Serena’s ‘Crip Walk’ Criticism Exposes America’s Ignorance About Black Women

It doesn’t take much for a sista to evoke controversy–or utter ignorance–from doing the most harmless of things in her moment of glory.

Just ask Serena Williams.

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After spanking Maria Sharapova in two quick sets on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Saturday, she rejoiced in her victory, in part, by dancing the Crip Walk or the C-Walk.

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Yes, it is a dance with roots in Williams’ hometown of Compton, Calif., where the Crip street gang choreographed the moves back in the 1970s. Since that time, the gang affiliations connected with the moves have long been lost on people worldwide who see it as nothing more than a cool dance.

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No one cited crime stats when Justin Timberlake offered his version of the dance during a concert back in 2007. Check him out in the video below:

Watch Justin Timberlake C-Walking

(I favor Serena’s version.)

And you know about that long-hailed tradition of the Olympic touch run? A man by the name of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler‘s second-in-command, came up with the idea as a propaganda tool to celebrate the Nazi regime. Almost no one in 2012 would ever trace it back to Hitler just as most folks did not trace Serena’s dancing to gang violence.

To me, she did nothing more than exercise an exuberant rush of joy over earning a gold medal on the world’s biggest stage. However, a host of critics saw it differently and have since lined up to analyze her C-Walk celebration through their skewed perception of Black pathology.

Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke took to Twitter to, in a rather patronizing tone, assail Serena for being out of touch with her roots for performing the dance.

Serena C-walking at Wimbledon only shows how long she's been away from home, separated from violence and death associated with that dance

—
Bill Plaschke @ LAT (@BillPlaschke) August 04, 2012

Oh, yeah. And he continues:

Isn't there some kind of dance done by multi-millionaires who live in exclusive South Florida neighborhoods? That's shud be Serena's dance

—
Bill Plaschke @ LAT (@BillPlaschke) August 04, 2012

Plaschke clearly hasn’t seen video of First Lady Michelle Obama doing “The Dougie.” Oh and Serena lost her sister Yetunde Price to gang violence, so I’m sure she isn’t as “removed from the death and violence” he “associated” with the dance and her hometown.

Then enters conservative blogger Debbie Schlussel who prefaced her criticisms of Serena by saying she abhorred the attacks levied at Gabby Douglas over her hair.

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