{"id":15145,"date":"2018-09-10T11:30:42","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T21:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=15145"},"modified":"2019-10-27T10:19:17","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T17:19:17","slug":"naomi-osakas-us-open-victory-over-serena-williams-congratulations-but-i-dont-think-you-know-what-youre-getting-yourself-into","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=15145","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka’s US Open victory over Serena Williams: Congratulations, but I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi Blog. First off, I want to say congratulations to Naomi Osaka, for winning the US Open last weekend, soundly defeating her hero and template<\/a>, tennis legend Serena Williams.<\/p>\n

And I say this with all the commensurate respect to her and Ms. Williams, whom I also believe had every right to protest her treatment at the hands of a heavy-handed tennis umpire, who made the game about him and his punitive powers<\/a>, and not about keeping the match civil, orderly, or fair in terms of gender-parity of rules enforcement<\/a>. There, that’s where I stand on that.<\/p>\n

But Ms. Osaka, I don’t think you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into by deciding to play tennis for Japan.<\/p>\n

Now, another first off: this blog entry is NOT to dispute whether Ms. Osaka is “Japanese” or not. She has Japanese and American citizenships<\/a>, so of course legally she is Japanese. Further, if she wishes to self-identify as a Japanese, that is her right as an individual. Debito.org has always supported the right of individuals to decide their identity for themselves<\/a>, and not suffer identity policing from others<\/a>. Ms. Osaka is a Japanese. And an American. And a Haitian, her father’s background. Bravo for this confluence of diverse influences to produce a world-class athlete.<\/p>\n

But where I think a problem arises, in terms of self-awareness as a Japanese sports champion representing Japan, is illustrated by the following video:<\/p>\n