Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
``The resolution of this issue is a real window into the soul of this community,'' City Councilman Tim Kaine said Tuesday. ``My hope is that people will see a community that is willing to honestly grapple with issues of race and history and our interactions with each other.''
Few have questioned whether the city should erect a statue to the late tennis great, a Wimbledon champion and civil-rights activist born in Richmond. The city Planning Commission on June 19 chose a site on Monument Avenue, which would place Ashe's likeness with those of Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Confederate heroes.
But Monday night, City Council postponed groundbreaking ceremonies set for July 10 - Ashe's birthday - because many residents oppose the Monument Avenue site. The council will hold a July 17 public hearing on the proposal.
Some residents argue that a sculpture of a contemporary man would not fit with the looming statues of war heroes on Monument Avenue, a tree-lined street with stately old homes. Others question whether Ashe should be placed among men who fought to uphold a system that denigrated blacks.
Some Ashe admirers want the city to create a multimillion-dollar downtown park dedicated to the tennis star and erect the statue there.
Ashe, who was denied use of public tennis courts because he was black, left the segregated city at age 18. Before he died in 1993 of complications from AIDS contracted though a blood transfusion, he approved a design for the statue.
A model of the planned 24-foot statue features Ashe in a warm-up suit with a tennis racket raised in one hand and books in the other. Figures of children look up at Ashe from the statue's base.
Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, has been governed by a black-majority council since 1977. Its population is nearly 60 percent black.
Breaking the color barrier on Monument Avenue appeals to many people who want to show that Richmond honors black residents as well as whites.
``I've never believed Monument Avenue or any part of Richmond should be set aside for the Confederacy,'' said Councilman Chuck Richardson. ``It would be political and poetic justice for Arthur to make his final stand on Monument Avenue. What could be a greater tribute to him?''
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.