Baseball has decided to comply with the country’s sprint to fascism by barely acknowledging Jackie Robinson
Every year since 2004, Major League Baseball has made April 15 Jackie Robinson Day. For those that somehow don’t know, Jackie became the first African-American player in MLB by breaking the color barrier on April 15, 1947.
Earlier this year, the Department of Defense deleted the post on its website that honored Jackie’s military history while cleaning out all “DEI” topics on the site. The only reason that the page was restored was due to the righteous uproar of fans across social media, led by Bradford William Davis and other prominent voices in the baseball space.
the clearest proof Jackie Robinson was one of the most consequential people in history is that nearly a century after he started playing baseball, cowards are still working tirelessly to shut him up
— Bradford William Davis (@bwd.bsky.social) 2025-03-19T02:34:51.034Z
After that, I had reservations about what MLB would do with the event this year.
Those reservations have been justified.
It’s actually wild. There’s literally no mention of why Jackie Robinson is important in the MLB press release. At all. Just that he “played his first Major League game on April 15, 1947.”
— Chris Towers is in The Best Shape Of His Life (@cptowers.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T18:54:59.985Z
Now, compare this year’s statement to the one sent last season.
Here’s the same section from last year’s Jackie Robinson Day press release, where they have removed a sentence about “spearheading initiatives that support communities and meaningfully address diversity and inclusion at all levels of our sport.”
— Chris Towers is in The Best Shape Of His Life (@cptowers.bsky.social) 2025-04-14T18:56:49.927Z
Hmm … I wonder what’s changed since last year?
In my opinion, MLB does not deserve the honor of honoring Jackie. You cannot separate Jackie Robinson from his blackness. It is why he is so important, and acknowledging his challenges and accomplishments to this day aid the fight against racism within MLB and the world at large.
Jackie Robinson put his life at stake for his right to play.
Meanwhile, the league does not want to show any of the fight that Jackie had to. No one is forcing MLB to follow the lead of the President and his minions. They decided that 49.8% of voter support last fall this was an opportunity to stop pretending to care about diversity.
But they can’t change reality. Reality is that some of the greatest players in the history of the sport are Black men. Jackie, Ken Griffey Jr, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson and White Sox legends such as Minnie Miñoso and Frank Thomas.
There are so many legends off the field as well. Look at Rachel Robinson, who now has been disrespected by MLB while doing all she can to preserve the legacy of her husband. She’s 102 years young, and stronger than an entire league.
Shakeia Taylor, who is one of the best writers in the world, mentioned earlier today that Wrigley Field is last standing park that Jackie played at.
also! hello wrigley is the only remaining big league ballpark robinson played in if i remember correctly. would be a very cool way to honor history and tell some stories. https://t.co/kMFaR3xYPL
— shakeia (@curlyfro) April 14, 2025
There’s so much history we can talk about, but MLB would rather use this day to completely undermine the Jackie Robinson story while still selling a bunch of “42” merch.