By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-10-02 14:26:16
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
在比赛开始时，圣安东尼奥马刺队吉祥物“小野狼”跑上球场，庆祝“骄傲之夜”。摄于2021年12月11日星期六，AT&T中心，马刺队主场迎战掘金队。
社区领袖们对马刺队继续举办旨在庆祝多元、公平和包容（DEI）的主题之夜表示赞扬，即便在特朗普政府试图废除联邦政府及私营部门的DEI项目的大背景下，马刺队依然坚持如故。
“有太多组织和私营公司因为那些将美好事物污名化的言论，而向反DEI的潮流屈服了。他们仅仅通过告诉人们某样东西是丑陋的，然后看着那些盲目的追随者被蛊惑，就达到了目的，”民权领袖、教授、作家、校董及市议员马里奥·马塞尔·萨拉斯 (Mario Marcel Salas) 说道，他是一位土生土长的东区人。
马刺队最近公布了本赛季的推广活动日程，其中包括多个主题之夜，并表示这些活动彰显了他们“致力于培养包容性与归属感”的承诺。
这些主题之夜包括菲律宾之夜（10月26日）、西班牙裔传统赛（11月16日）、骄傲之夜（1月3日）、黑人传统之夜（2月7日）以及芭比主题比赛日（3月8日）。
在上赛季的黑人传统之夜，马刺队致敬了包括萨拉斯在内的多位黑人领袖。萨拉斯最近撰写了一本名为《阿拉莫：谎言、奴役与白人至上主义的摇篮》的书。
“面对当下存在的反对声音，我认为一家公司能这样做是非常了不起的，”现年76岁的萨拉斯在谈到马刺队在其他公司纷纷放弃DEI项目时依然拥抱该理念时表示。“很高兴看到有企业站出来说，‘我们不会同流合污’。”
一位马刺体育娱乐公司（SS&E）的高管表示，球队对西班牙裔、LGBTQ+、黑人社群以及女性的庆祝活动，反映了其球迷基础的愿望。
“我们很自豪能够创造出庆祝我们社区多元化和力量的体验，”SS&E首席影响力与包容官帕特里夏·梅希亚 (Patricia Mejia) 在一封电子邮件中说道。
“我们所有的主题之夜和文化传统之夜，都旨在提供有意义的机会，以致敬、提升并连接那些让圣安东尼奥充满活力的社群，”梅希亚补充道。“每个赛季，我们都会听取社区的反馈，了解在庆祝他们的传统时，什么最能引起他们的共鸣，希望我们能为家庭和朋友们提供一个珍贵的年度传统和重要的展示时刻。”
球队首次安排了芭比主题比赛日，以庆祝女性赋权。
“代表性至关重要，我们希望每一位球迷在来到我们的比赛现场时，都能看到自己被体现和庆祝，”梅希亚说。“这就是为什么我们很高兴在本赛季推出芭比之夜，作为对女性赋权的庆祝，希望通过孩子们喜爱的事物，让她们看到自己未来无限的可能性。”
“对我们来说，我们的活动既要反映我们城市的文化，也要体现我们作为一个组织所持有的价值观，这一点至关重要。”
唐纳德·特朗普 (Donald Trump) 总统在其政府任内已发布多项行政命令，寻求在整个联邦政府、大学和学校中叫停DEI倡议。
除了试图从联邦政府根除DEI项目外，特朗普还将矛头指向了私营部门的DEI项目。包括美国银行、塔吉特、约翰迪尔、谷歌、亚马逊和Meta在内的几家知名公司已经遵从，或取消或缩减了他们的DEI项目和承诺。
但是，当企业的DEI项目受到攻击并促使一些公司放弃它们时，马刺队继续通过其推广活动日程公开拥抱DEI理念。该日程还包括致敬退伍军人（11月8日）、空军（1月15日）、陆军（1月25日）、海军（3月5日）、现役军人（3月14日）、海军陆战队（3月19日）和军事医疗人员（3月30日）的夜晚。
代表德克萨斯州第20国会选区的美国众议员华金·卡斯特罗 (Joaquin Castro) 赞扬了马刺队为代表其所有球迷所做的努力。他的选区包括他的家乡圣安东尼奥的大部分地区。
“无论在场上还是场下，马刺队都反映了圣安东尼奥的精神——谦逊、勤奋，并深深植根于对这里的人民、文化和传统的尊重，”他说道。
特朗普曾表示，DEI法律和项目威胁到白人，尤其是白人男性的精英制度招聘、晋升和教育机会。他还签署了行政命令，试图根除“性别意识形态”，禁止跨性别者服兵役，并限制对未成年人的跨性别医疗服务。
得州平权组织 (Equality Texas) 是一家为德州LGBTQ+群体争取平等的全州性非营利组织，其一位官员表示，她为马刺队通过主题之夜支持多元、公平和包容而感到“无比自豪”。
“我们现在需要的是更多能够勇敢对抗政府的公司，”得州平权组织的外联主管索菲亚·塞普尔韦达 (Sofia Sepulveda) 说。“全国各地的企业都应该看看圣安东尼奥马刺队在提升女性、拉丁裔、黑人社群、酷儿社群等边缘化群体方面所做的一切，并意识到他们其实也能做到。现在，企业挺身而出，反对一个试图剥夺我们多年来所拥有的自由和权利的政府，比以往任何时候都更加重要。”
“看到马刺队这样做，真的让我倍感温暖。企业拥有足够的财力来影响民选官员，让他们与我们的社区站在一起，实现我们希望看到的变革。”
点击查看原文：Spurs continue theme nights 'fostering inclusivity and belonging'
Spurs continue theme nights ‘fostering inclusivity and belonging’
At the beginning of the game San Antonio Spurs mascot ‘Coyote” runs onto the court celebrating Pride Night. BKN Spurs-Nuggets Takeaways at A&T Center on Saturday, Dec. 11,2021.
Community leaders are praising the Spurs for continuing to hold theme nights celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion even as the Trump Administration seeks to scuttle DEI programs across the federal government and the private sector.
“There are enough organizations and private companies that caved in to this anti-DEI stuff because of the rhetoric of turning something good into something ugly just by telling people it’s ugly, and then watching all the blind followers drink the Kool-Aid,” said Mario Marcel Salas, a native of the East Side who became a civil rights leader, professor, author, school board trustee and city councilman.
The Spurs recently announced a promotional schedule for this season that includes several theme nights they say underscore their commitment to "fostering inclusivity and belonging.”
Those nights include Filipino Night (Oct. 26), Hispanic Heritage Game on Nov. 16, Pride Night on Jan. 3, Black Heritage Night on Feb. 7 and a Barbie Game Day on March 8.
During last season’s Black Heritage Night, the Spurs honored several Black leaders including Salas, who recently wrote a book titled “The Alamo: A Cradle of Lies, Slavery and White Supremacy."
“In the face of the opposition that is out there at the moment, I would say that is a great thing for a company to do,” Salas, 76, said of the Spurs’ embracing DEI while others firms abandon it. "It’s good to see corporations say, ‘We are not going to go along with that.’ "
A Spurs Sports & Entertainment executive said the franchise’s celebration of the Hispanic, LGBTQ+ and Black communities and women reflect the desires of its fans base.
“We’re proud to create experiences that celebrate the diversity and strength of our community," Patricia Mejia, SS&E’s chief impact & inclusion officer said in an email.
“All our theme and cultural heritage nights are designed as meaningful opportunities to honor, elevate and connect with the communities who make San Antonio so vibrant,” Mejia added. “Each season we listen to our community’s feedback to understand what resonates with them the most when celebrating their heritage, in hopes that we can provide a cherished annual tradition and important moment of visibility amongst families and friends.”
The team has scheduled a Barbie Game Day for the first time to celebrate women’s empowerment.
“Representation matters, and we want every fan to see themselves reflected and celebrated when they come to our games,” Mejia said. "That’s why we’re excited to introduce Barbie Night this season as a celebration of women’s empowerment in hopes that we allow little ones to see the power of what they can be by something they are drawn in by.
"It’s important to us that our events reflect both the culture of our city and the values we hold as an organization.”
President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in his second administration seeking to halt DEI initiatives throughout the federal government and at universities and schools.
In addition to attempting to root out DEI programs from the federal government, Trump has taken aim at DEI programs in the private sector. Several prominent companies, including Bank of America, Target, John Deere, Google, Amazon and Meta, have complied by either eliminating or rolling back their DEI programs and pledges.
But as corporate DEI programs have come under attack and prompted some companies to scrap them, the Spurs continue to embrace DEI in a public manner with their promotional schedule, which also include nights to honor veterans (Nov. 8), the Air Force (Jan. 15), the Army (Jan. 25), the Navy (March 5), the active duty military (March 14), the Marine Corps (March 19) and military medicine (March 30).
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who represents Texas’ 20th Congressional District, which includes a large portion of his hometown of San Antonio, praised the Spurs for their efforts to represent all their fans.
“On and off the court, the Spurs reflect the spirit of San Antonio – humble, hardworking and rooted in respect for its people, culture and heritage,” he said.
Trump has said DEI laws and programs threaten merit-based hiring, promotion and educational opportunities of white people, especially white men. He has also signed executive orders seeking to eradicate “gender ideology,” bar transgender people from military service, and restrict transgender care for minors.
An official with Equality Texas, a statewide nonprofit that fights for equality for LGBTQ+ Texans, said she is “super proud” of the Spurs for supporting diversity, equity and inclusion with their theme nights.
“What we need now are more companies that will stand up to the government,” said Sofia Sepulveda, field director for Equality Texas. "Businesses across the country should be looking at what the San Antonio Spurs are doing to uplift marginalized communities like women, Latinos, the Black community, the queer community and see that they can actually do that too. It is super important now more than ever that corporations stand up against a government trying to take away our liberties and freedoms that we have had for many years.
“Seeing the Spurs do this really warms my heart. Corporations have the money to sway elected officials to stand up with our communities to make the changes we want to see made.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News