Aaron Crouse - Tales from the Crip

            Serena Williams created much controversy following her 2012 Gold Medal victory at Wimbledon during the London Olympics for performing her own variation of the Crip Walk after a crushing win over Maria Sharapova (6-0, 6-1).  The Crip Walk originally created in the 1970s by the Crip gang involved the spelling of C-R-I-P and was used by Crips at parties to diss the Bloods and by gang members after killing someone to give the kill a “Crip signature”.  Immediately following this display by Williams, the video of her dance went viral and critics across the country rushed to their computers to scold her behavior.  Many writers compared Serena’s Crip Walk in 2012 to a similar dance done by Brent Barry at the 2003 NBA All Star Game during the three-point contest.  Most agreed that while Serena Williams should have been embarrassed and apologized immediately for her actions, there was not much wrong with what Brent Barry had done.  While I in no way support celebrations such as the Crip Walk or believe that race had anything to do with the feelings of these writers, I think that there is a valid argument that can be made that Serena’s actions were inappropriate while Barry’s can be tolerated.

            The time and place at which Serena Williams performed her Crip Walk are the main factors that I believe caused her actions to be seen as an abomination by the sports world.  In this case, the environment is everything.  When we think about the Olympics, we conjure up images of global competition, the best athletes in the world, high class, and elegance.  In no way, shape, or form do we associate the Crip Walk with any of these words.  On top of this, the 2012 London Olympic tennis matches took place at Wimbledon, often described as the “Holy Land” for tennis.  As Jason Whitlock writes, “Wimbledon isn’t the place to break out a dance popularized by California Crip gang members. She knows it. That’s why she got embarrassed when asked by reporters to reveal the name of the dance” (Whitlock, 2012 Paragraph 6).  As an Olympic participant for the United States, Serena Williams was provided with the opportunity to represent her country on a national state (and rightly so, she has more than earned this honor).  Along with the duty to perform at the highest degree, Williams also inherited the responsibility to act in an appropriate manner and not let the nature of her celebration overshadow her great individual performance and accomplishment.  Clearly it was not Serena’s intention to create quite a controversy, she simply got caught up in the moment. However, this does not change the fact that Wimbledon Centre Court at the 2012 London Summer Olympics is not the time or place for a gang dance.  As the flag fell during her medal ceremony on the podium, Serena claimed that the flag was just trying to fly toward her because “It was probably flying to come hug me because the flag was so happy.” While this could be true, but others including Reid Forgrave suggest that it is more likely that “it was the Royal Gods of Wimbledon, giving Queen Serena a proper British slap on the wrist for her moment of innocent, though unfortunate, American celebration” (Forgrave, 2012, Paragraph 19).

            Brent Barry performing his version of the Crip Walk at the 2003 NBA three-point contest was seen as more socially acceptable based upon the context of the event.  Jason Whitlock points out that “Crip Walking inside an NBA arena that is routinely filled with the sounds of edited versions of popular gangsta rap songs is different from Crip Walking at Wimbledon. That fact has nothing to do with race.” (Whitlock, 2012, Paragraph 7).  Barry’s Crip Walk took place at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA in 2003 at the NBA skills competition, which is regarded more as an exhibition and an opportunity for NBA players to entertain and put on a show than an actual competitive battle (certainly not an Olympic Gold Medal finals match).  It should also be pointed out that performing the dance was not even Barry’s idea but a dare from Seattle SuperSonics teammate Gary Payton, who ended up paying Barry $1000 for holding up his end of the bargain in performing the dance on national television (Lund, 2012, Paragraph 3).  In this situation, other NBA players were accepting of the celebration and even encouraged Barry to go through with it and the fans found his routine to be entertaining.  Barry was not trying to show anyone up and did not have the entire world watching him.  He was representing himself and the NBA rather than an entire nation and was placed in an environment where rap and gang dance more are more prevalent and made aware of.  Plain and simple, there is a different behavior expectation for the NBA skills competition and a finals match taking place at Wimbledon.

            The difference between Serena Williams and Brent Barry’s Crip Walk celebrations was the time and place in which they occurred.  There are certain things that fans do not expect to see (or want to see) in specific sports.  While elaborate celebrations and dance exhibitions are acceptable in the NBA, the same cannot be said for tennis and the Olympics.  Serena performing the Crip Walk a Wimbledon at the Olympics would be like Tiger Woods Lambeau Leaping into the gallery after making a put on the 18^th hole at the Masters to win the tournament or Derek Jeter pulling a Tiger Williams (former NHL player, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpYQkuEurfI ) and riding his bat like a horse after hitting a homerun in the World Series.  There is a time and place for everything.  Serena picked the wrong moment while Barry was a bit more justified in his.  I am in no way supporting the Crip Walk as a sports celebration or claiming that race has anything to do with the difference between these two events.  I am solely making an argument that the context in which we view and think of select sporting events is the main reason behind the different opinions sports writers have of these similar celebrations.