Serena is newly married, embracing the challenges of motherhood and embarking on a difficult tennis comeback. And her private life is about to become much more transparent with a new documentary series on HBO.
Serena talked with the NY Times about what message it sent by marrying a white man, and how growing up dealing with racism gives her and her husband very different perspectives.
Via NY Times:
Anyone who has read Richard Williams’s 2014 memoir, “Black and White: The Way I See It,” knows how much resentment he felt about the racism he faced growing up in the American South and how intent he was on preparing his tennis-playing daughters to handle being outsiders in a predominantly white sport.
Racist comments that he said he heard at the tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., in 2001 were a big part of the reason Serena and Venus Williams boycotted the event for more than a decade.
I asked Serena, who had dated black men and white men, what message her marriage to Ohanian sent.
“Oh my God,” she said. “Literally all I tell Alexis is, ‘well, you know, there’s such a difference between white people and black people.’ He always gets to hear about the injustices that happen; that wouldn’t happen if I were white. It’s interesting. I never thought I would have married a white guy, either, so it just goes to show you that love truly has no color, and it just really goes to show me the importance of what love is. And my dad absolutely loves Alexis.”
She added: “Ultimately I wanted to be with someone who treated me nice, someone who was able to laugh with me and someone who understood my life and someone that loved me.
Love is more often than not colorblind, and Serena’s love for her husband is a perfect example of that. Congrats to Serena on following her heart.
