{"id":1567,"date":"2021-07-09T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/?p=1567"},"modified":"2021-07-09T12:00:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T16:00:45","slug":"the-audacity-of-the-black-athlete-how-naomi-osakas-french-open-protest-exposed-anti-blackness-racial-capitalism-misogynoir-in-professional-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2021\/07\/09\/the-audacity-of-the-black-athlete-how-naomi-osakas-french-open-protest-exposed-anti-blackness-racial-capitalism-misogynoir-in-professional-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"The Audacity of the Black Athlete: How Naomi Osaka\u2019s French Open Protest Exposed Anti-Blackness, Racial Capitalism & Misogynoir in Professional Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Naomi<\/a>
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open after she was fined $15,000 for not appearing at a press conference following her first round match (photo by Carine06<\/a> CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Professional Black athletes navigate a fine line between being autonomous, independent, wealthy elites and undervalued, replaceable workers in a larger sports industry governed by logics of racial capitalism. The late Cedrick Robinson\u2019s Racial Capitalism<\/a> theory sees the systems of capitalism and racism as interconnected and inextricably linked. Robinson, a political scientist, argued that economic and social values are ascribed to individuals differently according to race. With this in mind, Black celebrity athletes occupy a seemingly powerful, yet precarious status. Journalist William Rhoden used the term \u201c40 Million Dollar Slaves<\/a>\u201d<\/u> to highlight the ways in which Black athletes\u2019 accumulation of wealth does not fully alleviate their oppressed status in an anti-Black American society.<\/p>\n

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Within the institution of sport, Black athletes navigate the ever-present white gaze<\/a>. That is, their subjective realities, informed by their raced, classed, and gendered selves, are welcome in the professional sporting arena only as long as they entertain the primarily white audience. However, when their actions draw attention to hierarchies of power and inequality, they are deemed inappropriate because the white gaze constrains Black athletes to white imaginations as only competitors. For some viewers and sports officials, anything outside of this role is unwelcomed, such as Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of racial injustice. More recently, Naomi Osaka\u2019s objection to post-match media obligations at the 2021 Roland Garros (a.k.a. French Open) tennis tournament demonstrates a similar dynamic.<\/p>\n

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\u2764\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/EegFSKnoie<\/a><\/p>\n

— NaomiOsaka\u5927\u5742\u306a\u304a\u307f (@naomiosaka) May 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n