Apr 15, 2019; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Jackie Robinson Day patch worn on the sleeve of Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jean Segura against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Before breaking MLB's color barrier in 1947, Jack Roosevelt Robinson served in the United States Army from 1942 through 1944.
Bettmann/Bettmann ArchiveUntil recently, an article about Robinson's service to his nation was available on the Department of Defense website. ESPN's Jeff Passan and others reported Wednesday morning, however, that the article has been removed. It also appears as though the article's URL was changed to include the term "DEI Sports."
This used to be the URL for a story on the @DeptofDefense website about Jackie Robinson's time in the Army. The story has been removed. The ghouls who did this should be ashamed. Jackie Robinson was the embodiment of an American hero. Fix this now. https://t.co/rEpZFUbJ8h
Screenshot posted to X by @ericjdesignsThe removal of the Robinson article is in line with other recent government actions ostensibly related to "DEI" (an acronym for "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion").
Sports Illustrated explains:
"The removal of the article falls in line with president Donald Trump's string of executive orders he signed upon taking office in January. Any mandate, policy, program, preference or activity within the federal government having to do with diversity, equity, inclusion or accessibility is slated to be terminated, and praising Robinson's accomplishments apparently falls under that umbrella."
The Guardian reports that the move is in line with other recent government actions:
"The move is in step with similar decisions in recent weeks as the Pentagon works on the removal of any webpage it considers to be representative of DEI programs . . . Other pages to have been removed include one focusing on Ira Hayes, a Native American who was one of the marines pictured raising the American flag at Iwo Jima during the second world war. Articles about the Native American code talkers also appear to have been removed from military websites.
There has been pushback to the removals. A page dedicated to Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers, a Black Medal of Honor recipient who had served in Vietnam, was removed and then restored after public outcry."
The Robinson article that was scrubbed from the Defense website is available here via the wayback machine, an internet archive.
UPDATE March 19 2:30pm: Jeff Passan reports that, when asked why the Jackie Robinson story was removed, Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot issued the following statement to ESPN: "As [Defense] Secretary [Peter] Hegseth has said, DEl is dead at the Defense Department. Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military. It Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services' core warfighting mission. We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEl 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 accordingly." The Robinson article has not yet been restored.
UPDATE March 19 3:30pm: After widespread outrage over the removal of the Jackie Robinson article, the Department of Defense has restored the original piece and removed the "DEI Sports" designation from the article's URL.
