"America is a wonderful place. I love my country, and I
love living there. I love my passport. But also it is a country that
since almost since its beginning since it was supposed to be a place
where people were escaping intolerance, it became a country that was
really intolerant of different minorities and skin colors.
So it's interesting, because just my parents, my dad grew up in Louisiana, a place where he was called Boy and shown no respect. Where he couldn't say anything. You know, his mother was a poor sharecropper. You know, so I'm very close to what things were like in the past.
So I think it's amazing that America has the opportunity to have someone who is a minority of mixed race or whatever you want to call it. Hopefully, it will just give more people opportunities and more people will work hard and say, yeah, I can be my best, too, no matter what my background is."
-- Venus Williams, breaking her policy of not talking politics to reflect on Obama's historic win.
"I woke up this morning and, you know, my friend called me and my sister called me and said he was president. He got elected officially, and I was really excited because, you know, I got a little choked up.
It's just everything that I think African Americans have been through, I mean even 40 years ago, even 30 years ago, and even today still. You read some stories of ridiculous things that happen in America. It's just an unbelievable opportunity to be an American and see that people see the importance of change and the importance of supporting someone that believes in change. It's definitely a tough road ahead for the government, but hopefully, we can just make a couple of steps to doing the right thing.
I just feel really excited that, you know, that he won. I, obviously, I wanted him to win. I just feel really excited that he had an opportunity to win.... Like I said, I got choked up. You know, I was just thinking about everything and all thinking about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and all the pioneers that let me, and Althea Gibson, why I'm playing tennis today. All of these people Arthur Ashe who led the way for us, it's amazing.... I couldn't sleep, so I watched it on TV, and I watched his speech. I watched Senator McCain's speech as well. Thought he was really gracious. I've always liked the way McCain spoke anyways, so it was gracious to see him in defeat say that Obama is our President, and we should support him. America has made the decision."
-- Serena Williams, on her reaction to the news
So it's interesting, because just my parents, my dad grew up in Louisiana, a place where he was called Boy and shown no respect. Where he couldn't say anything. You know, his mother was a poor sharecropper. You know, so I'm very close to what things were like in the past.
So I think it's amazing that America has the opportunity to have someone who is a minority of mixed race or whatever you want to call it. Hopefully, it will just give more people opportunities and more people will work hard and say, yeah, I can be my best, too, no matter what my background is."
-- Venus Williams, breaking her policy of not talking politics to reflect on Obama's historic win.
"I woke up this morning and, you know, my friend called me and my sister called me and said he was president. He got elected officially, and I was really excited because, you know, I got a little choked up.
It's just everything that I think African Americans have been through, I mean even 40 years ago, even 30 years ago, and even today still. You read some stories of ridiculous things that happen in America. It's just an unbelievable opportunity to be an American and see that people see the importance of change and the importance of supporting someone that believes in change. It's definitely a tough road ahead for the government, but hopefully, we can just make a couple of steps to doing the right thing.
I just feel really excited that, you know, that he won. I, obviously, I wanted him to win. I just feel really excited that he had an opportunity to win.... Like I said, I got choked up. You know, I was just thinking about everything and all thinking about Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and all the pioneers that let me, and Althea Gibson, why I'm playing tennis today. All of these people Arthur Ashe who led the way for us, it's amazing.... I couldn't sleep, so I watched it on TV, and I watched his speech. I watched Senator McCain's speech as well. Thought he was really gracious. I've always liked the way McCain spoke anyways, so it was gracious to see him in defeat say that Obama is our President, and we should support him. America has made the decision."
-- Serena Williams, on her reaction to the news
