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Statue of tennis star Arthur Ashe to stay put in Richmond

After someone painted “White Lives Matter” on Ashe’s statue, city officials considered a request from Ashe’s family to temporarily remove the statue to protect it.
Credit: Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP
Paint covers the base of the Arthur Ashe Monument on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 in Richmond, Va. The statue of the African American tennis legend has been vandalized with the words “White Lives Matter.” Richmond Police said they were alerted to the vandalism early Wednesday. Police say red paint on the statue itself was already being cleaned off by community members.

RICHMOND, Va. — On Richmond’s Monument Avenue, a monument to Black tennis legend and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe interrupted the collection of towering statues honoring Confederate veterans. 

The Ashe statue seemed safe from defacement during recent protests over racism and police brutality, when protesters have covered Confederate statues with graffiti and pulled down a statue of Jefferson Davis. 

But after someone painted “White Lives Matter” on Ashe’s statue, city officials considered a request from Ashe’s family to temporarily remove the statue to protect it. 

Ashe's nephew said Friday that the request was a “contingency plan”  and the statue isn’t going anywhere.

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