“Serena Williams was never supposed to dominate the sport of tennis; she was hyper-criticized; if she wore her hair or outfit in a certain way, her body structure”

Academy Award winning producer Van Lathan and noted media personality Rachel Lindsay recently got together on a podcast to discuss Serena Williams and her legacy.

Lindsay argued that Williams’ race is what makes her achievements stand out more than it already does, given all the odds she had to overcome to become the great champion she is today.

Speaking on the ‘Higher Learning’ podcast, Lindsay, who is also an attorney, explained that the 40-year-old deserves all her plaudits as black women were never expected to succeed in tennis.

Lindsay argued the same about Tiger Woods but stressed the same could not be applied to Michael Jordan or Tom Brady in their respective sports, as black men are expected to be good at basketball while white men dominate American football.

“She was never supposed to be dominating her sport. She wasn’t. Tiger, you could almost make that argument for as well,” Rachel Lindsay said. “But for Michael Jordan, black men being great at basketball. Tom Brady, a white man being a great quarterback. I’m just saying – you know what I’m saying. I’m not discrediting what they have done, what they have accomplished but Serena Williams was never supposed to dominate the sport of tennis. Everything was against her.”

Lindsay highlighted how Williams had to fight battles on the physical and mental fronts to surmount all the odds she faced.

“So, she had to not only overcome things with a physical talent, she had to do things mentally based on (being a) black woman and her socioeconomic status,” she added. “To me, she is so inspiring.”

She then doubled down on the immense criticism and hatred Serena Williams received throughout her career for the smallest of things.

“(If) she did one wrong thing, and she was hyper-criticized for anything she did – if she had an attitude, if she wore her hair in a certain way, if she wore her outfit in a certain way, her body structure, everything that she did was criticized,” Lindsay said.

“Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, and definitely not Wayne Gretzky had to overcome those same things as Serena Williams” – Rachel Lindsay

Lindsay believes Williams was unfairly criticized throughout her career and stressed how other great athletes such as Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, and Wayne Gretzky never had to face such vitriol.

The attorney concluded by saying that the 23-time Major champion inspires her.

“Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, and definitely not Wayne Gretzky had to overcome those same things, so to me, the doors she knocked down and what she has – I don’t even play tennis – and she has inspired me,” Lindsay said. “That is the effect, the Serena Williams effect.”