Arthur Ashe grew up in the segregated South. He was a very good tennis player, and overcame racism against him to end up winning many professional tennis tournaments. He contracted AIDS while overseas, but he often said that AIDS was easier to deal with than growing up in the segregated south, where for a long time he was forbidden to even play on the public courts. Arthur Ashe was a very determined man, and the first African-American man to win Wimbledon. He represented the time because he showed that all races can win if they want to, and he proved what all the equal rights movements at the time were saying, that people are equal no matter what race.
Arthur Ashe, in his time, was a lot like Tiger Woods is now. They both broke the barrier into most white dominated sports and became the best in the world at it. He defeated the notion that white people are superior at sports. He was also the first black man to be inducted into the International tennis Hall of Fame. This is a helping all of the equal rights movements of the 60s and 70s, proving their point and gaining respect for blacks. Also, he pushed through a heart attack in '79 and became the captain of the US Davis Cup team, leading them to victory in '81 and '82. This act greatly resembled the determination of the people of the 70s.
Even today there are hardly any black men in the top rankings for tennis. However there are the Williams sisters, who completely dominate the women's bracket. Arthur Ashe, like the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods and many more, have proved and are still proving that all races can be good at sports. Even though he faced racism, his mother dying when he was six and not even being allowed to play on the public courts for a while, he still pushed through and became the top ranked tennis player. "Some folks call tennis a rich people's sport or a white person's game. I guess I started too early, because I just thought it was something fun to do. Later, I discovered there was a lot of wok to being good in tennis. You've got to make a lot of sacrifices and spend a lot of time if you really want to achieve with this sport, or in any sport, or in anything truly worthwhile.' ­Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe holding up his 1975 Wimbledon trophy

Arthur Ashe (right) age 10, with Biff Henderson (left)

 

Works Cited:

http://new.blackvoices.com/sports/nationworld/bv-rthurashe030206,0,2448006.story?coll=bv-sports-topstories

http://www.sacbee.com/24hours/sports/story/844643p-5932647c-.html

http://www.geocities.com/dblimbrick/ashe.html

http://www.cmgww.com/sports/ashe/

Works Cited for Pictures:

www.ls.cc.al.us/blackhistory/ ashe.jpg

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/features/1997/arthurashe/gallery1.html

 

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