I'm not a mind reader, but just looking at the attitude...

[The Polack MSgt]

I believe that Tennis and its sponsers are so anxious to end the era of AA dominence in their sport that they've decided to just pretend that the Osaka sisters don't have a father.

Over heard a lady here in Wisconsin remark that "i know she lives in Florida, but I didn't know asians got that tan"

Her companion replied " maybe part Phillipino?"

"Her father is Haitian" i tell as i pay my bill to go.

They looked at me like I'd grown a second head

[Hav]

1. What does that anecdote

have to do with tennis and its sponsors?
The kind of ignorant remarks you heard is something not unusual, also pretty common outside the US.

[The Polack MSgt]

3. Two women in a resturant

In Sparta WI were talking about the US Open.

That means they were engaged with the event enough to know Ms. Osaka won, and that she was a Japanese citizen.

The coverage I've seen talks about the mom and her sister but if her father comes up at all he's buried below the fold .

Marry that with the last 8 months of how tennis has shit on Serena, the racist cartoon that depicted Ms. Osaka as small. pale and blonde - and well THAT led me to share that anecdote.

AND that is why I believe tennis wants to downplay Serena's excellence while simultaneously white washing Naomi Osaka' back story.

AND the sponsor's checkbook drives attitudes in every commercially viable sport so I don't believe for one picosecond that the sponsors are un-involved.

Last but not least, Wisconsin is in the US.

Peace

[JHan]

2. Yeah she had an exchange with a reporter over this...

"I was born in Osaka. I came to New York when I was three. I moved to Florida when I was around eight or nine, and I’ve been training in Florida since.”

But the reporter was not satisfied with that response. She dug even further. The reporter asked her to explain her Japanese culture and how U.S. culture affects her.

Osaka said: "Well, my dad is Haitian so I grew up in a Haitian household in New York, and I grew up with my grandma, and my mom is Japanese so I grew up with Japanese culture too. And if you’re saying American, because I grew up in America, I have that too. So I hope I answered your question."

This response is brilliant because in a semi-sarcastic way, Osaka replied that while she is made up of all of these cultures, it doesn’t make her less Japanese or less Haitian or even less American nor does her identity have to be heightened in a way to create a storyline she has yet to write.

https://hiplatina.com/naomi-osaka-talks-about-identity