The people of Richmond, Virginia got a surprise at the start of the week as the Arthur Ashe Monument was vandalized. The phrases “White Lives Matter” and “Black Lives Matter” were spray-painted on the statue, which led to locals cleaning up and finding answers. It’s not known who vandalizes the monument, but one man was caught on camera spray-painting “White Lives Matter” over “Black Lives Matter.”
“Don’t all lives matter?” the man said to the person asking him about the graffiti. He went to say “Why is it okay to spray-paint on this statue ‘Black Lives Matter’ and not ‘White Lives Matter’ what’s the difference? I’m not a racist.” The monument is located on Monument Avenue, which also features statues of five members from the Confederacy. Ashe, who died in 1996, was a Richmond native who changed the tennis game by being the first black man to win singles titles at Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.
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He was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1968 and finished his career with over 1,000 victories. Ashe retired from tennis in 1980 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985. Here’s a look at fans reacting to the Arthur Ashe Monument being vandalized.
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This man spray painted white lives matter on the Arthur Ashe statue, bystanders got a glimpse of his license plate, South Carolina tags SOC 223 . pic.twitter.com/4zTutlCCea
โ Jasper the Neutrally Feeling Ghost (@iheartdookey) June 17, 2020
A tale of this morning and the Arthur Ashe statue, which has remained untouched until last night/this morning. Someone decided to be an idiot and spray racist messaging on it. pic.twitter.com/yhjjghnYUH
โ #socialjusticenerd (@BreRVA) June 17, 2020
Confederate monuments were spraypainted because they venerate pro-slavery racist traitors. Arthur Asheโs monument was spraypainted because Arthur Ashe is black. https://t.co/FEaE15oAWX
โ Mike Guardabascio (@Guardabascio) June 17, 2020
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Update on the โWhite Lives Matterโ graffiti on the Arthur Ashe statue: neighbors and other have been working tirelessly all morning to get it off the statue. Mission is basically accomplished at this point. @myVPM pic.twitter.com/Jh8JGp2gUe
โ Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) June 17, 2020
This guy who said his name is โeveryoneโ and a graduate of Benedictine High School just spray painted the Arthur Ashe monument with โwhite lives matter.โ #richmondprotests pic.twitter.com/SBMyIvg6qs
โ Chris Suarez (@Suarez_CM) June 17, 2020
A monument to the black tennis legend Arthur Ashe in Richmond, Virginia, was vandalized with spray paint that read โWLMโ and โWhite Lives Matterโ https://t.co/GuqNCym1VU
โ The New York Times (@nytimes) June 18, 2020
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*warning a story….so today started off basic enough, and meeting Fatima for coffee and a walk along Monument Ave… normal walk until we hit Arthur Ashe and a guy was tagging white lives matter on the statue.. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/dRqL8L3Yon
โ Betsy Milburn (@Reallyjustreal) June 17, 2020
Last night someone spray painted โwhite lives matterโ and โwlmโ on the Arthur Ashe statue on Monument. Activists subsequently spray-painted over them with โBlack Lives Matterโ and โBLMโ and folks are scrubbing off the earlier slogans now. pic.twitter.com/41sMUH9p2J
โ Sarah Vogelsong (@SarahVogelsong) June 17, 2020
Weโre protesting the legacy of slavery as embodied by statues of Confederate generals, and youโre protesting… a Black guy winning three Grand Slam singles tournaments? https://t.co/NXf538O7YS
โ Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) June 18, 2020
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#RVA #SouthCarolina #BLM How do we find this guy? He vandalized the Arthur Ashe statue and I know some people whoโd like to speak with him. pic.twitter.com/krCpu55wkq
โ Rell (@Hail_Rell) June 17, 2020
Richmond: Huge shoutout to the person that acted quickly and took this picture of a racist tagging racist graffiti on Arthur Asheโs statue base. https://t.co/VOrk4ey3dl
โ Richmond Police (@BeQueerDoCrime) June 17, 2020
So a friend of mine sent me this from Richmond, VA. This individual is purposely trying to sabotage the BLM protest and is refusing to leave the premises. This is going on rn at the Arthur Ashe statute. Please spread the word! pic.twitter.com/ewAiybjkq5
โ Ray Quinzel ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ (@jedimasterrey1) June 17, 2020
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The awesome cleanup crew had already gotten to the #ArthurAshe statue before I could even photograph the racist graffiti.
โ Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) June 17, 2020
Someone came by with cleaning material while I was photographing and he joked that someone already beat him to it. #richmondprotest pic.twitter.com/LcBoUIAm88
I want to say I’m surprised… #ArthurAshe pic.twitter.com/rSIo2GnZus
โ CoachJames (@__RJames2) June 17, 2020
Going after a statue of Arthur Ashe in response to statues of racists and slave owners being removed. In a year of especially bad ideas, that’s up there.
โ Brian Coulter (@PhilaBCoulter) June 17, 2020
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The only white person Arthur Ashe owned was Jimmy Conners at Wimbledon in 1975.
โ Jแดsแดษด Kแดษดษดแดส ๐ท (@jasonkenney) June 17, 2020
This is just absurd, folks. Stop being dumb. pic.twitter.com/OhtdX7zI4j
The lone spray paint of โwhite lives matterโ didnโt last long on the Arthur Ashe Monument.
โ Tyler Thrasher (@TylerJThrasher) June 17, 2020
โBLMโ is now covering the statue where โWLMโ was before. @8NEWS pic.twitter.com/l5p4GoTyDJ
Yep, you are seeing this correctly. Someone decided that “white lives matter” and in retaliation tagged Arthur Ashe. Word on the street is someone drove all the way from South Carolina to do this๐ค. The wrath that is coming from the ancestors…you won’t be able to hide. pic.twitter.com/X4z4c4PYV7
โ Amber J (@HoneZtyEyeZ) June 17, 2020
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Yep, you are seeing this correctly. Someone decided that “white lives matter” and in retaliation tagged Arthur Ashe. Word on the street is someone drove all the way from South Carolina to do this๐ค. The wrath that is coming from the ancestors…you won’t be able to hide. pic.twitter.com/X4z4c4PYV7
โ Amber J (@HoneZtyEyeZ) June 17, 2020
UPDATE on Arthur Ashe situation @8NEWS pic.twitter.com/Ry9KFlra9J
โ Alex Thorson (@Alex8news) June 17, 2020
Someone with out-of-state plates was seen tagging the Arthur Ashe monument with “White Lives Matter” and “WLM” – Crixell got photos & a reaction from a bystander. pic.twitter.com/cWqVJsm7vC
โ VPM (@myVPM) June 17, 2020
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