“I don’t want to be remembered for my sporting successes, that would be very selfish. The important thing in life is what you can do for others.” The phrase of Arthur Ashe, the only black tennis player who has won Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open, three of the four Grand Slams, is considered to be one of the most certain –and least known– statements about the essence of altruism. .
Born in Richmond, in the deep south of the United States, Ashe always had to deal with the double pressure that supposed in the 60s and 70s of the last century to be a black man who managed to achieve glory in a white world. An intruder for some and a traitor for others in a time of intense racial activism -to the point of being nicknamed Uncle Tom-, the fact is that the young man could not aspire to become an American football star because he was too weak or in a basketball player for not being tall enough either. That was how he came to tennis.
Until being a total unknown beyond the university tournaments in his country, he became a star by being part of the American Davis Cup team that won the title in 1968 and the winner, that same year, of the US Open. He was finally born a new sports star, clouded by endless misgivings.
Barely a year later, he had to deal with the harsh reality in the recently launched professional circuit when the South African Government denied him a visa because of the color of his skin. His absence cost the Pretoria regime their expulsion from Davis while Ashe went on his way and conquered the 1970 Australian Open.
The crowning moment of her career, however, would not come until five years later, when in what was already considered the twilight of her career – and indeed it was – Ashe made history at Wimbledon in a memorable final against Jimmy Connors, number 1 in the world and clear favorite for the title. In pristine white, as tradition dictates, the American tennis player gave an unexpected touch of color to the historic tournament.
His most complicated matches, however, came later. A hereditary heart disease led him to surgery in 1979. It was the beginning of the end of his career, which he continued as captain of the Davis Cup in the United States, despite the fact that another surgical intervention in 1983 ended up becoming a sad turning point: one of blood transfusions from that operation were contaminated with the AIDS virus.
Ashe didn’t find out until 1988, when he was diagnosed with a raging disease. He announced it publicly, forced by the USA Today newspaper, in 1992, after the basketball star Magic Johnson also did it. At that time, after creating a foundation, he launched an intense campaign to prevent the transmission of the virus among adolescents, promote research, and disseminate the reality of the disease to avoid all its social stigmas.
A year later, unable to attend a forum on AIDS that was being held in Connecticut, he sent a video in which he gave the speech that we reproduce. She died just a few days after recording it, as the organizers of the event learned shortly before its closure and after issuing his last message.
Ashe, to her regret, has not gone down in history for her efforts in the fight against AIDS. Not even for overcoming racial barriers. On the contrary, in the last mobilizations of the Black Lives Matter movement, the statue that he has in Richmon was the object of the protesters’ ire. The American tennis federation could not ignore his sporting merits either, and the main court of the US Open bears his name.
“Hour:
”I want to convey my apologies, I was unable to attend the Connecticut AIDS forum in person, but I wanted to make this recording to convey some messages to you, as you are a symbol to speak on this vital issue. I have had AIDS since September 1988 and have managed to lead a relatively normal life, with very few infections until recently.
”I have read and researched quite a bit on the subject and most of you know that last summer I created the Arthur Ashe Foundation to fight AIDS by raising money to fund research projects, raise public awareness and educate the public about this pandemic.
”One of our priorities is to talk to high school students, especially those from the slums. They generally don’t believe much of what they hear, the system hasn’t worked for them, and they’re loathe to accept any institutional message.
“When you’re 16, 17 and 18 and your hormones are raging, it’s a status symbol to get as many sexual conquests as possible, along with being able to memorize the latest rap record. These circumstances are conducive to heterosexual transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.
”We have learned that just giving them the information so that this does not happen is not enough. It’s not enough for these guys or girls to sit down and answer questions about AIDS. What really matters is that when the time comes they do what is appropriate.
”More than ever we have to be practical and reasonable. America’s teens are having sex more often than ever, and as such, if we want to contain the spread of AIDS as long as possible, we have to convince ourselves that we must somehow reach them through consensus.
”For them to be the ones to stop the spread of AIDS my own personal experience of living with this situation for four and a half years can be useful. Even to find some solace in the fact that, by expectations, I am a long-term survivor, because most people don’t even make it that far.
”I am now quite familiar with many of the medical problems and there is still a lot of work to be done with the public to reassure them that ordinary contact with people like me does not pose any danger to them.
“I can sneeze in your presence. I can cough in your presence. We can drink from the same glass. We can use the same knife, fork or spoon. We can kiss… And I will not transmit the virus. You can’t catch this virus like that, you don’t have to worry. So I hope that this forum in Connecticut, in its deliberations, is very clear, because there are still a lot of misconceptions about the modes of transmission.
”Lastly, I believe that those of us who have suffered from the disease for a long time should not be pitied. None of us want pity, we do want compassion. Life will be very complicated if there are people who participate in acts of violence against us.
“I read about a month ago, just after Thanksgiving, in a report in The New York Times, that about a third of the people who were publicly declared HIV positive have had to experience some form of physical violence against them. And there are school-age children who want to avoid others who have AIDS or are HIV-positive.
”I hope that this forum addresses these everyday problems, because there is no truth in that and it is not fair that nobody has to go through these situations again. Thank you for your patience. I’m sorry I’m not there in person, but I hope this recording and my message make up for my absence in some way.
“Thank you and good luck.”
