Statue of Arthur Ashe willfully damaged
A statue of the African American tennis idol Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Virginia, where he was born, was willfully damaged on Wednesday. Photos showed that the base of the statue was first sprayed with the words "White Lives Matter" and "WLM", then they were sprayed with the letters "BLM" for "Black Lives Matter".
by SID
last edit:
Jun 18, 2020, 07:04 pm
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper, volunteers immediately went to clean the statue. The police are investigating.
Ashe, who died in 1993 as a result of AIDS, became the first black to win the Grand Slam tournaments Wimbledon and US Open. His memorial was also inaugurated in 1996 to counterbalance the series of statues on Memorial Avenue in Richmond dedicated to the Confederate leaders. Monuments in honor of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis have been sprayed or knocked over during nationwide protests in recent weeks.
Black Lives Matter is an international movement that has emerged within the African American community in the United States and is committed to combating violence against black people or members of a minority who are experiencing racism.