Suns managing partner Robert Sarver has announced his opposition to Arizona's new "papers please" legislation, adding a unique touch by saying that players will don their "Los Suns" jerseys for the second game in the NBA Western Conference semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday, which is Cinco de Mayo.
The Suns topped the Spurs in game one Monday night, 111-102.
Sarver issued the following statement in regards to Arizona's SB 1070, and the controversy surrounding it:
"Our players and organization felt that wearing our `Los Suns' jerseys on Cinco de Mayo was a way for our team and our organization to honor our Latino community and the diversity of our league, the State of Arizona, and our nation. We are proud that 400 players from 36 countries compete in the NBA, and the league and the Suns have always considered that to be a great strength of the NBA.
"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."
A recently released New York Times/CBS News survey shows that 51 percent of those polled believe Arizona's immigration legislation is "just right," as opposed to 36 percent who think it goes "too far."
Rasmussen Reports, the pollsters that love to tell you what white America is thinking, also released a poll stating that 50 percent of those responding had an unfavorable impression of the people protesting SB 1070 during Saturday's May Day marches.
What Rasmussen rarely tells you is that most of the "likely voters" the company surveys are whites.
Though Rasmussen's flak didn't get back to me on how many whites were in the poll of 1,000, she did send me a spreadsheet showing that 56 percent of whites had an unfavorable opinion of the demonstrators.
Twenty-three percent of blacks regarded the marchers negatively, and 37 percent of an unspecified "other" didn't like the demos.
So most white people don't like to see brown people in the street demonstrating.
Which is something else you already knew. Thanks Rasmussen!