Even when the Department of Defense includes “Day” in a new link, an online feature on Jackie Robinson's military service, Mina Kimes has given her feelings about the issues she is known to have.
Kimes appeared on ESPN's “Around the Horn” on Wednesday, just hours after the story recovered, saying that the legendary history of MLB was “important.”
“Jackie Robinson was known for a lot, but first and foremost, it was his continued courage in the face of racism,” Kims said. “In fact, in addition to crossing the colours of baseball, he served in the Army's separating unit, in one instance he refused to move behind the bus and was arrested and acquitted. That's important. History cannot be reverted and must be recognized to fully understand and celebrate his legacy.”
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October 16, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA. Robert Griffin III from the ESPN Monday Night Football Countdown, held on October 16, 2023 at Sophie Stadium in Inglewood, California. (Kirby Lee-Usa Today Sports)
That may or may not be a coincidence, but her ESPN colleague, Robert Griffin III, said in his own X-post that sports shows should be about sports.
“Sports shows on television should be about sports, not politics,” the former NFL quarterback wrote.
“This tweet is not about Jackie Robinson. His importance cannot be erased. It is not political to break down the colour barriers of baseball itself,” continued Griffin. “Jesse Owens won four gold medals in its own right. Jack Johnson became the heavyweight champion in 1st Black Boxing. They were all politically influenced. They all challenged the current state of fair play, race relations and racial barriers to civil rights.
DoD has easily removed Jackie Robinson's online service features and includes “DEI” in the link
Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson steals home plates during a World Series game against the New York Yankees in New York City. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Stephen A. Smith also ranted on the “first take” Thursday morning, saying the Trump administration “hopes to erase and erase the need for those things to happen in order to happen first.”
The story, entitled “Sports Heroes Served: Baseball's Great Jackie Robinson Was a World War II Soldier,” was written by David Vergan on February 9, 2021. Other features of “Sports Heroes” include Bob Feller, Whit Wilhelm, Bob Ucker and more.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon about removing the story and whether it was intentionally deliberately including “Dei” inclusion in the URL. The Pentagon did not say whether it was intentionally done, but Pentagon spokesman John Urito issued the following statement to Fox News Digital before the story was restored:
“Everyone at the Department of Defense loves Jackie Robinson, Navajo Code Talker, Tuskegee Airmen, Iwajima Marines, and many others. Combat missions like other Americans wearing uniforms.
“Day – discriminatory fairness ideology does the opposite: a kind of awakened cultural Marxism that divides forces, erodes unit cohesion, and hinders combat missions that are core to service.
“We are pleased with the prompt compliance across the department with instructions to remove DEI content from all platforms. In rare cases, content is intentionally or accidentally deleted.
Robert Griffin III is paying attention to the Pro Bowl Skills Competition at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Facility in Henderson, Nevada on February 2, 2023. (Kirby Lee-Usa Today Sports)
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Last month, the Pentagon called for “DOD news articles, photos, videos and “deletion and archives” that promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Robinson was drafted by the military five years before breaking the colour barriers in Major League Baseball in 1947, and was discharged from the hospital in 1944 in honor of serving as a deputy as during World War II. His No. 42 retired during baseball in 1997.
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