Richmond, Va., street finally could be named for native son Arthur Ashe

Arthur Ashe Jr.

A movement to rename Boulevard, a Richmond, Va., thoroughfare, for the groundbreaking black tennis player is cresting as the state finds itself in turmoil over a blackface scandal involving the governor and attorney general. “It would be a huge cultural step forward. This is where we can start with reconciliation and we can start talking about the issues,” said Ashe’s nephew, David Harris Jr., the man behind the campaign. A bronze sculpture of Ashe sits among Richmond’s many Confederate statues. But a proposal to rename a historic street for Ashe has been defeated twice since his death in 1993.