from "Los Suns' jerseys set for Cinco de Mayo", Associated PressSo, it seems that the Suns' basketball team was told to wear "Los Suns" jerseys to show support for Latinos, since Latinos may interpret Arizona's new immigration law as something motivated by American hatred towards Latinos a whole, leading Latinos to feel disparaged and unwanted.
The Phoenix Suns will wear "Los Suns" on their jerseys in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals [for the National Basketball Association (NBA)] on Wednesday night, owner Robert Sarver said, "to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the state of Arizona, and our nation."
The decision to wear the jerseys on the Cinco de Mayo holiday stems from a law passed by the Arizona Legislature and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer that has drawn widespread criticism from Latino organizations and civil rights groups that say it could lead to racial profiling of Hispanics. President Barack Obama has called the law "misguided." (more)
But wait: as I write, millions of ordinary Americans are being crushed under hard economic times and war veterans are dying on the street, completely abandoned by the country they have served. Who is there to tell these Americans that they matter? Why are we told to put select individuals in our thoughts and minds simply because they speak Spanish and might take something personally and feel bad in result?
I highly suspect that I know why this is really being done. To figure it out, one only has to look at the latest product line in American sports, marketing jerseys in Spanish:
This is one of those moments where encouraging a global take just happensto intersect with new consumer market possibilities, and encouraging Hispanics to embrace a collective identity based on language and ethnicity just happens to intersect with marketing strategy. In fact, if we do a little research, we will also find that the owner of the Phoenix Suns specifically likes the idea of expanding the NBA market.
But dig a little deeper and you will find that, while paying lip service to diversity and global unity, Sarver's actual community outreach and financing has focused specifically on the Jewish community. In fact, Sarver is quite fond of Israel; how can someone be such a diversity fanatic and support a country that generally wants the Palestinians fenced off and away (Gaza), and insists that Israel remain a Jewish state?
Next, let us take a look at the anatomy of the "Los Suns" news story. We see quotes from two notable people who were both against the Arizona law (one being Jesse Jackson), and two online responses from readers who were in favor of supporting the "Los Suns" as a protest of the new Arizona law. Yet seventy-five percent of the readers who had responded in the comment section spoke favorably of the new Arizona law. This is the news story that appeared, incidentally, on ESPN sports network. ESPN is a subsidiary of the Disney Corporation - the entertainment giant that, over the last two decades, has made films mocking Arabs in the Middle East and feeding America a steady diet of pro-diversity, pro-tolerance messages. For that, we had former Disney owner Michael Eisner to thank. Disney is now in the hands of Robert Iger. Like Sarver, both are Jews, and both seem to like the idea of keeping to their own kind in the Middle East and promoting "diversity" in the United States. Why does this theme constantly repeat itself?
