Today In Black History
Arthur Ashe, #1 Black Male Tennis Player and Civil Rights and AIDS Activist
Issue #579 Today In Black History, Thursday, April 25, 2024
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Today’s Black History WOW!
Arthur Ashe was born on July 10, 1943, in Richmond, Virginia, and was introduced to tennis at a young age and quickly began to excel in the sport. Ashe became one of the greatest tennis players of his time.
The Ashe family has claimed direct descent from Amar, a West African woman who was enslaved and brought to America in 1735 aboard a ship called The Doddington. Ashe family members were enslaved by North Carolina Governor Samuel Ashe.
Arthur Ashe won three Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles. Ashe was the first Black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team, and the only Black man ever to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. In 1975, he became the first African American man to be ranked world No. 1 in tennis.
Ashe started playing tennis at seven years of age and began practicing on the courts where his natural talent was spotted by Ron Charity, who as the best black tennis player in Richmond at the time began to teach Ashe the basic strokes and encouraged him to enter local tournaments.
In 1960, Ashe was precluded from competing against White youths in segregated Richmond during the school year, and unable to use the city's indoor courts that were closed to Black players. He accepted an offer from Richard Hudlin, a 62-year-old St. Louis teacher and tennis coach, to move to St. Louis and spend his senior year attending Sumner High School, where he could compete more freely. Ashe was able to practice at the National Guard Armory indoor courts and in 1961 was granted permission to compete in the previously segregated U.S. Interscholastic tournament and won it for the school.
In December 1960 and again in 1963, Ashe was featured in Sports Illustrated. He became the first African American to win the National Junior Indoor Tennis title.
Ashe was awarded a tennis scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1963. Ashe was also a member of the ROTC, which required him to enter active military service after graduation in exchange for money for tuition. He pledged Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He graduated from UCLA in 1966 and joined the Army.
Ashe was discharged from the Army on February 22, 1969, as a 1st Lieutenant. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal for his service.
In September 1969, the U.S. Davis Cup team retained the cup, beating Romania in the final challenge round, with Ashe winning both his singles matches. The same year, Ashe applied for a visa to play in the South African Open but was denied the visa by the South African government which enforced a strict apartheid policy of racial segregation.
In 1974, Ashe was elected president of the Association of Tennis Professionals.
After undergoing heart surgery in December 1979, Ashe officially retired on April 16, 1980, at the age of 36. His career record was 818 wins, 260 losses, and 51 titles.
Ashe was an active civil rights supporter. He was a member of a delegation of 31 prominent African Americans who visited South Africa to observe political change in the country as it approached racial integration. He was arrested on January 11, 1985, for protesting outside the Embassy of South Africa, Washington, D.C., during an anti-apartheid rally. He was arrested again on September 9, 1992, outside the White House for protesting the recent crackdown on Haitian refugees.
In September 1988, Ashe was hospitalized after experiencing paralysis in his right arm. Doctors discovered that he was HIV-positive. Ashe and his doctors believed he contracted the virus from blood transfusions he received during his second heart surgery became a vocal advocate for AIDS awareness and research.
Two months before his death, he founded the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to help address issues of inadequate healthcare delivery and was named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year.
On February 6, 1993, Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49.
On June 20, 1993, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
The main stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, New York, where the US Open is played, is named Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Today In Black History
In 1882, Black inventor W.B. Purvis received a patent for a paper bag fastening device.
In 1950, Charles “Chuck” Cooper became the first African American drafted by an NBA team, when he was picked by the Boston Celtics.
In 1960, a consent judgment in the Memphis, Tennessee federal court ended restrictions barring voters in Fayette County, Tennessee. This was the first voting rights case under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In 1972, Major General Frederick E. Davidson became the first African American to lead an Army division.
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