For last night’s basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Phoenix Suns donned their “Los Suns” jerseys usually worn for their Noche Latina program. But to everyone watching, the jerseys positioned the Suns as jointly condemning Arizona’s recent anti-immigration law. Point guard Steve Nash’s interview on ESPN has now reverberated throughout the sports world. “I think that this is a bill that really damages our civil liberties,” he said. “I think that it opens up the potential for racial profiling and racism.”
Dave Zirin, The Nation’s sports correspondent, appears on Democracy Now! discussing how Arizona’s teams have taken a political stance to the law and how fans have responded in support. Yet one team—the Arizona Diamondbacks—have been publicly protested at numerous of their baseball games. The D-backs’ owner, Ken Kendricks Jr., and his family gave more than $1 million to the Republicans Party Committee in 2010. John McCain and his wife Cindy McCain were also minority owners of the Diamondbacks. “He’s got to put his money where his mouth is.’ ” says Zirin. “We’re saying we want to see Ken Kendrick actually in front of cameras saying, ‘You know what? The spigot has been turned off and the state Republican Party will not get one more dime from my bottomless pockets until SB-1070 has finally been overturned.’ ”
—Clarissa León
