Readers Were Moved by Arthur Ashe, and by Downey’s Tribute
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The death of Arthur Ashe was, indeed, sad and tragic. It always is when someone dies so far before their time. But the tributes and laurels being cast upon Mr. Ashe are not, in my opinion, fully deserved. Mr. Ashe was not a hero by any stretch of the imagination.
In his article on Ashe’s death, Steve Springer cites Ashe’s “struggles for human rights and against AIDS.”
As far as I know, Arthur Ashe spoke out for African - American rights. I didn’t see him on the front lines for any other issue. And to say that he was “against AIDS” is missing the target. Who is for AIDS? And it should be remembered that he did not have anything to say on the subject until he contracted HIV. And only then after he was forced, kicking and screaming, out of the AIDS closet.
BILLIE COURTRIGHT
Huntington Beach
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