The tennis player’s Wimbledon success has been dogged by questions about her Britishness. For sports people of colour, this racist wrangling is worse
• Devarshi Lodhia is a freelance journalist
‘What Johanna Konta’s done in the last fortnight is something of which the whole country can be proud.’ Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
Johanna Konta’s run to the semi-final of Wimbledon has been nothing short of miraculous. Having previously only progressed to the second round at SW19 and with only one other grand slam semi-final to her name previously, she wasn’t expected to make the impact at the championships that she has. She may not have made the final – but what she’s done in the last fortnight is something of which the whole country can be proud. However that achievement has been overshadowed by questions over her nationality.
TalkSport host Jim White posted a poll on Twitter asking his followers: “Born in Australia to Hungarian parents, is she truly British?”, with 54% of his followers voting that she wasn’t, while Jan Moir’s column on Mail Online ran with the headline: “So who is Johanna Konta? The British tennis golden girl making Wimbledon history is known as frosty and rude but always bakes for her rivals and STILL doesn’t know the national anthem!”
The phenomenon of immigrants representing Britain and England in sports is hardly new. Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski was born and raised in Montreal, and 11% of the British team at the 2012 Olympics including Mo Farah, Chris Froome, Luol Deng, and Bradley Wiggins had been born abroad, leading to the term “plastic Brit” being coined.
While it is disheartening to see Konta and others questioned for their Britishness, questions of identity are faced by immigrants on a near-constant basis, especially those from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Perhaps the most notable example of recent times is Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Sterling moved to England when he was five and has represented the country throughout his youth and senior career. Despite this, though, Sterling took the brunt of the criticism for England’s defeat at the hands of Iceland at Euro 2016, with fans targeting him with far more abuse than any of his equally disappointing team-mates, while he also received a torrent of racial abuse following his controversial transfer from Liverpool to City in 2015.
‘Mo Farah’s career has been dogged by criticism for not being truly British due to the fact he was born in Somalia.’ Photograph: Rex
Conversely though, when Sterling’s former England team-mate Wilfried Zaha elected to play for the Ivory Coast, the country of his birth, rather than England, he was criticised by Gareth Southgate for lacking “internal 100% passion”.
Despite being arguably the greatest sportsman Britain has ever produced, and the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, Mo Farah’s career has been dogged by criticism for not being truly British, due to the fact he was born in Somalia. While Nikesh Shukla’s The Good Immigrant claims Farah fits into a skewed definition of what it means to be a “good” immigrant in post-Brexit discourse, the reality is, for a sizable percentage of the country, he’ll never be British enough. The reaction following his double gold at London 2012, which featured jokes about coming to the country “on a dinghy”, is a case in point.
Even for those born in the UK, though, it is difficult to escape from an overriding sense of otherness that is perpetuated by oppressive racist systems and language. Another former Olympian, Amir Khan, despite having been born in Bolton, has found it impossible to escape the feelings of alienation faced by a vast majority of British Asians throughout his career. While Khan has managed to embrace his Pakistani and Muslim identities, (a luxury not afforded to most working-class British Asians) there is some suggestion that this has in fact held him back.
Khan was racially abused in Manchester following his loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008 and again following his victory against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2009. Despite fighting in the welterweight division at the same time as Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, two of the all-time greats, and being ranked as The Ring magazine’s third best welterweight in the world as recently as October 2016, a truly big-money Vegas fight has never materialised.
In January, Anthony Joshua faced a severe backlash prior to his fight against Wladimir Klitschco after sharing a photo of himself at Asr (Muslim afternoon prayer) in Dubai. Despite his not being a Muslim, comments on Joshua’s tweet included “Jesus Christ, that’s an unfollow from me and all if you follow that backwards religion! Good day” and “MUSLIM??? That’s me defo not a supporter or fan” as some boxing fans, blinded by their Islamophobic rage, seemed to forget that the biggest name in the sport, Muhammad Ali, was himself a Muslim.
The last British woman to win a Wimbledon title was Virginia Wade. She left Britain for South Africa when she was one – and despite returning for schooling in her teens that “foreign” twang is still evident in her voice. Is she British? That rarely seems to be questioned. Perhaps it’s because she’s white, while Joshua, Khan and Sterling are not. The truth is this debate has got little to do with where people are born.
When Johanna Konta returns next year to Wimbledon, she will undoubtedly have the backing of the typically partisan, glory-hunting Wimbledon crowd. As for winning over the entire country though, for Konta, and all other immigrants – but especially those of colour – it will take some time.
• Devarshi Lodhia is a freelance journalist
Johanna Konta’s run to the semi-final of Wimbledon has been nothing short of miraculous. Having previously only progressed to the second round at SW19 and with only one other grand slam semi-final to her name previously, she wasn’t expected to make the impact at the championships that she has. She may not have made the final – but what she’s done in the last fortnight is something of which the whole country can be proud. However that achievement has been overshadowed by questions over her nationality.
TalkSport host Jim White posted a poll on Twitter asking his followers: “Born in Australia to Hungarian parents, is she truly British?”, with 54% of his followers voting that she wasn’t, while Jan Moir’s column on Mail Online ran with the headline: “So who is Johanna Konta? The British tennis golden girl making Wimbledon history is known as frosty and rude but always bakes for her rivals and STILL doesn’t know the national anthem!”
The phenomenon of immigrants representing Britain and England in sports is hardly new. Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski was born and raised in Montreal, and 11% of the British team at the 2012 Olympics including Mo Farah, Chris Froome, Luol Deng, and Bradley Wiggins had been born abroad, leading to the term “plastic Brit” being coined.
While it is disheartening to see Konta and others questioned for their Britishness, questions of identity are faced by immigrants on a near-constant basis, especially those from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Perhaps the most notable example of recent times is Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Sterling moved to England when he was five and has represented the country throughout his youth and senior career. Despite this, though, Sterling took the brunt of the criticism for England’s defeat at the hands of Iceland at Euro 2016, with fans targeting him with far more abuse than any of his equally disappointing team-mates, while he also received a torrent of racial abuse following his controversial transfer from Liverpool to City in 2015.
‘Mo Farah’s career has been dogged by criticism for not being truly British due to the fact he was born in Somalia.’ Photograph: Rex
Conversely though, when Sterling’s former England team-mate Wilfried Zaha elected to play for the Ivory Coast, the country of his birth, rather than England, he was criticised by Gareth Southgate for lacking “internal 100% passion”.
Despite being arguably the greatest sportsman Britain has ever produced, and the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, Mo Farah’s career has been dogged by criticism for not being truly British, due to the fact he was born in Somalia. While Nikesh Shukla’s The Good Immigrant claims Farah fits into a skewed definition of what it means to be a “good” immigrant in post-Brexit discourse, the reality is, for a sizable percentage of the country, he’ll never be British enough. The reaction following his double gold at London 2012, which featured jokes about coming to the country “on a dinghy”, is a case in point.
Even for those born in the UK, though, it is difficult to escape from an overriding sense of otherness that is perpetuated by oppressive racist systems and language. Another former Olympian, Amir Khan, despite having been born in Bolton, has found it impossible to escape the feelings of alienation faced by a vast majority of British Asians throughout his career. While Khan has managed to embrace his Pakistani and Muslim identities, (a luxury not afforded to most working-class British Asians) there is some suggestion that this has in fact held him back.
Khan was racially abused in Manchester following his loss to Breidis Prescott in 2008 and again following his victory against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2009. Despite fighting in the welterweight division at the same time as Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, two of the all-time greats, and being ranked as The Ring magazine’s third best welterweight in the world as recently as October 2016, a truly big-money Vegas fight has never materialised.
In January, Anthony Joshua faced a severe backlash prior to his fight against Wladimir Klitschco after sharing a photo of himself at Asr (Muslim afternoon prayer) in Dubai. Despite his not being a Muslim, comments on Joshua’s tweet included “Jesus Christ, that’s an unfollow from me and all if you follow that backwards religion! Good day” and “MUSLIM??? That’s me defo not a supporter or fan” as some boxing fans, blinded by their Islamophobic rage, seemed to forget that the biggest name in the sport, Muhammad Ali, was himself a Muslim.
The last British woman to win a Wimbledon title was Virginia Wade. She left Britain for South Africa when she was one – and despite returning for schooling in her teens that “foreign” twang is still evident in her voice. Is she British? That rarely seems to be questioned. Perhaps it’s because she’s white, while Joshua, Khan and Sterling are not. The truth is this debate has got little to do with where people are born.
When Johanna Konta returns next year to Wimbledon, she will undoubtedly have the backing of the typically partisan, glory-hunting Wimbledon crowd. As for winning over the entire country though, for Konta, and all other immigrants – but especially those of colour – it will take some time.
