Arthur Ashe: Tennis and Justice in the Civil Rights Era

8 The Comeback

chapter 8 “Thedaywillcomewhenyou’regoingtohavetostandonyourowntwofeetand make it,” lectured Ashe over boos, jeers, and angry shouts. Like the black South African journalists to whom Ashe had spoken years earlier, this crowd of Howard University students refused to let Ashe hold serve. When he voiced his supportfortheBakkedecision,a1978U.S.SupremeCourtrulingthatstruck down racial quotas in university admissions, the audience demanded that he clarify his remarks. When he tried to pivot away from Bakke, the students shouted, “Answer the question Arthur.” His discussion of job planning, goal setting, and corporate employment prompted questions such as, “How can we help our brothers and sisters by working for a white corporation?” Ashe’s attempts to reconnect with his script proved futile, as the audience now dictated the terms of the speech. One thing appeared abundantly clear: these students were not like the Church of the Redeemer members who had cheered and praisedhimin1968,norweretheylikethewhiteaudienceswholistenedquietly as he spoke. Children of the post–civil rights era, these young men and women had little patience with Booker T. bootstraps talk. The changing winds were forcing Ashe to confront another crossroads, and again he would look to the middle to find his answer.1 The years 1975–79 were a transitional period in Ashe’s life. On the court, he resurrected his career and reemerged as one of the world’s top players, challenging younger competitors like Jimmy Connors and Bjorn Borg. The media, fans, and the tennis establishment viewed him as both the sport’s lone African Americanstarwhobrokeracialbarrierseachtimehewonandtheleaddefender of traditional tennis etiquette against misbehaving brats like Connors, who embodied the dangers of professionalism and the self-absorbed me-first generation . Ashe represented the American patriot, Connors the self-centered The Comeback 208 arthur ashe individualist that the silent majority loved to despise. Just as Joe Louis had dealt a blow to Nazi Germany with his knockout of Max Schmeling in 1938, Arthur Ashe would stand up to the New Left and the counterculture with his on-the-court prowess, whether he liked it or not. Inthemid-tolate1970s,bothpersonalandprofessionaleventsalteredAshe’s opinions of society and his approach to activism. Late in 1976 he met the young photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy, and they married in February 1977. An intelligent and independent woman, Moutoussamy challenged Ashe’s views of women and activism, becoming his equal partner and eclipsing Donald Dell as his lead adviser. Meanwhile, in South Africa in 1976 the Soweto Uprising, an urban rebellion of mostly black and colored youths against their white oppressors , altered the strategy and tactics of many antiapartheid activists, Ashe included, as it exposed the limits of open dialogue and peaceful negotiations. The Soweto Uprising led Ashe to consider, and eventually champion, forms of protest that he had previously rejected, including athletic and artistic boycotts ofSouth Africa, as well as disinvestment. In the United States, he increasingly focused on the future of young blacks, and in a number of speeches at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) he encouraged black students to commit to their studies over their dreams of becoming star athletes. Some of his views, such as his support for the Bakke decision, placed him in direct oppositiontootherblackleaders .Thistransitionalperiod—intennis,inhispersonal life, and as an activist—would culminate in a bolder, more aggressive, unapologetic Ashe in the 1980s. j i By 1975 Ashe faced the possibility that his best days in tennis might have come and gone. Five years removed from his last Grand Slam win, he heard whispers declaring him old, slow, and washed up. Since winning the U.S. Nationals and the U.S. Open and leading his team to the Davis Cup crown in 1968, he had fallenintheworldtennisrankingsandbecomeanafterthoughttomanysportswriters . His victory in the 1970 Australian Open aside, he developed a reputation for losing the big matches. The future of tennis was represented by the electric and entertaining Jimmy Connors and the emerging Bjorn Borg, not Arthur Ashe, whom many viewed as closer to retirement than to a major championship .Themanyproved tobewrong.Refocusingontennisandavoidingdistractions as best he could, Ashe embarked on a grueling physical-conditioning program that included weight training and cardiovascular exercise. He practiced harder and studied his opponents more carefully, understanding that he the comeback 209 couldnolongerbethepowerfulserve-and-volleyplayerwithastellarbackhand drive. From now on, preparation and strategy would have to supersede physical dominance and power. And the work began to pay off. At the U.S. Professional Indoor Championships in Philadelphia, he “played stylishly and effectively ” in keeping his opponent Brian Gottfried off balance...