The stage on the infield grass for the pregames ceremonies at baseball's Civil Rights Game included actor Morgan Freeman and Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, but also the Grammy-award winning artist Carlos Santana, a fan of the Oakland Athletics.
Santana caused a stir in Turner Field on an appropriate day to be talking about social issues.
Santana was on stage to receive Major League Baseball's Beacon of Change award. He took the microphone and said Arizona and the city of Atlanta should be "ashamed" for passing immigration bills, that have been criticized widely as racially motivated.
Santana was booed by some fans in Turner Field.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed Georgia House Bill 87 on Friday. It will allow law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of some suspects and requires employers to check the immigration status of new hires.
Santana spoke with the media in the press box during the Phillies-Braves game and said there should be a boycott in Georgia by Latin workers.
"I would invite all Latin people to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy," Santana said. "Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits?
"I am here to give voice to the invisible."
Commissioner Bud Selig was sitting on the field next to his close friend, former Milwaukee and Atlanta slugger Hank Aaron. Selig left in the middle of the Braves games with the Phillies and was not available for comment.
It was the fifth civil rights game and included television personality Al Roker as the master of ceremonies and former Dodger great, pitcher Don Newcombe and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
"Most people at this point they are either afraid to really say what needs to be said, this is the United States the land of the free," Santana said. "If people want the immigration law to keep passing in every state then everybody should get out and just leave the American Indians here. This is about civil rights."
Santana caused a stir in Turner Field on an appropriate day to be talking about social issues.
Santana was on stage to receive Major League Baseball's Beacon of Change award. He took the microphone and said Arizona and the city of Atlanta should be "ashamed" for passing immigration bills, that have been criticized widely as racially motivated.
Santana was booed by some fans in Turner Field.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed Georgia House Bill 87 on Friday. It will allow law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of some suspects and requires employers to check the immigration status of new hires.
Santana spoke with the media in the press box during the Phillies-Braves game and said there should be a boycott in Georgia by Latin workers.
"I would invite all Latin people to do nothing for about two weeks so you can see who really, really is running the economy," Santana said. "Who cleans the sheets? Who cleans the toilets? Who babysits?
"I am here to give voice to the invisible."
It was the fifth civil rights game and included television personality Al Roker as the master of ceremonies and former Dodger great, pitcher Don Newcombe and the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
"Most people at this point they are either afraid to really say what needs to be said, this is the United States the land of the free," Santana said. "If people want the immigration law to keep passing in every state then everybody should get out and just leave the American Indians here. This is about civil rights."
