Cotton controversy explained after Serena Williams calls out hotel’s decorations

Serena Williams has made her feelings clear after she discovered a faux cotton plant in the corridor of a hotel she was staying at.

The 44-year-old was in New York City yesterday (September 27) celebrating the release of the NikeSKIMS collaboration with Kardashian sisters Kim, 44, and Khloé, 41.

As well as sharing snapshots from the event with her Instagram followers, the 22-time Grand Slam winner uploaded two videos of her controversial surroundings.

In the first clip, Williams approached what appeared to be a cotton plant displayed in an unnamed hotel corridor.

“Alright everyone - how do we feel about cotton as decoration?,” the mother-of-two asked. “Personally, for me, it doesn’t feel great?”

In a follow-up, the former No. 1 tennis player pulled off one of the so-called cotton balls, informing fans the decor was indeed a fake.

Serena Williams revealed her thoughts on her hotel's choice of decoration in an Instagram Story (Instagram/serenawilliams)

“So actually it feels like nail polish remover cotton. Natural.”

She then rubbed some of the buds on her nails and shuddered before stepping out of view.

The tennis great’s comments about the cotton arrangement have gone viral, with social media divided over the controversy.

“Yeah that’s a little wild. Not my idea of tasteful decor but hey,” said one user, as per the Black Information Network.

“Its hold negative connotation but at the end of the day its still a plant lol,” said someone else.

Another X user typed: “Extremely rude and tacky of her. Who is she to damage it then mock it on social media? She can f**k right off with that attitude. I hope they billed her for it.”

Cotton was once at the centre of the world’s most exploitative production system: slavery.

The mother-of-two's comments have sparked major debate online (Instagram/serenawilliams)

According to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, around 12 million African women, men, and children were forcibly transported under horrifically inhumane conditions by European slave traders to the Americas.

For more than 300 years, these enslaved people were forced to grow, tend for, and later pick the cotton which would supply mills in both the United States and across Europe.

Captured human beings would often face torture, sexual abuse, and live in unsanitary and unsafe conditions while working on plantations.

Cotton decorations, such as the one featured in Williams’ hotel, therefore serve as an unwelcome reminder for those whose own ancestors were forced to endure unrelenting horrors as part of the transatlantic slave trade.

This is not the first time that the controversial decoration choice has made headlines.

In 2017, a Texas woman took to social media, remarking on how faux raw cotton stalks were being sold at the arts-and-crafts chain Hobby Lobby.

“This décor is WRONG on SO many levels,” the woman, named as Daniell Rider, posted on Facebook at the time, as per Fox News.

“There is nothing decorative about raw cotton…A commodity which was gained at the expense of African-American slaves,” she wrote.

“A little sensitivity goes a long way. PLEASE REMOVE THIS ‘decor.'”

Incidents involving cotton-inspired decorations have previously gone viral (Getty Stock Image)

Hundreds of people took to the post to have their say, with one claiming they were a 27-year-old who was ‘not offended’ by the home styling option.

“I'm Black and I picked cotton. I'm only 27 but I did it with a John Deere 9930 [sic] cotton picker. I assure you I'm not offended,” they wrote, according to the publication.

Another commented: “As a Black woman, I am not offended. There is beauty from ashes. I will not allow (raw) cotton or statues for that matter, have any type of effect, especially a negative one, on my life. If you give it that kind of power then you are part of the problem.”

In another 2017 incident, former Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry apologised after he invited Black students into his home for dinner.

According to ex-student Deion Sims, he’d placed cotton stems in the middle of the table.

After calling them ‘offensive’, Sims told WKRN: “I don’t think Dr. Lowry was intentional or malicious in the cotton centerpieces. I think it points to a larger culture gap at this institution and that points to some changes that need to be made.”

Lowry apologised for his actions, with the outlet reporting he said: “I understand, at least at a small level, the offense and the hurt, and I think as a Christian my obligation is to take responsibility and be accountable.”