When Arthur Ashe defeated Tom Okker of the Netherlands on Sept. 9, 1968, he became the first black man to win the United States Open and was embraced as a beacon of possibility for many. Like Jackie Robinson before him, Ashe embraced the role of pioneer and resolved to use his new platform to join the fight that had been swirling around him.
Ashe wrote in his memoir, “Days of Grace,” that during those years of racial unrest, “There were times, in fact when I felt a burning sense of shame that I was not with other blacks — and whites — standing up to the fire hoses and police dogs, the truncheons, bullets and bombs. As my fame increased, so did my anguish.”
Seven months before his match with Okker at Forest Hills, Ashe had received a letter from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who urged the emerging tennis star to use his voice to inspire and to fight injustice.
“Your eminence in the world of sports and athletics gives you an added measure of authority and responsibility,” King wrote.
Ashe’s younger brother, Johnnie, said Arthur took the message to heart. Two hours after his Open victory, Arthur called Johnnie, who was stationed at Camp Lejune, N.C., where he was ending a two-year tour of duty in Vietnam with the United States Marine Corps.
“I said, ‘Well brother, you did it,’ ” Johnnie Ashe said during a recent phone conversation. “And the only thing that came out of Arthur’s mouth was ‘Now I’m a champion and people will listen to me.’ ”
That perspective formed the basis of Ashe’s expectation for himself and for all prominent athletes — they should use their visibility to inspire others. That philosophy would lead Ashe to chide a high-profile athlete like Michael Jordan for being silent on racism at the height of Jordan’s popularity as a player.
In later years, Ashe led the group Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid, speaking out and participating in several protests. When he found out he had contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, he spoke out to educate others about the disease.
The question for those who admired Ashe and for the United States Tennis Association, which has greatly benefited from his presence, is how to extend Ashe’s legacy in a way that connects with a younger generation — especially a generation of African-Americans with its own set of issues and challenges.
”It’s important to talk about the roles of the important people from 1968. Arthur was a part of that,” his wife, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, said during a recent conversation. “We need to get this history from 50 years ago to help empower these young people to move their lives forward. That was Arthur’s mantra: How can you move someone else forward?”
What Arthur did not know in 1968 was that Johnnie had decided to extend his tour of duty in the Marines, making it unlikely that Arthur, who had been in the R.O.T.C. as a student at the University of California, Los Angeles, would also be sent into combat.
In June 1967, Johnnie spoke with the first sergeant to ask to extend his tour.
“When it came to being rough and gruff and that kind of thing, Arthur and I were as different as night and day,” said Johnnie, five years his brother’s junior. “Rancor came second nature to me. I was mischievous as hell; I was the devilish one. On the other hand, Arthur dealt with everything completely intellectually.”
Johnnie explained that his older brother was an Army lieutenant training at West Point, and a promising tennis player.
“I don’t think he needs the Vietnam experience,” Johnnie said, recalling the conversation. “I said, I’m here, I’ve experienced it, I know what it’s all about and it would be so much better if I stay and he didn’t have to come.”
He added, “I really believe that the good Lord put me in Vietnam to ensure that I could make that sacrifice for my brother.” He said that he “emerged from Vietnam unscathed, and Arthur realized a dream.”
Arthur was able to continue his journey toward a pioneering career, winning both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open championships in 1968 (a feat no one else has accomplished). He won 33 singles titles in his career, as well as the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975.
Six days after his 1968 triumph at the Open, Ashe appeared as a guest on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He was asked to speak not only about the tennis title he had just won, but also about the racial discord that was tearing apart the country.
It was a groundbreaking appearance: an African-American athlete being sought out by the mainstream news media to discuss the politics and sociology of racism and civil unrest.
Ashe was able to move back and forth between diverse socioeconomic streams without pandering or compromising his beliefs. He was not opposed to money but he was not ruled by it, either (as an amateur in 1968, he did not accept the cash prize at the Open).
Tennis has not been in the center of social activism, but the sport — largely because of Ashe and Billie Jean King — has had great moments. The 50th anniversary of the Open allows tennis to get to the roots of what the sport has accomplished, how far it has come and why Ashe’s legacy is so important.
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe is clear, clearer than ever, about why he was special in her life and continues to be. She was a senior in high school when he made his historic breakthrough; they married in 1977.
“I was living with a man who inspired me daily. Daily,” she said. “I miss that so much. I miss him. I miss his voice, I miss the integrity, I miss the truth.”
William C. Rhoden, a former New York Times columnist, is a writer at large for ESPN’s The Undefeated and director of the Rhoden Fellows Initiative.
Source : NYtimes
