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Protests set off by the death of George Floyd,
an unarmed 46-year-old who died in Minneapolis after being
pinned beneath a white police officer's knee for nearly nine
minutes erupted around the United States again on Monday, the
latest of several days of violence.
Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese
mother, has previously passed her time in quarantine posting
lighthearted selfies in stylish clothes or by the side of a
pool.
But her social media feed changed following Floyd's death, as
she posted news footage of his death and the statement "There
comes a time when silence is betrayal" as well as tweeting "Just
because it doesn't happen to you doesn't mean it isn't
happening."
"When you tweet about the lootings before you tweet about the
death of an unarmed black man," she posted on Monday.
On Facebook, she posted a photo of a wall painting of Floyd's
face, as well as several others from a protest under the hashtag
"justiceforgeorgefloyd".
Osaka joins other sports figures in speaking out against racism
and police violence, including basketball great Michael Jordan
and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton.
Osaka has mostly sidestepped strong responses to controversy in
the past, including last year when a Japanese comedy duo said
she was "too sunburned" and "needed some bleach."
Instead, she laughed it off, turning it in to a plug for sponsor
Shiseido.
"'Too sunburned' lol that's wild," she said on Twitter. "Little
did they know, with Shiseido Anessa perfect UV sunscreen I never
get sunburned."
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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