After reading Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine, I understood a different version of the world. It truly opened my eyes. My favorite sections of the book were about Serena Williams and Zinedine Zidane. To me, it’s crazy that even though these athletes are both incredible, they aren’t given enough credit simply because of their backgrounds. In society, the Black community is seen as less than. White Americans can be poor but still have their privilege. However, African-Americans don’t have privilege, whether they are rich, poor, or famous.
Serena Williams, an incredible and passionate tennis player, has been put down and made fun of because of the color of her skin, regardless of her talent. After her 2012 Olympics victory, she did the crip walk in celebration, which Piers Morgan began calling “the Serena Shuffle.” However, he later learned that it was a gangster dance. During an interview with Williams, she asked him if she looked like a gangster, and he said “yes.” It was shocking to see how quickly someone can change their opinion on something after learning a little bit of background information. That is why I decided to call this portrait, Do I Still Look Like a Gangster?
Zinedine Zidane, another amazing athlete who is known as a soccer god, has been shamed for his ethnic background and religious beliefs. The last moments of his career, the last moments of the 2006 World Cup were ruined because of a nasty comment an opponent made. In the last two minutes of the game, the Italian player, Marco Materazzi, allegedly called Zidane, “Big Algerian shit, dirty terrorist, nigger.” This comment is why I chose to title Zidane’s portrait, Do I Still Look Like a Terrorist?
My purpose in my artwork is to redesign the image of these amazing athletes. They both have so much passion for what they do, yet they aren’t acknowledged for their talent. All people see when they see these athletes is the color of their skin and their racial/ethnic backgrounds. I want to change that image and allow these athletes to be seen as themselves, not simply “a Black angry athlete.”
I hope my viewers take away that the color of our skin has nothing to do with our performance abilities or emotions when playing a sport. I want them to understand that athletes should be recognized for their talent and praised for being one of the few Black tennis players or one of the few Black soccer players playing for Real Madrid instead of being put down or shamed.