Althea Gibson, the first black tennis player to win a Grand Slam title, was honored Monday with a statue unveiled on the grounds of the US Open.
Gibson, who died in 2003 at age 76, won five Grand Slam singles titles and six Grand Slam doubles crowns, her historic breakthrough coming at the 1956 French Championships.
At a time when racism was widespread, Gibson persevered on and off the court, winning the 1957 and 1958 Wimbledon and US Open singles titles.
"I think it's really important for people to know about Althea Gibson, not only who she is but what she represented to all of us," King said Monday.
"What people have to understand is how she persevered and what she means not just to our sport, to all society, to everyone."
England's Angela Buxton, 85, was Gibson's women's doubles partner in 1956 French and Wimbledon title runs and gave a sobering assessment of the artwork.
"You want an honest opinion? Well, it doesn't resemble her at all," Buxton said. "Sorry to say that. I would have passed her any day and not know who it was.
"But the main thing is not the statue. It's what I learned from her and what I enjoyed with her. That's the main thing."
Gibson's courage also helped inspire Billie Jean King, a 12-time Grand Slam singles champion who is now 75, to become a historic champion for women's rights.
"She totally inspired me," King said. "I knew if Althea had gone through what she had gone through and changed the world, that I had a chance to follow in her footsteps and help change the next generations.
"Althea is a very strong reminder that it's important to the living people right now that we carry on her legacy and the legacy of equality."
The tribute comes as incidents involving white supremacists are growing in the United States.
"Every generation has to continue the process and the fight to keep freedom available, to get rid of sexism and racism," King said. "Right now I think we have a lot of racism."
King also called the tribute overdue and said women still have great strides to make in society to achieve equality with men.
"A lot of us have waited for a long time for today to happen," King said. "It takes effort to get things organized. It takes a huge effort.
"Being a woman? We're still second-class citizens, and she's African American, so just go down the totem pole some more.
"As women, we do not get the same respect. We do not. We still do not. We're always second. I can go through every day of my life and people don't notice it, but it's just there. And if you're a person of color, I can't imagine what you go through each day.
"I know just a woman it's frustrating. It's exhausting. We can talk about what didn't happen, but what has happened is what's important and we finally have gotten over the finish line."
