Japan’s Naomi Osaka withdrew on Wednesday from her scheduled WTA Western and Southern Open semi-final match on Thursday against Belgian Elise Mertens to protest the police shooting of an unarmed black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“Before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. And as a black woman I fell as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis,” Osaka tweeted.
“I don’t expect anything drastic to happen with me not playing, but if I can get a conversation started in a majority white spot I consider that a step in the right direction.” Osaka added.
A video went viral on Sunday showed a white police shooting Mr. Blake who lives in Kenosha, seven times in the back. Police officers then found a knife in Mr. Blake’s car, but no other weapons, according to report.
“Watching the continued genocide of black people at the hand of the police is honestly making me sick to my stomach,” Osaka said.
“I’m exhausted of having a new hashtags pop up every few days and I’m extremely tired of having this same conversation over and over again. When will it ever be enough?” Osaka added.
Previously, NBA postponed three playoff games on Wednesday after the Milwaukee Buck’s decision to boycott a playoff game alongside Orlando Magic in protest of the police shooting of a black man.
In a joint statement, the players of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds said they were also skipping a game.
“With our community and our nation in such pain, we wanted to draw as much attention to the issues that really matter, especially racial injustice and systemic oppression,” they said.
