I just wanted to take a blog post to acknowledge and tip my hat to the efforts from the NBA, TNT, Charles Barkley and Los Suns. For those of you who don’t follow the NBA or missed the news yesterday, in last night’s playoff game between San Antonio and Phoenix, the Phoenix Suns wore their “Los Suns” jersey to show their disapproval of the immigration law that recently passed in Arizona. As a Spurs fan, I put my pride aside and give major kudos to the Phoenix Suns for taking a stand.
I digress – concurrently, during the game; a protest march was held outside of the athletic arena – which TNT reported on live. Also during the TNT commentary, Charles Barkley spoke very passionately about the law and has been quoted by media saying the law is “disrespectful and disgusting.” Today, Whoopi Goldberg wore a “Los Suns” jersey on “The View.”
I believe the NBA has been the driving force in encouraging these players to take a stand and for recognizing the importance of the Latino community. Earlier this year, it launched its Latino social media platform “ené-bé-a” and the Spurs and other teams have been wearing official Spanish versions of their jerseys: “Los [team name]” which they wear on NBA Latino nights.
It’s good to see a broad organization and a general market, English-language network make room in their programming for such an important issue and come together for a cause that affects a regional minority community. It speaks volumes on the integration – and recognition of – the Hispanic community not just in Arizona, but also as a permanent driving force in the states.
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What a great way for such influential teams to show their support for this issue and the Hispanic community. Thanks for sharing, Ivette!
[...] Take an Open Shot at Immigration During a recently televised playoff game against San Antonio, the Phoenix Suns wore “Los Suns” jerseys to protest the controversial immigration law passed in Arizona. The team from Hispania Plaza says this is just one example of how the NBA acts [...]
Awesome – great way to have a voice in a debate without saying anything! Pretty impressive and now if only Baseball would have the same ‘cojones’ that Basketball seems to have!