Editorial:
Next Tuesday (July 12) the All-Star Baseball game will be played in Phoenix, Arizona, which, in 2010, became a focal point after Arizona voters passed the anti-immigrant bill SB1070. There was a call for a boycott of Arizona in general, which has had a significant impact on the economy, and a call for Major League Baseball to move the game out of Arizona by many Hispanics and Latino groups.
One of the first Latino ballplayers to speak out was Adrian Gonzalez who was still a San Diego Padre in April of last year, later to sign with the Boston Red Soxs. Gonzalez stated that SB1070 was immoral and a violation of human rights. He went on to say that he would not attend the game if held in Arizona. Gonzalez was not the only ballplayer to speak out, but because of his star status was the most recognized and most quoted on the topic of SB1070.
Gonzalez made Mexican-Americans, especially in San Diego, proud to call him one of their own. Gonzalez is a person who has always risen to the occasion both as a ballplayer and as a socially conscious individual.
That was last year. The most offensive parts of SB1070 have been struck down by the courts including the so-called “papers, please” provision – while it considers the measure’s constitutionality, which will be decided by the Supreme Court at a much later date. This in part has relieved the players from having to take the ultimate stand of boycotting the game. Adrian Gonzalez recently stated that he will follow the lead of the Major League Baseball Association which has no plans to boycott the game.
While superstars such as Adrian Gonzalez, or for that matter movie stars or singers, make for eloquent spokespersons who use their celebrity to raise the awareness on such issue as immigration – Lady Gaga did so at a concert in Arizona, as did Carlos Santana this year at the Atlanta Braves’ fifth annual Civil Rights Game – we as a community cannot expect them to carry the issue for us.
Who has failed to live up their social responsibility in all of this has been Major League Baseball and the ballplayers union which has been silent on this issue despite the fact that a full 30 percent of the baseball players are Latino. This flies in the face that this is the league that broke the color barrier where Jackie Robinson, the first black player joined the Dodgers organization. This was a unique opportunity for Baseball to take a stand and show civic responsibility.
Moving the game out of Arizona would not have been the first time that Arizona has been boycotted by a sports organization. In 1993 the National Football League moved the Super Bowl out of Arizona to the Rose Bowl when the State refused to honor the Martin Luther King Holiday. Seems Arizonians has its issues with minorities.
Arizona voters added up the million dollar losses by not hosting the Super Bowl and soon there after voted to honor the King Holiday in time for the 1996 Super Bowl held in Tucson.
Arizona-based human rights groups Puente and Somos America are continuing the boycott and will have a press conference outside of the ballpark to once again raise the issues and the oppression they face in Arizona and are asking the fans to boycott the game and for the players to make a gesture in support of the boycott by wearing white ribbons.
The groups say that some of the players have shown interest in supporting the boycott but as of yet these players have not been identified.
We hope that Adrian Gonzalez finds his voice once again on this issue and supports the boycott by wearing a white ribbon. As editors we won’t know if he does wear a ribbon or not, at least not until after the game is over. We don’t plan on watching the game and we are asking our readers to continue the boycott of Arizona and enjoy Tuesday evening with their families. There are families in Arizona who are not together because of laws such as SB1070 and they will be home alone.