Don't Cheer for Me on Court, If You Won't Cheer for Me Off Court

Katrina Adams

Katrina Adams, ITF Vice President, chair of the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee, and Immediate Past President of the USTA, shares her thoughts on the importance of enacting meaningful change in society in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

My immediate reaction to seeing the footage of the death of George Floyd, which I hope aligns with the rest of the world, was anger, disgust, and disbelief. To see such treatment of any human being is inhumane. But to see it happen to an African American – someone from my race, which has been chastised, targeted, and discriminated against for centuries – and that it should be another episode of police brutality, when time and again the evidence shows that people of color are suffering disproportionately at the hands of law enforcement, is just shameful.

And we're tired of it. I am tired of witnessing this. I have brothers, cousins and uncles who are at risk every single day because of the color of their skin. The world should not be this way.

I look at my parents’ generation, people that marched and fought for civil rights in the 1960s. And I look at where we are today. That black people still cannot be treated as equals and continue to be judged by the color of our skin in 2020 is shameful. And such biases exist far beyond America.

It warms my heart to see so many groups of people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and religions out marching and protesting, wanting to do the right thing, but too many decision-makers in our society simply don't get it – and many don't care to try and understand.

I am also heartened to see tennis players taking a stand on these issues, and I was happy to be part of Frances Tiafoe and Ayan Broomfield’s #RacquetsDownHandsUp movement. Frances sent me a text explaining what he was doing and when I spoke to him the following morning and asked him who else he had contacted, he admitted he was nervous about reaching out to some of the top players, not knowing how they would respond. ‘Of course they're going to respond positively,’ I told him, ‘and if you don't ask you won't know. This is about being inclusive: let them make the decision to participate, not you.’

'That black people still cannot be treated as equals and continue to be judged by the color of our skin in 2020 is shameful. And such biases exist far beyond America'

The finished version featured 34 players, former players and coaches – including Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, who have each spoken out on their own platforms – alongside the names of 36 black Americans who lost their lives at the hands of the police in recent years. It ended with the line, “Let us all continue to educate ourselves, donate, speak out, and most importantly… love all.”

If this moment in history is to truly make a difference, education will be key. Black history is every bit as important to understanding our past as European history, yet many schools do not teach it in depth, in part because of the shame associated with it. For those that haven't grown up in our skin or in our communities, often the only way that they've learned about people of color is through movies, television shows, and the news. They already have biases based on what they've heard or what they've seen. It's an uncomfortable conversation for most white people to have, so they choose not to have it. But they don't care that we as black people are uncomfortable every single day.

Our educational institutions must recognize that while, yes, it is a stain on our history, children need to learn about it to understand the struggles that black people have had for centuries. And to understand why society continues to oppress a group of people, or make assumptions about them, or feel the need to make ‘exceptions’ for them depending on their education, or how articulate they are, all because of the color of their skin. And why it has to stop.

The same applies when we look at our sport. Tennis is a global game, but here in America, while we have made some strides to add diversity, and our biggest champions are black, the community is predominantly white. It is the same story worldwide: there are some players from Africa, and countries such as France, UK and Sweden have a number of black players at the top of the game, but it’s not a large percentage. Most tennis players are white.

Black tennis players are looked upon as being ‘different’ because of the sport that we play. We are accepted – for us to be as talented and as disciplined as we are in our sport, we're viewed as good people. Fans cheer for us vigorously on the court when we're competing, and put us up on a pedestal. But don't cheer for me on the court if you're not going to cheer for me off the court as a black person. Don't praise me for the work that I do, and the platforms that I stand on to speak about our sport, about equality and diversity, then ignore me or judge me when I walk by the next day, when I’m wearing sweats without make-up and you don’t recognize me.

'We need people to say: I don't know what you feel. I don't understand the anger and hatred going both ways. But I want to learn. I want to be able to help. I want to be a part of the solution'

I've earned my respect through what I've accomplished in the sport as a player, from my days on the USTA board, and my activity within the ITF. But I have had to deal with subtle incidents of racism in tennis. I have had my credential checked on my way back to the locker room while my opponent has walked straight in; I have been asked if I am in the right place in spite of my credentials, before someone else has pointed out that I was the USTA president; I have been told by well-meaning colleagues, ‘I don't see you as black.’

In the past I have told myself that some people are simply clueless, blind, or ignorant, and just shoved it aside. I shouldn't have to do that, and I'm not biting my tongue anymore.

Every institution needs to reflect on what they are trying to accomplish. The ITF represents every single person in our sport – regardless of ethnicity, religion, creed, or gender – around the world. We have to ask ourselves: are we aligned, or do we have plans to be aligned, to represent the world?

And we need leaders in these organizations that can articulate that message. We need people to say: I don't know what you feel. I don't understand why there is so much anger or hatred going both ways. But I want to learn. I want to be able to help. I want to be a part of the solution. I can't find the solution alone, because I don't know your experiences. I'm going to reach out and speak to consultants, to diversity and inclusion officers to make sure that we are doing the right thing – or that we begin to do the right thing, if we are not already on that track. It’s not going to happen overnight, but we have to start.

I have a passion for equality, being a black woman and understanding how few women and people of color we have in leadership positions in our sport. As the executive director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program in New York, I am responsible for providing programming for our youth with tennis, education and wellness, designed to give kids the tools necessary so that they can leave our program and be successful in college. I also sit on the board of the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE), which focuses on educating student athletes about issues such as racism and bigotry.

'The goal of Advantage All is to address gender balance in leadership positions and ultimately take the necessary steps to eliminate any barriers based on gender and race'

I am chair of the ITF’s Gender Equality in Tennis Committee, which promotes tennis as a tool for equality and supports initiatives that benefit girls and women to participate in tennis and the leadership of the sport, in pursuit of the principle of equality of men and women. A recent example of our work is the launch of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Finals, which for the first time will see Fed Cup players and nations that reach Budapest earning equivalent prize money to their Davis Cup counterparts in Madrid. And the upcoming launch of Advantage All, the ITF’s campaign to address inequality within the tennis infrastructure and initiate lasting change in this area, is testament to the work that must still be done.

In truth, the GET Committee is about equality, period. It is about empowering women to be leaders, balancing opportunities, creating a positive culture, promoting value, having a voice in raising awareness and ensuring tennis is for everyone. That's the approach we must take for equality, regardless of gender or race.

I am one of three women on the ITF Board of Directors, which is comprised of representatives from all regions of the world and two athlete representatives. But there is no quota for the number of women on the 16-person board, and to have just three – myself, Tunisia’s Salma Mouelhi Guizani and Athlete Board Member Mary Pierce – is simply not enough. The goal of the ITF Advantage All program is to address gender balance in leadership positions and ultimately take the necessary steps, such as a review of our constitution, to eliminate any barriers based on gender and race. For instance, while Africa is the world’s second-most populous continent, it is represented by just one board member. Again, this is not enough – Africa should have an additional board member, one who is black to represent the majority of its constituents. If you don't have diversity of thought, how can you understand how things are viewed from a different perspective? If everyone thinks alike, you are not going to be as successful.

It is unfortunate that it takes an incident like this for the world to wake up to racism and be willing to talk about it. After memorial services in Minneapolis and Houston, Mr Floyd has now been laid to rest. But this issue is not going to be laid to rest. We are all human, and we should all be treated as equals. We must stand up and fight now if we are to ever overcome this.