Black History Month                                         February 2003

ARTHUR ASHE SERVES AN ACE

           Arthur Ashe died in the early 1990’s at the age of 49, of pneumonia, a complication of AIDS. He now belongs to tennis sports history, to Afro American heritage, and to the ages. Even before he entered the fight against AIDS, Arthur was active in many human rights causes. Human rights, black awareness, and black student education were all issues he became involved in, long before he became a tennis celebrity. Arthur Ashe began to be an important and successful tennis player in 1963 when, after numerous court victories, he became the first black to be named to the U.S. Davis Cup team.

          Unfortunately, he found his toughest opponents often were off the court. In 1970, faced with racial prejudice he helped get South Africa banned from the Davis Cup because of the nation’s policy of apartheid. From then, up until the day he died, he was an advocate for rights for blacks and went on to develop numerous tennis programs for inner city blacks. In the ensuing years, as he became more successful on the tennis court, his humanitarian and human rights accomplishments also continued to mount. On July 5, 1975, he became the first black athlete to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon. Only 9 days later, he was approached by Dennis Bantus, president of the London based South African Non-Racial Committee of Olympic Sports to help expel South Africa from International Lawn Tennis. Arthur continued to win on the tennis courts and continued to battle discrimination, whenever and wherever, he found it. In January 1985, he, along with 46 others, was arrested in anti-apartheid protests at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C.

          His brilliant tennis career ended in 1979 when he suffered a major heart attack. His attack was followed by 2 heart surgeries. In April 1992, Arthur Ashe stunned the sports world by announcing in a news conference that he had AIDS. He had become infected by the virus in 1987 from a blood transfusion, following his second heart operation. He objected to the way the information was leaked to the press – but went on with his life, attempting to use the rest of his life as constructively as he could.

          We should pay tribute to this fine athlete. Every personal adversity he turned into a challenge. After announcing that he had AIDS, he started the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS. When he had heart surgery at age 36, he became chairman of the National Heart Association. When he discovered there was no history of the black athlete, he wrote the three-volume history called A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete for which he won an Emmy for co-writing the TV version.

          But then Ashe was forever carrying mantles. He was born in Richmond, VA., the capital of the Confederacy, which became fitting as his life worked out because he is on the short list of athletes who did as much for society as they did for sports. His mother died when he was 6. That didn’t stop him. He was refused entry to certain tennis clubs as a teenager because he was black. That didn’t stop him. In his fashion he taught all of American how to win with grace and lose without being a loser.

          In 1975, he was in the finals of Wimbledon, and history must have smiled at the opposites it attracted there. Ashe, the quiet, intellectual, black player, beat Jimmy Connors, loud, emotional, and white. It was the first time a black tennis player had won at Wimbledon, and the win gave him the legendary status in the game that he would use so well outside it.

          His playing career ended with his heart surgery, but you could always find him around South Florida tennis tournaments. If you’d never seen him, two things stood out about his appearance: his voice was always soft and his arms were like noodles. How could such a small man pack such a big punch? “Drummed into me above all by my dad, by the whole family, was that without your good name, you would be nothing,” he told Sports Illustrated during an interview with him naming him the Sportsman of the Year. His name was never in question.

          Nor will his place in sports history be in question; he’ll be up there with the best. Arthur Ashe served aces on and off the court. He is a model for all of us.