Why is the sports world standing against SB 1070?

In the last 48 hours there has been an enormous and unprecedented wave of backlash against Arizona SB 1070 from the sports community. Just when we thought that sports was as far removed from political life as it has ever been, as the stars of old criticized modern billionaires and kids searched in vain to find real sports heroes, everything changed in a second.

The outcry started with individual players from Latino-heavy Major League Baseball, rose steadily as the unions and teams in other sports spoke out, and reached a crescendo of unanimous disgust that has swept through the entire sports world. People as unlikely as once wannabe Republican gubernatorial candidate Sir Charles and Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver have taken strong stands. Barkley said Tuesday on TNT that "as a black man, I'm against any form of racial discrimination." Earlier in the day, Phoenix Suns two-time MVP Steve Nash called the bill, "detrimental to our society and our civil liberties." San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez has vowed not to participate in the 2011 All-Star game in Phoenix if this law is on the books.

With all the political issues of the past decade that have affected athletes, the unanswered question is "why now"? What is it about this specific issue that has prompted the sports community to take the most uniform political stance in recent memory?

One answer lies in demographics. While there has been xenophobic backlash by the far right wing against the huge growth of the Hispanic/Latino community throughout the country in recent years, mostly in the Southwest, the truth remains that Hispanic/Latino culture is nothing new in the United States. In the Southwest, it is impossible to separate Mexican influences from American culture. They are one and the same, and have been for as long as whites have lived in the region from San Antonio to Los Angeles. Sports have always reflected the cultures of the areas in which they are played. Arizona teams have huge Hispanic fan bases, baseball teams are full of Latino players, and teams have always embraced this cultural heritage. If the bottom line in sports is money, and it most definitely is, teams and players can't afford to alienate a huge chunk of their fan base.

Another answer lies in presidential leadership. President Obama holds incredible sway in the sports community, especially in basketball. While previous presidents have been the owners' president (like G.W.B.), Obama is the players' president. Bush owned a team, Barack hoops. When he immediately expressed concern over the passage of SB 1070, it gave players the backup they needed to share their own views. The combination of fan base demographics and a feeling of support from Washington has pushed the sports world into this political discussion.

There is a third ingredient that has been added to the mix in the past three weeks that I think has influenced both athletes and fans to look at the more political aspects of sports. For their 30th anniversary, ESPN is running a groundbreaking documentary series entitled "30 for 30." These documentaries, made by some of the best filmmakers in the biz, look at angles to sports that haven't been explored before. Three weeks ago, a film on the racism-fueled trial of high school phenom Allen Iverson premiered. Two weeks ago, 30 for 30 introduced America to the spiritual side of Ricky Williams. And on Tuesday, ESPN premiered a look at Nelson Mandela and the South African rugby team immediately after apartheid ended. The fact that the "worldwide leader" has broached the once taboo subject of sports and politics in recent weeks no doubt helped the sports world latch onto this current struggle.

The fact that famous athletes have been so apolitical in the 21st century has actually helped the fight against SB 1070. Before athletes began to speak out, the opposition to the bill was being valiantly fought by the activist community, with little mainstream public support. The apolitical nature of American sports "normalized" dissent against SB 1070. Mainstream America is seeing sports figures speaking out against it and realizing that this is an issue that affects everyone, not just one community. This is changing the nature of the opposition.

So is this an isolated incident of the sports world speaking out against oppression, or the beginning of a more political era in sports? I believe that the stands taken by the sports community against SB 1070 and the state of Arizona will do a lot of good in the effort to repeal the law, but I don't think that it will lead to a new era of sports and politics. This was the perfect storm of extreme racist legislation that carried with it the potential to hit the sports world in the heart and the pocketbook. But who knows, maybe this is the beginning of something new, a spark that would return the sports world to the days of Ali, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Roberto Clemente and Dave Meggyesy. If so, it would be a silver lining to this tragedy of a bill.