that s it. new ball. shots are 2-2. got by him. comes back with it! you try to put your entire being mentally and physically on automatic pilot while you re playing tennis. everything is concentrated on the razor s edge and you forget the score. you forget where you are. you forget what your name is. i feel like my body s floating within myself. the game of tennis is a symphony in white. players in white suits hitting a white ball back and fort. in all white country clubs but a new, young player has come along and he is one of the greatest we have ever produced and he is not white. i sense confusion in what an athlete should be, especially an african american context. does still persist in the world about black athletes because we tend to do disproportionately well in athletes. i like to fight the myth. there are lots of us who can think as well as run, jump, hit tennis balls, dunk basketballs. and the challenge now is to convince young black athletes that the
that s it. [ applause ] 2-2. comes back with it! you try to put your entire being mentally and physically on automatic pilot while you re playing tennis. everything is concentrated on the razor s edge and you forget the score. you forget where you are. you forget what your name is. i feel like my body s floating within myself. the game of tennis is a symphony in white. players in white suits hitting a white ball back and forth between white baselines in all-white country clubs. but a new young player has come along and he is one of the greatest we have ever produced, and he is not white. i sense confusion in what an athlete should be, especially in an african american context. there does still persist in the world myths about black athletes because we tend to do disproportionately well in athletics. some people think we are all brawn and no brains. and i like to fight the myth. there are lots of us who can think as well as run, jump, hit tennis balls, dunk basketb
until very recently, you have publicly not had an attitude at all, i think that s fair to say, and very recently, you have begun, i think quite thoughtfully, to enunciate. what was the chain of your thinking? when i was playing, i was awed by everything. having come from a humble beginnings in richmond, virginia, but in these times it s really a mandate that you do something. there are other athletes and other black leaders period who are using their position of power and influence to wield practical progress. it s simply saying to myself, arthur, you must do something. you cannot sit by and let the world go by. he would call me up and say, harry, i was just thinking. i said man, what do you want? what s going on? what do we have to talk about? after a while, i came to respect his disposition. you grow up black in the
And being the first black male to win the u.s. open, he was going to be sought out. until very recently, you have publicly not had an attitude at all, i think that s fair to say, and very recently, you have begun, i think quite thoughtfully, to enunciate. what was the chain of your thinking? when i was playing, i was awed by everything. having come from a humble beginnings in richmond, virginia, but in these times it s really a mandate that you do something. there are other athletes and other black leaders period who are using their position of power and influence to wield practical progress. it s simply saying to myself, arthur, you must do something. you cannot sit by and let the world go by. he would call me up and say, harry, i was just thinking. i said man, what do you want? what s going on? what do we have to talk about?