Caffeinated Politics

Today, a grandmother told me her grandson, who studies at Madison East High School, wants a tennis racket for his upcoming birthday. Frances Tiafoe has made a tremendous impression upon the teenager. I responded that the phenomenal tennis player, who is winning fans nationwide, is great news for all of us, as he joyfully reminds us of what this country still gets right.

While threadbare white male grievances are on full display at the goofy Republican midterm convention in Dallas, featuring the aging partisan group that has stirred a national stew of racial hostility that runs from the Oval Office down to the grassroots, Tiafoe walks onto a tennis court with a life story rich in texture and uplift and then uses his skills to win. As America watches the proverbial split-screen of news this week, it is obvious who is telling a far better story.

The absurdity that conservatives try to sell is that diversity is a threat rather than a strength. But the truth repudiates the hate. Tiafoe is showcasing the lesson that liberals and progressives have long known about our shared values. A lesson that is real and so very American.

Frances Tiafoe is the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, a family that fled civil war and arrived in America with little more than grit and determination. His father worked as a custodian at a tennis center, and young Frances learned the sport not from private lessons or country‑club summers, but from hanging around the courts while his dad mopped floors. Yup, this is an American story.

What makes Tiafoe’s rise feel so electric is that it cuts through the racial crap that has been pushed on this nation by the bigots and crazed asshats who champion ICE in their attempt to whiten our nation. Tiafoe generates unity because he shows something far different from racists. The tennis player shows joy and looks like the future of the nation, where bright, skilled people come to our shores and live lives that make us aware of the ideals promised in our founding document.

I like his swagger and hopeful nature. I love that he shows, in every home in this nation, the idea that America is at its best when we open our arms to the world. That the child of immigrants can become a national hero not despite his background, but because of the strength it gave him.

I watched the fans in the audience as Tiafoe sweated and proved his greatness. There was a lesson playing out in the stands. They were ordinary Americans who were celebrating a tremendous outcome that embodied the country’s promise rather than its fears. As I watched, I knew they also cheered because this is the nation we want to be.

Frances Tiafoe has a story for our time. A story that is so American. Let the GOP own the racism and discord. I will be following the famous smile of a winner on the tennis court.