The Tokyo Summer Olympics will mark the return of the Naomi Osaka to the world tennis scene just two months after her withdrawal from the French Open and later the Wimbledon. After taking off for the better part of two months and having the docuseries “Playing By Her Own Rules” released on Netflix, the 23-year-old was forced to address the racism she faced by choosing to play for Japan and not the United States in the upcoming Olympics. 

Naomi Osaka began playing tennis for a very personal reason: to give her mother a better life.

The new three-part documentary series — Naomi Osaka — is now on Netflix pic.twitter.com/kn9S1HY94w

— Netflix (@netflix) July 16, 2021

Naomi Osaka was born in Chūō-ku, Japan in 1997 to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father and despite immigrating to the United States at age three, has always represented her birthplace during international competitions over the last ten years. Osaka even went so far as to give up her American citizenship in 2019 and becoming a Japanese citizen; something that provoked a response then, and saw the same narrative renewed this year as more people realized she would be competing for Japan this summer.

During her docuseries, Osaka said:

“So I don’t choose America, and suddenly people are like, ‘Your Black card is revoked … And it’s like, African American isn’t the only Black, you know? I don’t know, I feel like people don’t know the difference between nationality and race because there’s a lot of Black people in Brazil, but they’re Brazilian.”

The more I read about Naomi Osaka the more I am reminded about Kobe Bryant, two athletes who grew up outside the American mainstream, learning with an open mind about the world at large, and never understanding why society needed to slap labels on who they were as people. 

Osaka, for whatever reason, has not been part of the movement to include and support all people in the social changes so many claim they want, but just the opposite. Osaka has been shut out of the process by those who run major tennis tournaments because she knows talking to the media on their terms, not hers is not good for her mental health. She has also been shut out of the cultural changes that women have fought for in society, yet those in the corporate world that dole out endorsement deals have embraced her in the same way they have Colin Kaepernick, because they both are the leaders of the change they are fighting for, even if society is not ready for them yet.

Those who dislike Naomi Osaka and have “revoked her Black Card” are the same people who choose to use the Black Lives Matter movement for personal gains and not community ones. Those are the people that she is talking to before shutting them out of her mind, but also using them as fuel to rise up and overcome their racism every time she takes the court.

It is heartbreaking more people can’t embrace Naomi Osaka as a role model for people from all nationalities and walks of life, because she embodies what is good about sports. Sadly, she appears to be ahead of her time in 2021, as proof of what she is dealing with as the Summer Games arrive. Perhaps before the next games are played the world will be smarter and better able to handle someone with the class Naomi Osaka carries herself with. 

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Naomi Osaka Rises Above Racism In America | TooAthletic.com

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By: Rafael Thomas
Title: Naomi Osaka Rises Above Racism In America
Sourced From: tooathletic.com/naomi-osaka-rises-above-racism-in-america/
Published Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2021 23:09:01 +0000

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