Posted on Aug 30, 2019
Althea Gibson: The pioneering champion America forgot
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"Everything was white. The balls, the clothes, the socks, the shoes, the people. Ev-ery-thing."
Billie Jean King grimaces as she slowly emphasises that final word. The American tennis great is describing how the US National Championships - the forerunner of the US Open, which starts on Monday - looked 70 years ago.
Whether it was a written or an unwritten rule is still not clear. Nevertheless, it was an indisputable stance from the United States Tennis Association (USTA): black players were not permitted to enter.
Imagine Serena Williams, Venus Williams or Coco Gauff being barred from playing at their home Grand Slam because of the colour of their skin.
In 1949, that is exactly what Althea Gibson had to live with.
On Monday, a bronze sculpture of Gibson, the first black player to win a Grand Slam, will be unveiled outside Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows in New York - the world's biggest tennis arena named after another pioneering African-American.
Billie Jean King grimaces as she slowly emphasises that final word. The American tennis great is describing how the US National Championships - the forerunner of the US Open, which starts on Monday - looked 70 years ago.
Whether it was a written or an unwritten rule is still not clear. Nevertheless, it was an indisputable stance from the United States Tennis Association (USTA): black players were not permitted to enter.
Imagine Serena Williams, Venus Williams or Coco Gauff being barred from playing at their home Grand Slam because of the colour of their skin.
In 1949, that is exactly what Althea Gibson had to live with.
On Monday, a bronze sculpture of Gibson, the first black player to win a Grand Slam, will be unveiled outside Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows in New York - the world's biggest tennis arena named after another pioneering African-American.
Althea Gibson: The pioneering champion America forgot
Posted from bbc.com
Tennis
American History
World History
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 2
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The game of tennis doesn't judge a player by his or her color, so why should another person do it? However, Gibson played and won prior to the Civil Rights movement and the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Gladly, America has realized the loss and is giving Althea her dues; respect and recognition. It is better late than never to recognize the error and fix it. AMEN!
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