“Keep politics out of sports!” is one of my favorite comments to come across in internet comment sections.
It appeared under the Dodgers' post when they went to the White House to visit President Trump as World Series Champions. And also under their Father’s Day post, when the ICE Raids ordered by President Trump motivated fans all over Los Angeles to urge the Dodgers to say something, anything, to show support for our vast immigrant communities being targeted.
Both times, the plea was from fans who say politics has no place in Dodger baseball. I couldn't help myself; this time, I wanted to feed the trolls. I replied with “Ever heard of Jackie Robinson?”
Sports are political, as they reflect the values of a society at any given time.
American society was explicitly racist during the Jim Crow era; as such, sports reflected the parameters of a society that disallowed black athletes from joining the major leagues. This is connected to Salvadoran Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium. Stay with me.
In the 1950s, when the L.A. City Council voted against a social housing project and instead sold the land to then Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, which was political. Three largely Mexican-American neighborhoods were bulldozed and displaced. That was political. Decades later, the Dodgers signed Mexican phenom Fernando Valenzuela to win favor with Mexican fans in L.A. That was also political.