Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier when he first suited up for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
The Department of Defense’s removal of Jackie Robinson’s military profile to comply with President Donald Trump’s crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) created an uproar among many Americans, regardless of color.
The criticism apparently has worked because the baseball pioneer’s profile has reappeared.
On March 20, The Associated Press reported, “A Department of Defense webpage describing baseball and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson’s military service was restored Wednesday after it was missing earlier in the day.
“The development came after pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members were taken down—the Pentagon said that was a mistake—amid the department’s campaign to strip out content singling out contributions by women and minority groups, which the Trump administration considers ‘DEI.’”
The profile for the man who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 highlighted the pioneer’s Army service during World War II.
Robinson entered Major League Baseball after his stint in the military and his time playing baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues.
Former Dodgers general manager Branch Brickey hand-selected Robinson over other Negro League stars like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson because of Robinson’s resume.
Robinson lettered in four college sports at UCLA.
He was college-educated.
The Hall of Fame baseball player grew up in an integrated region of the country.
And he had a steady girlfriend.
Rickey encouraged the Major League prospect to marry his girlfriend who became Mrs. Rachel Robinson.
Robinson became an icon for the civil rights movement, even off the field.
He is honored every year by Major League Baseball where all players were Robinson’s retired number 42 jersey for one game.
Despite Robinson’s contributions to advancing American society, when Internet users went to his Defense Department page Wednesday, they received the message that the webpage “might have been moved, renamed or may be temporarily unavailable.”
Additionally, the URL for Robinson’s page also included the letters “dei” on Wednesday.
David Robinson, the son of the baseball legend and board member of the Jackie Robinson Foundation said, “We were surprised to learn that a page on the Department of Defense’s website featuring Jackie Robinson among sports heroes who served in the military was taken down. We take great pride in Jackie Robinson’s service to our country as a soldier and a sports hero, an icon whose courage, talent, strength of character and dedication contributed greatly to leveling the playing field not only in professional sports but throughout society.
“He worked tirelessly on behalf of equal opportunities, in education, business, civic engagement, and within the justice system. A recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, he of course is an American hero.”
After Robinson’s page was put back up, the Pentagon released a statement.
Press Secretary John Ullyot said, “We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed—either deliberately or by mistake—that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”
Despite the recent anti-DEI controversy, nothing can erase the impact that Robinson made on the baseball diamond, in the African-American community and for the nation.
According to the African American Encyclopedia, “Before 1948, the American armed forces were still segregated, and Robinson had difficulty coping with the Jim Crow conditions. At Fort Riley, Kans., for example, Robinson and several other African American soldiers were denied entry into Officer’s Candidate School (OCS) because of their race. Robinson sought help from Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champion, who was stationed at Fort Riley, and Louis used his influence to see that his fellow African American soldiers were admitted to OCS. Robinson completed the course and was awarded the rank of second lieutenant.
“Later, at Ford Hood, Texas, Robinson was forced to face a military court-martial for refusing to move to a rear seat on an army bus. Charges were dropped, however, because shortly before the incident, Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, another famous African American prizefighter, had convinced the Army to end discrimination aboard military vehicles. Robinson received an honorable discharge from the Army in November, 1944, and he returned to civilian life in Pasadena [California].”
Despite having African-American heroes come to Robinson’s rescue when he faced racism in the military, he became the lone hero for African-American baseball players trying to make it to the big leagues.
While Robinson earned a reputation of speaking out against racism in the military, Rickey made him promise to turn the other cheek for a year when White players harassed and assaulted him.
For critics to not stereotype African-American athletes as hotheads, Robinson had to keep his cool despite vile racism from players, umpires and fans.
If Robinson had reacted violently to the violence and hatred he experienced, Rickey’s experiment would have proved unsuccessful because it would have proven to racists that the African-American athlete was no more than a violent “animal” who did not deserve to play on the same field as White ball players.
Robinson endured the mistreatment, winning a World Series in 1955 and becoming the first African-American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y in 1962.
Academy Award-nominated actor Chadwick Boseman portrayed the legend in the biopic “42.”
