USTA's WOKE SCAM: FALSE EMPATHY WHILE IGNORING ACCESSIBILITY.

by JAVIER PALENQUE

Oh, the USTA—champions of pretend social justice, heralds of inclusivity, or so they want you to believe. For an organization that coins an impressive $600 million annually, you might assume they’d make meaningful contributions to tennis accessibility, especially for middle- and low-income kids dreaming of a place on the court. But no. Instead, they invest in a dazzling parade of ‘safe zones’ and ‘ whatever awareness days,’ crafted to give a nice, glossy finish to an otherwise hollow meaningless agenda.

Let’s be clear: wokeness, for the USTA, is merely a costume. This is theater, not activism. Rather than pour their vast coffers into developing affordable programs or making tennis courts accessible to those who can’t afford the high entry costs of the sport, they dress up in the fashionable ‘woke’ garb and call it a day. Diversity and inclusivity are not policies; they are mere props that are useful for those photo ops with minority kids they’ll never see again. If there’s a chance to wave a rainbow flag or shout about a ‘safe zone,’ they’ll be there, cameras rolling. Not for the kids priced out of tennis, but for those who might scroll by on social media and think, “Wow, look how progressive they are!” This to any thinking being is disgusting, but not to the leadership of the USTA, it's business as usual.

In reality, they’re about as progressive as a luxury yacht club. At its core, the USTA remains the gatekeeper of a sport that systematically excludes those lacking financial means. And their solution to this systemic problem? Safe zones for LGBTQ communities—a worthy cause in many contexts, yes, but laughable here, given that their actual influence on this cause appears to be limited to hashtags and corporate pats on the back.

Consider this for a moment: if the USTA’s concern for the underserved were remotely genuine, they’d open up courts, fund programs in low-income neighborhoods, and create pathways for those without healthy incomes to join the sport. But that would require, you know, effort, intelligence, and vision. And far better, in their view, to keep up this facade of inclusivity by rolling out yet another diversity day; black day, gay day, Asian day, Hispanic day, pickleball day, etc.

They’ve somehow rebranded tennis, one of the most inaccessible sports in the U.S., as a symbol of social awareness—an artful bit of deception, akin to a date who shows up looking glamorous but conveniently forgets to mention the personality flaws lurking beneath. They’re like a flashy sports car on loan about to be repossessed: nice to look at, but lacking any depth when you scratch the surface. And leading the charge of this grand illusion is none other than the “liar in charge,” and a board that would rather stay cozy in the warmth of self-congratulation than face the glaring reality of their inaction. This is why the false nonprofit must be intervened by the NY Attorney General, a nonprofit they are not.

If the USTA were led by genuine decent people and advocates, they would not be content with empty gestures, they would be embarrassed. But the Klan of incapables boasts about things that matter to no one. Just follow them on social media, it is a joke void of meaning and intelligence, and purpose and they are unaware of how limited they are.

If they were decent, they would channel resources into concrete, grassroots solutions that empower economically disadvantaged kids. They would establish and sustain affordable tennis programs, develop more community courts, and actively address the socioeconomic disparities that prevent the sport from reaching its true potential. Yet, under the current leadership, they continue to perpetuate the narrative that tennis is a game for the privileged few while parading people of color, high school bands of color, celebrities of color, shows of color, they even parade the living president of color. It is a nefarious group of senile men who lack the basic understanding of a pair of simple words: decency and honor.

When an organization claims to be "non-profit" yet operates like a commercial enterprise, and laughs at all the nonprofit laws in the land, one must ask: where are the priorities? and how is this allowed to happen?

The USTA needs real change, that means addressing the core issue: preventing accessibility in tennis. It means investing in the underserved, not staging hollow campaigns that all they are “pretend.” Until the USTA commits to real, tangible action, their social justice posts will remain exactly what they are—self-serving gestures designed to distract from the truth. In other words, a well-orchestrated scam. Why would young people want to be part of such a scam and taint their careers pushing a scam?

So, next time you see the USTA’s celebratory post for the latest “inclusive initiative,” remember that this “non-profit” continues to keep millions of kids on the outside, looking in. That is the USTA’s version of social responsibility: an illusion of compassion that vanishes the moment the cameras stop rolling. With $600 million in annual revenue, they are, perhaps, the most lucrative purveyors of virtue-signaling in modern sports—a false nonprofit, indeed.

This is why to solve the tennis problem the following must happen.

1. The Attorney general of NY must revoke their nonprofit status.
2. All executives and board members should be banned from the sport and ever working for non-profits.
3. A team of decent people who want to serve the game must be appointed to control the game and solve the problems that are decades in the making.

I say NO to ineptitude and yes to growing the game.

I can be reached at [email protected]

PS. Here is a sample of their pretend posts.

?

?