Serena Williams Slams Russian Tennis Official Over "Racist" Comments

NBC ^

[Red in Blue PA]

Serena Williams says comments by the head of the Russian Tennis Federation referring to her and older sister Venus as "brothers" were bullying, sexist and racist, and that she supported the one-year suspension imposed by the WTA against the official.

Shamil Tarpischev was also fined $25,000 for making the comments on Russian television. He also said the sisters were "scary" to look at.

[Red in Blue PA]

Where is the reference to race??????

[ex91B10]

Couldn’t have been an honest mistake...

[driftdiver]

[Pearls Before Swine]

I don’t know Russian, but maybe it’s possible to mistranslate siblings from sisters to brothers?

[ex91B10]

He also said the sisters were "scary" to look at.

Nothing wrong with his eyesight.

[CrazyIvan]

“Where is the reference to race??????”

I think the “brothers” reference is a two in one slur, racist and sexist.

[driftdiver]

I wonder if they test for steroids or HGH in tennis.

[hal ogen]

That’s a man, bro.

[driftdiver]

Her and Eva Longoria at the beach.

[lee martell]

It was rude, but not necessarily racist. Naturally, Serena will add that on to any presumed offense. In his position with national women’s tennis teams in Russia, he should have known better. He must know how women are about their appearance, especially since what he is saying is a common belief that usually goes unspoken. Serena will remain huge long after she finally retires. I don’t seem to recall Venus ever getting so heavily built. That’s one reason many think Serena has been taking steroids.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Is there a penis down there?

[chajin]

A rude Russian; what a surprise. As the song goes, let it go...

[lee martell]

For some reason, many spanish speakers I know do mix up the pronouns and use ‘he’ when they should be using ‘she’, then vice versa.

[mrsmel]

If the official saw what this picture shows, I say it could have been an honest mistake. The clothes wouldn’t mean anything, in America, you can be whatever gender you want to be /s

[driftdiver]

Their female competition has significantly less muscle mass.

[Red in Blue PA]

[Red in Blue PA]

Or possibly because they are BIG, like men?

[ex91B10]

Yes. Tennis is actually one of the most monitored professional sports in this aspect.

[South40]

[hanamizu]

At last, my one year of college Russian pays off! Sister in Russian is ‘sistra’ and brother is ‘brat’. So no, I don’t think it’s an error in translation. (The girls in my classes used to love the brother=brat).