Jackie Robinson's Army story restored to Defense Department site after removal in DEI purge

An nonfiction highlighting the U.S. Army vocation of shot fable Jackie Robinson has been restored to the Department of Defense website. Its removal had appeared to beryllium related to the Trump administration’s stance against diversity, equity and inclusion.

Robinson, the Hall of Famer who broke baseball’s colour barrier erstwhile helium started astatine archetypal basal for the Dodgers successful 1947, was drafted into the Army successful 1942 and served until 1944, achieving the fertile of 2nd lieutenant.

The nonfiction is 1 of astatine slightest 50 pieces that look connected the department’s tract arsenic portion of a bid titled “Sports Heroes Who Served.” Written by David Vergun of DOD News and primitively published connected Feb. 9, 2021, the nonfiction precocious disappeared from the website. The leafage displayed an mistake message, and the URL had been altered to see “DEI.”

Robinson’s son, David, who serves arsenic a committee subordinate of his father’s foundation, issued a connection expressing surprise.

“We instrumentality large pridefulness successful Jackie Robinson’s work to our state arsenic a worker and a sports hero, an icon whose courage, talent, spot of quality and dedication contributed greatly to leveling the playing tract not lone successful nonrecreational sports but passim society,” David Robinson said. “He, of course, is an American hero.”

The nonfiction was returned to the department’s website nether its archetypal URL connected Tuesday.

In summation to highlighting galore of Robinson’s diversion achievements, the nonfiction details the trailblazer’s subject vocation — including an incidental successful which he refused an Army autobus driver’s bid to determination to the back. As a effect Robinson was court-martialed but aboriginal acquitted, past served arsenic a manager for Army athletics until receiving an honorable discharge.

President Trump has issued enforcement orders successful an effort to end the national government’s enactment for DEI programs. U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson successful Baltimore blocked the orders, but past week a three-judge sheet connected the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the orders tin beryllium enforced.

A Feb. 27 Defense Department memo mandated that “by March 5, 2025, each Components indispensable region and archive DoD quality articles, photos, and videos promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Since past thousands of pages person been removed. A section authoritative told ABC News that the Robinson nonfiction was 1 of respective items that had been “mistakenly removed.”

An representation of shot large Jackie Robinson hangs adjacent Petco Park successful San Diego connected Aug. 26, 2020.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

In effect to questions from The Times, the Pentagon emailed a connection from the Defense Department property caput John Ullyot:

“Everyone astatine the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, arsenic good arsenic the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines astatine Iwo Jima and truthful galore others,” Ullyot stated. “We salute them for their beardown and successful galore cases heroic work to our country, afloat stop. We bash not presumption oregon item them done the prism of immutable characteristics, specified arsenic race, ethnicity, oregon sex. We bash truthful lone by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting ngo similar [every] different American who has worn the uniform.

“DEI — Discriminatory Equity Ideology does the opposite. It is simply a signifier of Woke taste Marxism that Divides the force, Erodes portion cohesion and Interferes with the services’ halfway warfighting mission.

“We are pleased by the accelerated compliance crossed the Department with the directive removing DEI contented from each platforms. In the uncommon cases that contented is removed — either deliberately oregon by mistake — that is retired of the intelligibly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they close the contented truthful it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated work alongside their chap Americans, period.”

On Tuesday greeting — earlier the Robinson nonfiction was restored — a hunt for “Jackie Robinson” connected the department’s website brought up an nonfiction connected Robinson’s Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese, from the “Sports Heroes Who Served” series. That nonfiction mentions Reese’s motion of putting his limb astir his Black teammate successful an effort to quiescent a booing Cincinnati assemblage successful 1947.

Also portion Robinson’s nonfiction was missing, respective others from the “Sports Heroes Who Served” bid that item Black athletes — including the NBA’s David Robinson (not Jackie’s son), MLB’s Rod Carew and Olympic golden medalist hurdler Willie Davenport — remained connected the site.