Jun 23

Erasing Jackie Robinson

Photo of Jackie Robinson, wearing Dodgers uniform but his face is blurred out to indicate erasure. Akila Hughes is holding a mic and speaking. The text reads, Why is this better?
Screenshot from the brilliant video by Akilah Hughes at Why is this better? Watch below.

Jackie Robinson is one of my heroes. What the U.S. Government did feels like a personal attack–you probably heard about it. The Department of Defense erased a webpage that honored Robinson’s military service—a calculated act of historical erasure. Under the guise of eliminating “DEI,” they are actively scrubbing the legacies of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and women and other marginalized people from public record. 


If you searched for Jackie Robinson you got, "Page Not Found". The URL was "DEI-SPORTS-HEROES". Insulting. Ignorant. Deliberate. A few days later, after much outcry, the page was restored. 


I share this brilliant video by Akilah Hughes in which she explores how the Trump administration is trying to rewrite history in its misinformation crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This video is soooo good. Ms. Hughes speaks with Roy Wood Jr., Jeremy Taché, and The Nation’s Kali Holloway to unpack why it’s important to defend history and what DEI efforts are designed to achieve. 

Write your awesome label here.
Why is this personal for me?
I grew up with a baseball in my hand. I read about the giants of the game - Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. My father told me stories about seeing Robinson play against the Giants. And he also told me about Jackie Robinson the man and the leader—about the horrific racism and hatred he endured as a player, the Congressional hearings he attended, the rallies he spoke at, the nonviolent protests he participated in, and the dignity, character, and courage he embodied. 

Jackie Robinson's influence on the field and outside the lines was enormous. His greatness is history and fact. To see his memory erased by this administration disgusted me. Even though his story is live again, I feel outraged they did this. 

A few days later, after much outcry, it was restored. It takes vigilance, effort and community to resist these anti-DEI attacks. 

And this got me thinking about erasure, gaslighting, whitewashing, and all the other forms of rewriting history. We know that this attempt to erase Jackie Robinson's legacy is just one example that made the headlines. How many other stories have been erased? People disappeared? Histories rewritten? Even though it's everything everywhere all at once, each and every transgression must be called out and corrected. It takes fortitude and work.

As The Daily Show's Jon Stewart said the other day, "The arc of the moral history is long and it bends towards justice but it doesn't bend by itself it's not gravity. People have to bend it. You have to bend it and there's going to be other people trying to bend it the other way and we're not going to let that happen." So, let's keep working to bend that arc together. 
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