By: Symone Daniels
Rule #1. Never ever come for someone’s child. Over the weekend , retired tennis legend, Ilie Nastase, made some inappropriate comments about Serena Williams’ unborn child at a news conference before the Romania Fed cup playoff against Great Britain.
According to ESPN, Romania’s captain was heard to say of Williams’ baby due in the fall: ‘Let’s see what color it has. Chocolate with milk?’
Williams’ fiancé’, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, is Armenian-American and German.
The professional tennis player took to Instagram to express her hurt about the remarks and, like Maxine Waters, she let us know that she is a strong black woman who can’t be intimidated.
She tweeted, “It disappoints me to know we live in a society which people like Ilie Nastase can make such racist comments towards myself and unborn child, and sexist comments against my peers.
“I have said it once and I’ll say it again, this world has come so far but yet we have so much further to go. Yes, we have broken down so many barriers – however there are a plethora more to go.”
In her post, the 37-year-old also quoted one of Maya Angelou’s most famous poems, Still I Rise. “Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? You may shoot me with your words …you may try to kill me with your hatefulness, but still like air I rise. She ended the post by saying, “I humbly thank the ITF for any consideration given to all the facts in this case. They will have my full support.”
This isn’t the first time that Nastase has made remarks about Williams. In an interview with Romanian media, the 70-year-old accused Williams of using dope because of her body type.
ESPN also reported that Nastase is said to have made British captain Anne Keothavong uncomfortable by asking for her room number on more than one occasion during the lead-up to the matches between the two countries.
On Saturday, Nastase harassed a chair umpire before appearing to lob obscenities at members of the Great Britain delegation. His comments led to his ejection from the match between Romania’s Sorana Cirstea and Britain’s Johanna Konta, who left the match in tears. He was also suspended by the International Tennis Federation, which runs the Fed Cup, but said he doesn’t believe the punishment fits the crime.
