James Blake, a former tennis player, comes from an ethnically mixed household. His mother, Betty Blake, English, has already spoken out against racism in the United States after a terrible experience with her son in 2015. James Blake was pushed to the ground by an NYPD officer, but the former tennis star was eventually excused because he did nothing wrong. Betty and many others thought it was a racially motivated attack. The former world No.4 denied the incident was racially motivated, but claimed it made him feel “raw”. The American tennis player started playing tennis at an early age, and was taught the sport by his father.
His father, Thomas Blake Sr., died in 2004 of stomach cancer. The former Davis Cup winner founded the James Blake Foundation, which deals with cancer research. The 44-year-old former tennis star recently appeared in Pickleball Slam 2, with other tennis greats. Steff Graf and Andre Agassi won the Pickleball Slam 2 on Sunday, defeating John McEnroe and Maria Sharapova.
James Blake’s Ethnicity: Where Is He From?
James Blake, former American tennis player, is of mixed descent. Blake was raised in Yonkers, New York by his African-American father and English mother. Blake’s mother, Betty Blake (née Misseldine), was born and raised in Banbury, Oxfordshire. She traveled to the United States at the age of 17 and met James’ father, Thomas Blake Sr.
Blake once said he had visited Banbury before that to see some relatives on his mother’s side. In an interview with the Independent, Blake said he met a woman in a bar who remembered his mother. He said that when his mother visits England, he can’t help but smile. When asked if he felt empathy for his mother’s birthplace, Blake said he was comfortable with English culture.
In 2015, Blake’s mother Betty spoke out against racism in America. The event that prompted her to speak out was the assault on her child by an NYPD officer. Betty wrote in the New York Daily News about an incident in which an NYPD officer assaulted her son outside the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan. Blake is handcuffed, arrested and jailed. The officers later realized that they had made a mistake.
She stated, “I think the vast majority of people who read this narrative understand that it’s about race. There seems to be no end to racism in our nation and it seems to be getting worse.” Betty saw segregation unfold in real time in the United States. When she and Thomas lived in Missouri, segregation was still legal. In her song, Betty expressed regret for exposing her child to a world where such events could happen.
Parents of James Blake
James Blake’s parents, Thomas Blake Sr. and Betty Blake, had two boys who played tennis. Thomas Blake Sr. died in June 2004 after a long battle with stomach cancer. Thomas and Betty met on the tennis court, and it was Thomas who convinced his son to take up the racket. James said in an interview that he and his brother grew up on tennis courts.
James said his parents would take them to the tennis courts because he thought they were too rich to pay babysitters. Thomas Sr. learned to play tennis while in the Air Force. Betty outplayed her future spouse on their first date in Yonkers’ Fay Park. Despite teaching their boys to play tennis, the couple was strict about their children’s education. That was one of the reasons why the boys were able to attend Harvard.
In an interview, James said he struggled to persuade his father to allow him to pursue a professional tennis career. However, after Thomas Sr. found out that his child was excellent, he allowed him to do so. Thomas Sr. was working as a sales manager at 3M when he died. For a long time, James kept secret all the conversations he had with his father during the final days. He didn’t even inform his mother Betty about it.
He finally spoke about it three years after his father’s death. In 2010, James’ mother Betty wrote a book titled Mix it Up, Make it Nice: Secrets of a Tennis Mom. Betty spent four years writing the book, in which she talks about family values, her two sons’ paths to become great tennis players and race relations. Betty once wrote in the New York Daily News that as a white person she could not fully understand the situation of the African American in the United States.
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Source: vcmp.edu.vn