‘Don’t play ball with Arizona’

Photo: Sofia Lipko

Dozens of opponents of Arizona’s apartheid law criminalizing immigrants gathered in front of Turner Field in Atlanta on May 15 to hold a “Don’t Play Ball with the State of Hate” pep rally, complete with a band, cheerleaders, street theater, large banners and signs. A central demand of the protest is to remove the 2011 All-Star baseball game from Phoenix. Organizations involved in creating the loud and colorful demonstration included the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the International Action Center, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the U.S. Human Rights Network and other student and community groups. Across the country, the Arizona Diamondback games have been a venue for expressions of outrage over the passage of SB 1070, which legalizes racial profiling and subjects communities of color to police harassment.