Take Me Out to the Protest
I spent part of Memorial Day at Dodger Stadium with my family. The Dodgers hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time this season. There were several hundred people outside the Sunset Gate protesting Arizona’s tough new law against illegal immigrants. Overhead, a plane towed a banner with the Arizona state flag and the words “Immigration Reform Now.” (I’m not certain which side that sign represented. Does the banner suggest reforming the new reforms? Or is it supporting the new law? It’s ambiguous.)
Inside the Stadium during the game, a group of about a dozen protesters unfurled a banner that said “Don’t Play With Hate,” atop the interlocking LA Dodger logo. Dodger Stadium has a strict policy against any kind of banner, and the protestors and their sign were ushered out by security.
The Diamondbacks are an obvious target for protestors. Major League Baseball has strong ties with the state. Half the teams hold spring training there, many in lavish new complexes funded with public money. And Phoenix has been awarded the 2011 All Star Game. The protesters want baseball to move the All Star Game and for teams to move spring training somewhere else. I doubt the latter will happen, but there is a precedent for moving the All Star Game. In 1994, the NFL moved the Super Bowl from Arizona to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena when the state did not initially recognize Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a holiday.
There are critics who say a baseball game should not be a place for protests. I say, no matter what side of any issue you’re on, a baseball game is a great place to hold a lawful and peaceful protest. Freedom of expression is what makes America special, and what could be more American than baseball? The critics say children attending a baseball game shouldn’t be exposed to controversy. Really? They’re exposed to a lot worse on the Internet. Good parents will turn this into a “teachable moment” for their kids.
June 2nd, 2010 at 7:22 am
I’m definitely with you on the baseball game being a good place and time to protest. In that Dodger stadium sits atop Chavez Ravine, this particular issue seems a bit ironic.
But just like the issues surrounding the bulldozing of Chavez Ravine, the issues I have with the the Arizona law are more about its effects on citizens and legal residents. In particular, those who, like you and I, may be of Mexican or central American descent and may be the subjects of detention and harassment notwithstanding the fact that they have legal status here.
June 2nd, 2010 at 8:09 am
I thought you were an Angel fan
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