"Venus and Serena's mother Oracene said they felt for years, for almost 10 years, that the US Open crowds were not behind them," Price says."They felt othered in their own home tournament, just because of the straight identification: a white audience with black players. They were African American women in a white-dominated world." The country-club crowds of professional tennis were accustomed to a different sort of player - soft-spoken, demure and white. The Williams sisters stood out.
