Sympatico

Last night, the Phoenix Suns did what professional sports teams rarely do.  They made a political statement.  By wearing their Los Suns jerseys, the organization openly criticized Arizona’s new immigration law that allows/encourages police to harass brown skinned people on account of being “reasonably suspicious.”  As Sun’s managing partner Robert Sarver put it, “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 while most of white America seems fine with the law on principle, many others, including the Hispanic community, those of who are less than pale and also maybe bearded, and the Phoenix Suns feel that the law is simply poorly written, even if it is well intentioned (which is arguable).  The argument that we should simply trust police after giving them the power to basically pull over anyone on their own discretion is foolish at best.  Cops are still people.  One doesn’t become Clark Kent shooting out of a phone booth once the badge is put on.  In fact, like any other group of people, sometimes police are just jerks.

Hope you brought your birth certificate, George.

And while I won’t argue that the display of solidarity was made entirely on moral grounds (what’s the percentage of Suns fans that come from the Hispanic community?), I will say that I was glad to see the organization make a statement.  It’s rare when you see any kind of sports related news lean to the liberal, inclusive side of things.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Suns winning an high quality and hard fought game in their Los Suns jerseys.