When ESPN named its courage award after the late Arthur Ashe, they could not have made a better choice. World class tennis champion, educator and advocate for the oppressed, Ashe personified grace and dignity, especially during his final days.
At the age of seven, Arthur picked up a racket for the first time, and began playing tennis at the local park. He was determined to succeed at a sport in which blacks were widely discriminated against. Slender and unassuming, he hardly looked the part. His opponents teased him, calling him “Skinny,” and “Bones,” but the moment he took the court, he amazed them with lighting quick reflexes and brilliant serves and volleys. Ashe quickly became the star of all-black tennis tournaments, and soon advanced to larger ones. “But time and again,” writes biographer David Collins, “he faced closed doors: shut out of segregated restaurants, parks and tennis courts; banned from many prestigious ‘white’ tournaments.”
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