Tennis Anyone?
A couple of weekends ago my wife and our two youngest children wanted to play tennis (actually, my youngest son had no interest in going whatsover). To do so we needed to go to Schenley Oval because the Hill District tennis courts are in the Oak Hill Development and those courts are locked up on Sundays. One could read this to say that there is not a demand for tennis in the Hill, and, at this moment, you'd probably be right. However, with some supportive training programs this could change very quickly. Why couldn't the next Venus or Serena come from the Hill? Well, right now because we only have two tennis courts.
Yes, tennis is usally associated with middle and upper middle class white people, so there is a surely a race and class dimension to why tennis is not currently popular in the Hill. But what of it? One of the strengths of African American neighborhoods prior to integration was said to be the multi-class dimensions of their mono-racial make up. With that in mind, how could the Hill self-consciously intensify its efforts to become a multi- class, predominantly African American neighborhood? How might the neighborhood intentionally develop a culture that helps its youth bridge to white middle class culture through amenities like tennis courts and bond to one another through African Centered schools with a focus on the creative aesthetics of Black individuals and groups? To go Utopian for a second, might such a culture be one that could attract white families who wanted to bring their children up in an anti-racist environment? How about the Hill District as a place that created the kind of culture for young people that it became known for producing all kinds of justice loving, anti-racist young folk? One can tell a lot about a community by what it offers its children since these activities have larger implications in what it reveals about how a community imagines the future of its children. What do the youth offerings in this community say about the Hill District? Tennis anyone?
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