I have always liked Naomi Osaka. The tennis star is creative on the court and candid in interviews, especially about her mental-health challenges. I was disappointed when she lost last week in the U.S. Open to Amanda Anisimova, who was defeated in the final on Saturday by Aryna Sabalenka.

But I also think Osaka was dead wrong in her remarks at the tournament about racism. And recognizing that might be a key to breathing life into my moribund political party.

I speak of the Democrats, of course, who too often view the world through the prism of racism. But most Americans — including most Americans of color — don't. We need to lose that habit if we want to start winning again.

Witness the imbroglio at the Open between the Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend, who is African American. Townsend won a point by hitting the net cord but didn't raise her hands in apology, as per traditional tennis etiquette. A visibly furious Ostapenko yelled at her, claiming that Townsend had "no class" and "no education."

Then Osaka let fly with her own volley at a post-match press conference. "It's one of the worst things you can say to a Black tennis player in a majority white sport," declared Osaka, whose father is Haitian and whose mother is Japanese.

In........

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