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> > In a message dated 5/9/2010 1:41:04 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, > mich...@ecst.csuchico.edu writes: > > I'm not sure if I were a progressive faculty member in Arizona > that I would be doing anyone a favor by resigning. > No, a boycott of Arizona higher ed would not entail resigning. Like progressive white South African academics during the 1970s-1994 period, you would say, "We're working very hard with the people most affected to end this apartheid system, and we recognise that the disgust registered by the people affected and the world at large is so great that we accept that we will be the subject of boycotts/sanctions. These we welcome, for if done properly, they will be a contributing factor in overthrowing the racist laws." I gather that the Arizona governor also has banned teaching subversive ideas in university classrooms. The parallels to the John Vorster and PW Botha regimes are excellent. And it's fantastic to see athletes taking the lead on this boycott (see below). Back in the day, the great poet Dennis Brutus (1924-09) got the Olympics Boycott going against apartheid, and by 1968 had forced white South Africans out of the Mexico games. That inspired many of us to take it into economics, and by 1985, international banks were intimidated against rolling over South African loans, a process that spelled doom for apartheid. Cheers, Patrick *** http://www.democracynow.org/2010/5/6/from_basketball_to_baseball_professional_athletes JUAN GONZALEZ: Opposition to Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law has extended into the world of sports. Over the past week, numerous professional athletes have publicly criticized the law and even threatened to boycott games in Arizona. Last night, the Phoenix Suns basketball team wore “Los Suns” jerseys to protest the new law. The union representing Major League Baseball, meanwhile- the Major League Baseball Players Association, has called for Arizona to repeal or modify the law. Baseball is a big industry in Arizona because fifteen major league teams conduct Spring Training in the state. Earlier this week, Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash was interviewed on ESPN about the new law. Nash is a two-time NBA MVP. He was born in South Africa and raised in Canada. TONY KORNHEISER: There is political news surrounding the Phoenix Suns. The owner, Robert Sarver, says that on Cinco de Mayo tomorrow night when you play, you will be wearing the shirts that say “Los Suns” on them and the owner says it’s in part to make a statement against the new Arizona immigration laws. You are yourself are from another country, you’re from Canada. What do you think of this law? STEVE NASH: I am against it. I think that this is a bill that really damages our civil liberties. I think that it opens up the potential for racial profiling and racism. I think that it’s a bad precedent to set for our young people. I think it represents our state poorly in the eyes of the nation and the world. I think we have a lot of great attributes here and I think it’s something that we can do without and I think it hopefully will change a lot in the coming weeks. TONY KORNHEISER: Many athletes try to steer clear of politics, you seem to be embracing it at this point. Do you speak for the whole team, do you think, or just yourself? STEVE NASH: I can never speak for the whole team, but our owner asked us if any of us had a problem wearing the jerseys and nobody did, so, you know, I think we’re pretty like-minded on this issue. This league is multi-cultural. We have players from all over the world- myself, obviously being a foreigner and many of my teammates, players on the other teams. Our communities are very multi-cultural. So I think, you know, we have to obviously find a different way to combat the issues that we face in our society and I think that this is the wrong way to go about it. AMY GOODMAN: NBA all-star Steve Nash being interviewed on ESPN. To talk more about the reaction in the world of sports to the Arizona law, we’re joined by Dave Zirin. He’s the author of a number of books about politics and sports, his latest is “A People’s History of Sports in the United States.” He’s a regular contributor to The Nation magazine, writes a weekly column called Edge of Sports. Welcome, Dave. So, talk about Dave Nash. Talk about the game last night, Los Suns- Steve Nash. And talk about the other athletes who are taking a stand here. DAVE ZIRIN: Amy, anybody who believes that sports cannot be an effective platform for social justice need only to have watched the game last night and they would’ve been forever changed. The broadcast alone last night, it started with one of the NBA reporters outside the arena covering a civil rights march that was taking place outside the arena. And then the in-studio hosts, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Chris Weber, all former players, took turns taking shots a Governor Jan Brewer and the law. And Chris Weber, former player, even cited “By the Time I Get to Arizona” and John McCain and his former support for boycotting the holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King. So it’s politicized this entire arena. And what the Suns did yesterday, is entirely without precedent. JUAN GONZALEZ: Dave, for one second. On the commentators- DAVE ZIRIN: Yes, please. JUAN GONZALEZ: I happened to listen to that pregame discussion and I was especially struck by Charles Barkley, the legendary former star, who actually played in Phoenix. DAVE ZIRIN: Yes. JUAN GONZALEZ: He was a big figure in Arizona for many years, condemning it as racial profiling. I was struck by how strong these athletes and former athletes, especially in basketball- we’re not even talking here about the Latino ball players in baseball, but we’re talking about the major African-American and white stars in basketball- DAVE ZIRIN: Right. JUAN GONZALEZ: Have stepped up to the plate on this issue. DAVE ZIRIN: Well, some of your listeners and people viewing the show right now might be remembering that Charles Barkley once called himself a Republican. But a couple of years ago he said, ‘Well, I used to be a Republican, until the Republicans lost their damn minds.’ And I think yesterday he reflected that by speaking about how utterly toxic this law is, both for the state fo Arizona and for the country. And look what that does for the discussion. I mean, on sports radio yesterday, they were debating the immigrant law. Steve Nash’s quotes that you played have been played all over the country. And I think what’s happened is because the organization as a whole came out against it, the owner Robert Sarver, the general manager Steve Kerr, numerous players saying publicly that they were against it, it’s provided a degree of cover for everybody. I want to make clear that I don’t think the Suns would have done this if it wasn’t for the protests that have been taking place wherever the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Major League Baseball team, have played. There have been protests in half a dozen cities since this law was passed, wherever the Diamondbacks play and I don’t think the Phoenix Suns wanted to be a pariah team like the D’backs. JUAN GONZALEZ: And what about- what’s happening in baseball with the Major League Players Association making a strong statement last week and some of the individual coaches and ballplayers? DAVE ZIRIN: We’ve discussed this on DEMOCRACY NOW! before. Major League Baseball is incredibly reliant on Latin American talent. 27.7% of players come from Latin America, and therefore, numerous players have spoken out just about your own lives and their own families and that they are actually fearful to go to Arizona. Big-time players like San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez or White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who was born in Venezuela, have both said that they will be boycotting the 2011 All-Star Game if it happens in Phoenix, Arizona. It really is remarkable. AMY GOODMAN: Dave, when you go back to Arizona’s history, one of the last states to recognize Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, what ultimately, among other things, pressured them to cave was that the Super Bowl was moved, right, to Pasadena out of Arizona. DAVE ZIRIN: Right. AMY GOODMAN: You’ve been calling for a boycott of the Diamondbacks, of the All-Star Game in Arizona. How big is that movement? DAVE ZIRIN: Oh, I think it’s very real. I mean, there have already been protests outside the stadiums in Denver, Colorado, in Chicago in front of Wrigley Field. There’s a protest that’s going to actually be quite huge, I believe, in Florida when the Diamondbacks go play the Florida Marlins. Already protests have been called for Citi Field in New York when the Diamondbacks play the Mets. If there’s one uniting theme to all of these protests, it’s the simple message that says Arizona should not host the mid-summer classic, the All-Star game if SB-1070 is still on the books. And the idea that that idea has a backing among players and managers, prominent managers like Ozzie Guillen, gives it real weight. And I think major league baseball can be pushed to do this. Let’s remember, you just mentioned the National Football League pulling the Super Bowl out of Arizona, no one’s going to confuse the NFL with the IWW. They’re hardly a radical organization. And yet they were pushed to take that remarkable step because of public pressure. JUAN GONZALEZ: Dave, someone mentioned to me a couple of days ago a whole other angle on this issue of the pressure on professional sports, and especially baseball, that is not been addressed yet which is that Budweiser beer is one of the main, if not the main, sponsors of advertisers on baseball and basketball and various other professional sports. And the single largest Budweiser distributor in America, is the distributorship owned by Cindy McCain, John McCain’s wife. And obviously, many many- Budweiser beer also happens to be the main alcoholic beverage that Latinos drink across the country. So enormous pressure could be brought to bear on Budweiser to put pressure on Major League Baseball to move that game out as well. DAVE ZIRIN: And people may not know that John and Cindy McCain were also minority owners of the Arizona Diamondbacks when Jerry Colangelo was the chief owner there. And Jerry Colangelo was the 2004 chairman of the Bush/Cheney campaign. So there are a lot of angles here by which to go about putting pressure on. And the current owner of the Diamondbacks, everybody should know this guy’s name because he likes to live in the shadows, his name is Ken Kendrick, Jr. He is one of the big bank-rollers of the Arizona State Republican Party, and for that reason, above all else, the Arizona Diamondbacks should be a target for protests around the country. AMY GOODMAN: Just some figures on the Arizona Diamondbacks, at least the executives of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2010, the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s third-highest contributor, the executives of the Arizona Diamondbacks who gave $121,600; furthermore, they also contributed $129,500 which ranked as the 18th-highest contribution to the Republican Party Committee. The team’s boss, Ken Kendrick and his family members, E.G. Kendrick, Sr. and Randy Kendrick made contributions to the Republicans totaling a staggering more than $1 million. DAVE ZIRIN: That is correct. And it’s interesting because since the protests have started, Ken Kendrick released a statement through the team’s PR Director saying, ‘On a personal level, I oppose SB-1070,’ and a lot of us are looking at that and saying, ‘You know what? This is far too little, too late. He’s got to put his money where his mouth is.’ 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.’ AMY GOODMAN: So, have you seen a comparable reaction in the world of sports to what you’re seeing right here as a response to the Arizona and anti-immigration law? DAVE ZIRIN: Honestly, I really do believe you have to go back to the days when, with every fight Mohammad Ali was fighting in a referendum on the Vietnam War and on the black freedom struggle in this country. And where you lined-up politically effected how stood in those fights when Muhammad Ali would face people like George Foreman or Joe Frazier, these epic fights. And when Ali would win, people who were against the Vietnam War felt emboldened and when he lost, people who were actually for the War and against those draft-dodging hippies, felt a little better about themselves that morning. I think we’re dealing with something similar now. When Los Suns took the court last night, I was watching it with a bunch of friends and all we were thinking was, we really want the Suns to win. Not because we’re huge Steve Nash fans, but because we knew that if the Suns lost, all the commentary today would be, ‘Well, they lost because they were distracted by those politics, and that’s why politics and sports don’t mix.’ But the fact that they won, the fact that they played a gutsy game where they pulled together as a team, maybe people will draw a different conclusions and say, ‘Hey, the team that stands together politically is the team that can also win on the court. JUAN GONZALEZ: And Dave, what do you think the impact is on sports fans who are watching and hearing these players speak out this way, especially those who might not necessarily be sympathetic to the issue of opposing racial profiling? DAVE ZIRIN: Oh, I think it’s huge, because I’m sure, like you Juan, and I’m sure like many people out there, I have a lot of friends who skip right by C-Span and go right to ESPN, who go right by Pacifica radio and straight to sports radio. Who leave alone the front page and go to the Sports page. And so when these issues get raised in a sports arena, it actually reaches a broader audience. I keep thinking of a quote by the late Stokely Carmichael who was speaking about Muhammad Ali and he said, ‘Muhammad Ali is far more dangerous than I could ever be because the he actually commands an audience that I could never command. Not that his politics are better, but that he has the kind of soapbox that I could never hope to attain.’ I think we’re dealing with something similar right now where this is now getting debated. I heard one of the lead radio broadcasters this morning on ESPN radio say, ‘I wasn’t even thinking about this law and its ramifications, but I am thinking about it now because of the actions of the Phoenix Suns. AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dave Zirin, we want to thank you for being with us, sports columnist, author of a number of books. His latest “A People’s History of Sports in the United States.” His column is called “The Edge of Sports.” *** 'Los Suns' set against Arizona's immigration law The Phoenix Suns basketball team takes a public stand against Arizona's law that promotes racial profiling of immigrants o Dave Zirin o guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 May 2010 21.30 BST A battle has been joined for the very soul of Arizona. On one side, there are the Minutemen, the craven state Republican lawmakers, Governor Jan Brewer, and the utterly unprincipled John McCain, all supporting SB 1070, a law that codifies racial profiling of immigrants in the state. On the other are the Sun Belt residents who protested on 1 May, the students who have engaged in walkouts, and the politicians and civic leaders calling for an economic boycott of their own state. This battle has also been joined in the world of sport. On one side is Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks. Owned by state Republican moneyman Ken Kendrick, the team has drawn protestors to parks around the US. On the other side, we now have the NBA's Phoenix Suns. On Tuesday the news came forth that tomorrow on Cinco de Mayo, the team would be wearing jerseys that say simply Los Suns. Team owner Robert Sarver said, after talking to the team, that this will be an act of sartorial solidarity against the bill. Their opponent, the San Antonio Spurs, have made clear that they support the gesture. In a statement released by the team, Sarver said: "The frustration with the federal government's failure to deal with the issue of illegal immigration resulted in passage of a flawed state law. However intended, the result of passing this law is that our basic principles of equal rights and protection under the law are being called into question, and Arizona's already struggling economy will suffer even further setbacks at a time when the state can ill-afford them." He followed up the statement by saying to reporters: "I looked around our plane and looked at our players and the diversity in our organization. I thought we need to go on record that we honor our diversity in our team, in the NBA and we need to show support for that. As for the political part of that, that's my statement. There are times you need to stand up and be heard. I respect people's views on the other side but I just felt it was appropriate for me to stand up and make a statement." After Sarver spoke out, the team chimed in against the passage and signing of SB 1070. Two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash, who in 2003 became the first athlete to go on record against the Iraq war, said: "I think the law is very misguided. I think it is unfortunately to the detriment to our society and our civil liberties and I think it is very important for us to stand up for things we believe in. I think the law obviously can target opportunities for racial profiling. Things we don't want to see and don't need to see in 2010." All-Star power forward Amare Stoudamire, who has no political reputation, also chimed in saying: "It's going to be great to wear Los Suns to let the Latin community know we're behind them 100%." After the story broke, I spoke on the phone with NBA Players Association president Billy Hunter about the Suns audacious move. "It's phenomenal," he said. "This makes it clear to me that it's a new era. It's a new time. Athletes can tend to be apolitical and isolated from the issues that impact the general public. But now here come the Suns. I would have expected nothing less from Steve Nash who has been out front on a number of issues over the years. I also want to recognize Amare. I know how strident Amare can be and I'm really impressed to see him channel his intensity. It shows a tremendous growth and maturity on his part. And I have to applaud Bob Sarver because he is really taking a risk by putting himself out there. I commend them. I just think it's super." He said that the union would have their own statement out by the end of the week. This kind of political intervention by a sports team is without precedent and now every athlete and every team has an opening to stand up and be heard. Because when it's all said and done, this isn't just a battle for the soul of Arizona. It's a battle for the soul of the United States. Here come the Suns indeed. ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
