Althea Gibson: A Post Script

[don_budge]

At the risk of being TOLD that I am being political...I submit a couple of thoughts on the Althea Gibson article entitled..."I always wanted to be somebody".

In one sense Althea's story is a tragedy of epic proportions. In another sense she was a great player who overcame so many obstacles and barriers. Ultimately you end up feeling so sorry that she lived and played tennis through so much bigotry.

She is also somewhat forgotten. The reaction to the Althea articles has been subdued which is likely down to lack of awareness amongst forum posters. I work at a club with 700 members and no one has heard of Althea...and that includes the coaches. Plenty had heard of Mo Connolly, though. You kind of feel Althea was swept under the carpet and kept there. Let's all thank John for bringing her back to life.

I see people. From Althea Gibson's perspective, I believe that she too...saw people. The above section that I reproduced above sums up her feelings on "The Race Thing". Reading this I felt that in some way that she was a kindred spirit of mine. For the record...I have experienced many of the things that she did. Not in the extreme perhaps, but in the mind of young boy perhaps things can be magnified. Or maybe it wasn't. I don't see her story as one of tragedy at all. I see it as testimony of the human spirit...in epic proportions.

I see people. From my earliest memories, I can recall things that might be construed as "racial". But thinking back and with the benefit of hindsight...I believe that most of if not all of those memories could be explained in the context of culture. Human nature. Human nature being what it is and always has been is...birds of a feather flock together. People are historically most comfortable with people of similar interests, values and even in appearance. This to me is not particularly evil...it is just the way it is. But as with all aspects of things and the nature of things these days...we go down the road of social engineering. Along with social engineering we have to embrace a rather new and powerful phenomena that is Artificial Intelligence.

Some years ago I made up a word. You see...I saw this moment in history coming. What goes around...comes around. When you see things repeat themselves over the years it sort of begins to make some sort of sense. But in the end...it is as Solomon says repeatedly...it is all vanity. The word I made up is VIRTUAL MORALITY and by this I mean:

"The real impact on Humans by Artificial Intelligence. I made up a word...virtual morality. You've heard of virtual reality. Virtual morality occurs when "God is Dead" and the computer becomes the deity. It's happening. This is what all of this modern thinking is about...virtual morality. Rewriting human values and existence with the cold, clinical morality of a hard drive."

One might conclude that at a certain point that "things" were evolving. For instance as Althea put it...The Race Thing. But now it appears to me that it is being engineered to algorithms and such. Attitudes to things like SEX and RACE are no longer evolving...they are being manipulated by algorithms. They are being engineered. Much the same as the game of tennis ceased to evolve and succumbed to engineering.

I am the last of a dying breed. I am a humanist. I read books. Currently I am reading the Bible. More specifically the five books of wisdom in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I am reading it in a loop. I'm on the second loop. I reject Artificial Intelligence outright as an evil entity. It will surely lead to one thing. The outright destruction of mankind. I read this morning that Bill Gates says that we have entered into the age of AI. Game over.

I knew black people before it was mandatory to submit testimony with school and job applications about yourself and what you have done to promote diversity. I have met black people in their own homes. I have met black people in their own communities. I have met black people in athletic arenas. I have met black people in work situations. I have observed black culture over the course of my lifetime. My feelings about black people in general are private. But I will say this. Some people used to say that Arthur Ashe was a credit to his race. I said that he was a credit to the human race. I would say the same thing about Althea Gibson. Particularly after reading what she had to say about...The RACE THING. Althea was most definitely a credit to the human race and it is her attitude about race that definitively sets her apart from the herd.

A couple of other cultural aspects of the series jumped out at me. One of them were her descriptions of black culture. More than the aspect of white opposition she sites many examples of how she succeeded in spite of her own perceived black culture. Her relationship with her father is particularly problematic for me. His tendency to beat her rather than treat her with loving kindness was the saddest part of the series. But Althea even gives her father a pass. She was an extraordiary woman and a monumental credit to her race...the human race. I see people.

Another aspect of this article that absolutely jumped off the page or screen to me was her coach. I've known guys like this fellow. Black fellows that I have met in the course of my life. He too is a credit to his race. The human race. I see people.

Actually I love this aspect of race in the Althea Gibson story. It validates what Arthur Ashe quoted regarding success. It validates about what I feel about people...black people, white people or otherwise. You don't get a free pass because of your race. You have to earn it. I believe that it is one of the most basic aspects of human nature that "birds of a feather flock together". You have to come to this realisation to deal with The Race Thing realistically. Realistically...I believe that there are character traits in Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson that the human race should take note of. If there is any desire to understand The Race Thing. But realistically I must say this...some problems are too big to have viable solutions. Not too many humans can get to the evolutionary level of these two. I don't hold out much hope. Maybe the AI trip will solve this one. It appears to be the destiny of mankind to submit to algorithms. I personally think that it is a disaster waiting to happen.

I haven't seen Althea Gibson play tennis. A couple of shots here and there. But all in all I would have to say that her game must have been sublime. As was her story. Her spirit. It is telling that the title of this series of articles is "I always wanted to be somebody". This is one of the most misleading things about modern day existence. This desire to be famous in order to feel that you are somebody. Everyone is somebody in the eyes of God. How do I know this? Because the Bible tells me so.

[don_budge]

''Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.''

ARTHUR ASHE



The Race Thing...in the words of Althea Gibson

I am not a racially conscious person. I don't want to be. I see myself as just an individual. I can't help or change my color anyway, so why should I make a big deal out of it? I don't like to exploit it or make it the big thing.

I'm a tennis player, not a black tennis player. I have never set myself up as a champion of my race. Someone once wrote that the difference between me and Jackie Robinson was that he thrived on his role as a black battling for equality whereas I shied away from it.

That man read me correctly. I shied away from it because it would be dishonest of me to pretend to a feeling I don't possess. There doesn't seem to be much question that Jackie always saw his baseball success as a step forward for black people, and he aggressively fought to make his ability pay off in social advances as well as fat paychecks.

I'm not insensitive to the great value to our people of what Jackie did. If he hadn't paved the way, I probably never would have got my chance. But I had to do it my way. I tried not to flaunt my success as a black success.

It's all right for others to make a fuss over my role as a trail blazer, and, of course, I realize its importance to others as well as to myself, but I can't do it. It's important, I think, to point out in this connection that there are those among my people who don't agree with my reasoning.

A lot of those who disagree with me are members of the black press, and they beat my brains out regularly. I have always enjoyed a good press among the regular American newspapers and magazines, but I am uncomfortably close to being Public Enemy No. 1 to some sections of the black press.

I have, they have said, an unbecoming attitude. They say I'm bigheaded, uppity, ungrateful, and a few other uncomplimentary things. I don't think any white writer ever has said anything like that about me, but quite a few black writers have, and I think the down-deep reason for it is that they resent my refusal to tum my tennis achievements into a rousing crusade for racial equality, brass band, seventy-six trombones, and all. I won't do it.

I feel strongly that I can do more good my way than I could by militant crusading. I want my success to speak for itself as an advertisement for my race. For one thing, I modestly hope that the way I have conducted myself in tennis has met with sufficient approval and good will to assure that the way will not close behind me. Althea admired everything Jackie Robinson did, but activism was not her choice. I feel sure that that will be the case: this isn't, I'm convinced, a one-shot proposition. Any other black man or woman with the ability to compete on the national tournament level will get a fair chance.

Eventually, I hope, our players will be able to earn their places in the draw the same way the white players do, by competing in all the recognized tournaments that lead up to the national championships. Meanwhile, it is heart-warming to me to see as many as half a dozen black men playing at Forest Hills, as was the case in 1957.

Their presence there, I feel, was the best answer I could possibly make to the people who criticized me for failing to do as much as they think I might do to help my people move forward. Trying to be objective about it, I suppose some reporters might feel that I'm a cold sort of person.

Even my friend Angela Buxton once wrote in a magazine article that when she first met me she thought me "cold, unapproachable, assertive and domineering." And Sydney Llewellyn, the person closest to me of anybody outside my family, once told a reporter, "The only trouble with Althea is that she doesn't mind hurting people."

With this kind of testimony staring me in the face, I have to concede that I don't always charm everybody I meet. The reason, I think, without being psycho-analytical about it, goes back to my childhood.

I grew up a loner, suspicious, withdrawn, slow to like people, wary about trusting any part of myself to anyone else. It isn't easy to change your personality.

I still keep to myself and I know I hold back until I'm as sure as I can be that it's safe to let down the barrier. I'm not a cold person, underneath. But I'm afraid sometimes I appear to be.

It just goes to show you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. First impressions aren't always true ones.

[johnyandell]

Stotty,
Agreed on all points. I too was surprised at the lack of reaction on the Forum. Her book is wonderful. I think we did her justice and thanks for posting.

[stotty]

In one sense Althea's story is a tragedy of epic proportions. In another sense she was a great player who overcame so many obstacles and barriers. Ultimately you end up feeling so sorry that she lived and played tennis through so much bigotry.

She is also somewhat forgotten. The reaction to the Althea articles has been subdued which is likely down to lack of awareness amongst forum posters. I work at a club with 700 members and no one has heard of Althea...and that includes the coaches. Plenty had heard of Mo Connolly, though. You kind of feel Althea was swept under the carpet and kept there. Let's all thank John for bringing her back to life.

[johnyandell]

Kyle, Agreed!
Chux, Double Agreed!

[chux10sed]

I'm very disappointed to read that Wimbledon would not let Althea Gibson become a member of the club, even after becoming a two-time Champion.

[klacr]

Althea Gibson is a Sporting Legend! An icon and underappreciated by the general sports world. I'm glad this site shred so much of her story in a way that Althea would have wanted. All Class.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

http://www.setsconsult.org

[johnyandell]

Would love to get your thoughts on my article, "Althea Gibson: A Post Script"