Naomi Osaka Condemns 'Hate and Racism' Toward Asian Community

Tennis star Naomi Osaka took to social media to condemn prejudice and violence toward the Asian community in the U.S. Before beginning her Australian Open campaign on Monday, Osaka went on Twitter to express disgust over the "amount of hate, racism and blame for COVID” that Asians receive. "The fact that this topic is not very widely covered makes me concerned,” Osaka wrote. “I only found videos and information because I was scrolling through my IG feed and by some algorithm it appeared."

Osaka’s tweet comes amid a rise in unprovoked attacks against elderly Asians in recent weeks. In San Francisco, an 84-year-old man was slammed onto the ground and killed, while a 91-year-old man was similarly attacked in Oakland, California by a man who assaulted two more victims, as NextShark previously reported. Last week, a 64-year-old grandmother was robbed in broad daylight in San Jose, California.

In another tweet, Osaka wrote, "And while I'm here - saying 'Ching Chong' and 'shrimp fried rice' when talking about/to a Asian person isn't cool. You aren't funny, it's not a joke and you're beyond pathetic." Osaka opened her 2021 tournament with a straight-set 6-1 win against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in 33 minutes. Feature Image via Getty

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