I really wish I’d been there.
It was Richmond, VA in 1995. The meeting was an open one to discuss the placement of a new public statue.
Sounds boring enough. After all, how controversial can the realistic sculpture of a tennis pro be? Who could possibly care about the placement of a bronze to a sports hero?
Richmond could. And did.
The flap was not so much about the statue itself- it was pretty standard stuff. Nor was it about the subject. Native son Arthur Ashe had brought honor and recognition to his city both on the tennis court and off, in his work for AIDS, and against apartheid and racism. He was worthy of a statue in this southern city.
The issue was the placement. After all, it was slated to be placed on Monument Avenue, a gracious street lined with statues of Confederate heroes.  Some people saw his statue as an affront to the military heroes of the south. Others saw it as an affront to the African Americans and Ashe’s own experiences of racism in the town. (Photo from australiastudy.com website.)
So for seven hours the Planning Commission listened to speakers voice their opinions. Residents in Confederate garb and African dress packed the hall. No one spoke for the proposal. Of course, the Commission, after ascertaining that no cannons would be pointed at the hero, approved it.
But that wasn’t the only Ashe statue controversy. When his form, playing tennis, was unveiled before the Arthur Ashe stadium at Flushing Meadows in 2000, there were plenty of gripes. The piece was of a nude with a truncated tennis racquet. The form was excellent. Inspiring. But somehow it stuck in the craw of a range of commentators from Black Tennis Magazine to the director of the Alliance Junior Tennis League. After all, Ashe was an athelete, not a porn star, they said. It was disrespectful to portray him sans clothes.
Ashe himself, I think, would be proud.
11:31:34 AM 
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