{"id":87132,"date":"2025-06-07T23:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T23:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/87132\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T23:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T23:14:11","slug":"pride-community-at-sox-game-amid-immigration-crackdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/87132\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride, community at Sox game amid immigration crackdowns"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are few things more American than baseball. But on a recent Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field, it was something more layered, more defiant and deeply moving.<\/p>\n

Amid the crack of bats and the roar of the crowd, this sliver of the South Side of Chicago felt like it belonged \u2014 completely \u2014 to its people. To the vendors shouting in Spanish, the kids in their Sox jerseys, the abuelos swaying to mariachi in the stands. The smell of carne asada and the sound of Banda music coming from the parking lot.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/p>\n

After performing the national anthem, Angelina Victoria throws out the ceremonial first pitch for a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"Ruben<\/p>\n

Ruben Aerzet puts on a bandana before a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People mingle in a parking lot before a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of Ballet Folkl\u00f3rico de Chicago get into their performance attire before a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Royals fan looks for his friends as members of Ballet Folkl\u00f3rico de Chicago perform above the dugout before a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

After performing the national anthem, Angelina Victoria throws out the ceremonial first pitch for a White Sox-Royals game on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field on June 6, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

They were all there to watch baseball and to celebrate their culture despite the newfound fear sparked by immigration crackdowns in the city of Chicago and its surroundings.<\/p>\n

In that space, at a Sox game against the Kansas City Royals, for a few sacred hours, joy roared louder than fear.<\/p>\n

To be sure, few places feel completely safe for Mexicans nowadays. Many now have strong roots in Chicago, their families are a mix of U.S. citizens and loved ones who are lacking permanent legal status.<\/p>\n

That means that most times, everyone is on high alert. For many Chicagoans, deportations are starting to hit home. Just last Wednesday, an estimated 20 people were rounded up during surprise check-ins at the federal agency\u2019s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program offices in Chicago. Similar arrests were reported that day in New York, San Jose and Birmingham.<\/p>\n

More reports of raids at suburban factories spread through the end of the week.<\/p>\n

So for many, it is a strange, almost surreal thing to celebrate their roots in a public arena these days.<\/p>\n

In a country where anti-immigrant rhetoric has again tightened its grip, where deportation raids are haunting families like shadows on back porches, where policies continue to dehumanize under the guise of \u201claw and order,\u201d showing pride can feel like an act of rebellion.<\/p>\n

While the White Sox as an organization steers clear of making overt political statements, its commitment is to create an inclusive, welcoming environment, said Sheena Quinn, vice president of public relations for the White Sox.<\/p>\n

Quinn said that nights like these are not about politics, but about community \u2014 about making sure every fan feels seen, valued and celebrated.<\/p>\n

\u201cEl equipo del pueblo,\u201d as my Mexican grandfather said. The team of the people.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason these nights matter. They aren\u2019t just cultural marketing or feel-good footnotes. They are necessary sanctuaries \u2014 moments of unapologetic presence.<\/p>\n

In a time when neighbors who lack permanent legal status are being disappeared from their jobs or at immigration hearings, when headlines reduce human beings to statistics or threats, to be seen and celebrated in the open air of a stadium is no small thing.<\/p>\n

And the beauty of baseball is that it offers something like solidarity, even if unspoken.<\/p>\n

You can sit next to someone you might never talk to on the street \u2014 an old-school South Sider, a first-gen college kid, a Polish grandma, a Mexican father with his daughters \u2014 and for nine innings, you\u2019re all just fans. The field becomes neutral ground. The flags waving \u2014 U.S. and Mexican \u2014 remind us that identity isn\u2019t binary. It\u2019s layered, sometimes conflicted, always rich.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s healing in that. And hope.<\/p>\n

Because joy, in the face of trauma, is a kind of resistance. Celebrating your culture in the open, without apology or permission, is its own form of protest. And when a community gathers \u2014 not in mourning or defense, but in celebration \u2014 it says something powerful: We\u2019re still here. We belong.<\/p>\n

So yes, the night ended like any other ballgame. Final score posted. Sox won 2-7 and had a majestic fireworks show while \u201cVolver, Volver,\u201d by Vicente Fern\u00e1ndez played in the background.<\/p>\n

Fans trailed out to their cars. But what lingered wasn\u2019t just a win or a loss. It was a sense of collective breath \u2014 a reminder that joy isn\u2019t frivolous. It\u2019s fuel. It\u2019s armor.<\/p>\n

And in the face of everything this country continues to throw at immigrant communities, that joy under stadium lights may be the most radical thing of all.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are few things more American than baseball. But on a recent Mexican Heritage Night at Rate Field,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[5,138,49,2561,21146,4,396,2562],"class_list":{"0":"post-87132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chicago","10":"tag-chicago-white-sox","11":"tag-chicagowhitesox","12":"tag-immigration","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-white-sox","15":"tag-whitesox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114644626019229721","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}