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Coco Gauff revealed the story of a shocking racist attack she faced at the age of 12, causing concern among fans.
Gauff was featured on the cover of Time Magazine's May issue and sat down for an exclusive chat with them, where she revealed that during a tournament in France, a group of Croatian boys threw orange peels at her and called her a 'monkey', making fun of her African-American heritage.
The American admitted that she cried that night but got over it the next day, and this happened when Gauff was just 12 years old.
The 20-year-old dealt with things maturely and said that she didn't hold any animosity towards them as they probably didn't grow up around people who looked different.
“Then I just kind of got over it the next day, I just felt like that’s just something that people experience, which is not a great thing.
"They just probably didn’t grow up around other people that looked different. I don’t have any anger towards it. It was not an experience that defined me," Gauff said.
Fans were horrified after reading about this incident and took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their concern for Coco Gauff, with one of the fans saying how this was harrowing and that racism in Europe was undeniable.
"this is horrifying … and is also why it’s such a joke when ppl deny racism existing in europe"
Another fan asked who was protecting the 12-year-old Gauff at the time of the incident.
"who was protecting this LITTLE GIRL?!?!"
Here are some other fan reactions, with some criticizing the adults and many wanting the guilty party to fess up.
"Jesus wtf... disgusting" said a fan
"SOMEONE FESS UP WHO WAS IT WE RIDE TIL DAWN" asked another fan
"Where the fu**ewere the adults in this tournament allowing this type of trash behavior smh" asked another fan
Some other fans hailed the maturity with which Coco Gauff articulated the incident, while one fan stated that they stopped reading the article due to the heavy content.
"Yet when she was talking about what Black girls go through at junior tennis level, people were almost attacking her. She was right. I hope those boys are ashamed of themselves." a fan opined
"Coco's response.. she's so mature... her parents did such a good job of raising her i am in awe at her flow of thoughts" another fan opined
"I was reading the article earlier and when I got to this part I had to stop and take a walk. It was just too much" a fan mentioned
"You need to use your voice, no matter how big or small your platform is" - Coco Gauff delivered a powerful speech fighting for 'Black Lives Matter'
Coco Gauff has never been scared to stand up for the right things. A then 16-year-old Gauff delivered a powerful speech urging people to bring about a change.
Amid the protest due to the killing of George Flyod, Gauff, in her speech, expressed sadness about protesting the same thing her grandmother did 50 years ago. She stressed the importance of education and action, urging people to use their voices to bring about change.
"I think it’s sad that I’m here protesting the same thing that (my grandmother) did 50-plus years ago," Gauff said. "So I'm here to tell you guys that we must first love each other no matter what. We must have the tough conversations with our friends. I've been spending all week having tough conversations, trying to educate my non-black friends on how they can help the movement. Second, we need to take action."
Third, you need to use your voice, no matter how big or small your platform is, you need to use your voice. I saw a Dr. (Martin Luther) King quote that said, 'The silence of the good people is worse than the brutality of the bad people.' So, you need to not be silent. If you are choosing silence, you're choosing the side of the oppressor," she added.
Coco Gauff also called out a chair umpire for not giving a time violation to her opponent during the 2023 US Open which sparked discussions, applauding her for stepping up to the alleged racism.
