Naomi Osaka won the 2018 US Open. The news repeats that she is the first Japanese person to win a tennis championship. That she is the first Japanese to win a tennis championship is a fact, but more important is how come she won the match against Serena. Naomi has mixed ethnic parenting. Naomi’s Mother is Japanese, and her Father is Haitian. The birthright is interesting, but why the emphasis on Japanese. The publicity given to champion athletes about their nationality is rather trivial, and yet seemingly people want, or need to know. The Olympics constantly reminds us of the nationality of the talented athletes. An innocent viewer of the Olympic games would think that Sri Lanka won the mile run, or that the nation of Finland broke the speed racing record.
It is important to know the how come of a persons’ actions, or events. There were dinosaurs, and no more dinosaurs. How come? Florida is drowning – how come? Sam was in the ICU, eating breakfast, and died. How come? And Ms. Osaka won the 2018 US Open – how come?