Author’s note: This is not really front office related, but I believe it is relevant and it was on my mind. There could be sweeping front office implications, though, if states other than Arizona pass laws as repugnant as this one.
Ozzie Guillen said last week that Major League Baseball treats its Latino players worse than it does its Asian players. Guillen cites many credible facts – he may have a good point. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that while Guillen is right, and right in bringing this issue to our attention, one major example of his point was left out of his discussion: Bud Selig’s brushing the Arizona All Star Game issue under the rug.
Arizona has passed a law that is, at best, abhorrent, and at worst, unconstitutional among other things. It institutionalizes racial profiling. It denies those of Latino descent many of their constitutional rights, among those their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rights. Cops can literally question a person, detain them, and ask for their papers if the police officer suspects the person of being an illegal immigrant. This begs the question: how, exactly, does a police officer reach this conclusion? Will they be suspecting Caucasian persons they encounter as equally as they suspect Latino persons? Of course not. This law demands racial profiling, which means citizens of Latino descent are treated as less than equal.
Bud Selig has ignored the issue completely. When asked for a response, he cited the report that the number of minority players in baseball is growing. Mr. Selig, that is not the issue. And you should be ashamed of yourself for not taking a strong stance. 27.7% of the players are Latino. They would be instantly criminalized as they crossed the Arizona border for the All Star game.
Bud Selig’s tacit refusal to face this issue head on is embarrassing. A letter sent from several groups in Arizona should not be involved in a political issue. What sport have they been watching since the late 1800’s? Be it on the bad side or the good, baseball has been involved in the politics of race since its beginning.
As Cap Anson was organizing parts of baseball to kick African Americans out of baseball in 1887, the immigrant Caucasoid ethnic backgrounds were being integrated. Baseball became a game of Irish, Italian, and Polish players. (It is worth noting at this point that Cap Anson is in the Hall of Fame.) The story of Jackie Robinson is well known. He risked his life to break down barriers years before the country would mention the names Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Rosa Parks. Jackie Robinson’s number is universally retired in baseball. There is a Jackie Robinson game. There is a Roberto Clemente award. Baseball . . . is not without its role in politics, either local or national. Baseball simply cannot stand to bring thousands of jobs and all the revenue that comes with an All Star Game to a state that promotes legalized racism.
Ignoring this issue is Cap Anson, not Jackie Robinson. All the work the commissioner has done to integrate baseball and grow the number of minority players is for naught if he does not stand up for those players’ rights. They need to be able to work when they come into the United States. Letting Arizona open this door is bad enough—what if more states pass these laws? Do Latino players skip portions of road trips? The commissioner should stand by what he has claimed to do. Increasing the number of Latino players means absolutely nothing if you treat them as cheap immigrant labor that can be easily disposed of. The commissioner must play Jackie Robinson, not Cap Anson, and fight for the rights of the minority players he has fought so hard to bring into baseball.
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