The Night that Does Too Little

When I was a freshman at Elon University, a smaller school in North Carolina, homecoming was a bigger deal then it was at my graduation. The theme for homecoming that year was “Phoenix Pheasta” and it was wonderful with tacos galore, trivia night hosted by two white women with sombreros and ponchos, and of course a lip-synch where I lovingly dressed up as Enrique Iglesias, mole and all. But, like on most liberal arts campuses, there was a backlash to the perceived culturally insensitive activities

of that particular homecoming week. It took me to well into my senior to realize just how valid the dislike for the goings on was. I tend to believe that the world has become too politically correct and too touchy-feely but there is an event going on in the NBA that is deeply troubling to me: Noche Latina, the NBA’s version of Latino Heritage Night. It sounds like a great idea and I think that it’s the right thing since more and more Latinos are finding their way into the NBA but there is a problem with Noche Latina, it doesn’t do enough.

When looking at the line-up of games it makes perfect sense; the focus is on the teams in the southwest and Florida but is that the only place where Hispanic/Latino/a people live? Negative. It’s an over simplification of the concept of being Latino in America or a Hispanic American. And that’s rubbing me the wrong way because it appears that the NBA is taking a really simplified view of the demographics of this great land. Last week I sat in a Philadelphia courtroom and watched 94 immigrants get their citizenship to this country granted to them. I estimate about a quarter of them were Latino or from Central or South America but the 76ers aren’t getting the same treatment the Heat or the Thunder are getting.

My biggest problem with Noche Latino Night is simple; the concept of “honoring Latino heritage” in the NBA seems to be as simple as know a small group of Spanish words like: Noche, Latino/a, el/los and nueva (for Nuava York) and that’s it. If you’re going to rename the teams to honor Latino contributions to the sport of basketball is it too much to ask for Los Torros instead of Los Bull or El Fuego instead of El Heat? When looking at how the NBA is choosing to “honor” Latino heritage it seems to only come off as lip service. It seems to be saying; “We’ll honor you… but only by tacking on the word “the” in Spanish to our jerseys and tack about 20 bucks onto the sticker price for them…”

Is this another example of David Stern having a great idea but doing too little, entirely possible. But I think that the NBA would be best suited for reevaluating how far they’re willing to go to truly put forth an honor that isn’t just lip service but is a true and sensitive nod to the increased popularity and increased presence of Latino men and women in the stands and the men on the court.