ESPN’s Mina Kimes on Wednesday criticized the Defense Department after it removed an article about baseball and civil rights legend Jackie Robinson as part of its purge against any content viewed as DEI.
“Jackie Robinson was known for many things, but above all, first and foremost, it was his ongoing courage in the face of racial discrimination. In fact, in addition to crossing the color barrier in baseball, he served in a segregated unit in the Army, and in one instance, refused to move to the back of the bus, was arrested and acquitted,” Kimes said on the “Around the Horn” program. “That matters. That history cannot be erased, it cannot be undone, and it must be recognized to fully understand and celebrate his legacy.”
The Defense Department had removed from its website an article about Robinson’s military career, as well as other webpages about other people of color who made history with the armed forces. After the public slammed the move, the DOD restored some of the pages and articles.
“Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others — we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop. We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like ever other American who has worn the uniform,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms,” the statement continued. “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.”
