“Unquestionably, Robinson and the sport which after a long and contemptible delay has employed him, stand as the key hopes in the discovery, some day, of the utopia of true democracy.

“Like no other individual, the Trumans and the Joe Louises notwithstanding, Jackie Robinson occupies the role of national benefactor, for who can dispute the assertion that the creation of tolerance and understanding will make for a stronger, united America.

“Alone, Robinson represents a weapon far more potent than the combined forces of all our liberal legislation, in the war on the tawdry facade of American hatreds.”

– Sam Lacy

Baltimore Afro-American, May 11, 1946

As is probably well known to readers of this blog, a week or so ago the U.S. Department of Defense, in its rabid pursuit of the elimination of the concept of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – or, for short, DEI, which has became one of the latest buzzwords the right has glommed onto, weaponized and repeated ad infinitum like squawking parrots – stunningly took down the page on the DoD Web site that features an article about Jackie Robinson and his time in the military during World War II.

DoD Trump/Hegseth toadies removed other articles and pages featuring the feats and landmarks of various people of color, women and other trailblazers in their military services, including information about the Native-American code-talkers, without whose essential contributions the Allies very well might not have won World War II so decisively.

After a passionate and righteous outcry from the public, the DoD backtracked and posted all the deleted pages again, claiming that a couple worker bees had mistakenly taken them down. (It was certainly no surprise that Defense Secretary and Trump stooge Pete Hegseth shamelessly passed the buck and blamed lower members of the administration, gallingly failing to take responsibility for the “error,” but failing to take responsibility for anything bad is a solidly-minted Trump calling card.)

I won’t go into further details about the embarrassing incident, and I don’t need to elaborate on Jackie Robinson and his immense legacy with the American public. What is most immediately pertinent to this column is the overall devastating American crisis caused by the Trump administration’s pettiness, cruelty and hubris.

I’ll set aside for now the fact that Trump’s “friend” – I place the word in quotes because I’m guessing both Trump and Elon Musk have no actual friends – has indiscriminately, devastatingly, arbitrarily and sanctimoniously devastated the federal government, and the individuals who make it run as part of their living, by blindly firing government employees.

I’ll put on the back burner the way the Trump administration has spuriously, childishly and practically burned every bridge the U.S. had with its closest allies, damaging international relations in ways that will take decades to repair.

And we’ll forgo for now the administration’s reckless, shocking creation of various constitutional crisis by completely ignoring the concept of checks and balances, one of the most sacred and essential values America has held for two and a half centuries; I’ll put aside for now Trump’s mass, indiscriminate arrests and deportations of anyone even suspected of being an undocumented immigrant – with a few actual U.S. citizens getting caught up in the sweeps – and the corresponding violations of the First Amendment, especially on college campuses.

The issue most pressingly at hand with this article is the Trump administration’s ignorant, racist, sexist and homophobic attacks of DEI – again, a term of which many conservatives have no actual understanding, and one that has because only the latest catchphrase that many conservatives wield, often quite flippantly, in the public arena without even thinking about the true purpose and meaning of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Any reference to the achievements and concerns of the nation’s women and people of color – as well as, more importantly, the devastating decimation of federal programs that for decades have targeted the unique, chronic, tragic challenges facing the powerless in this country – has been scrubbed from the administration.

That appalling, bigoted attitude and set of actions will inevitably filter down to the American public, especially in terms of what is taught in public education at all levels – something that states like Florida and Tennessee began with their laughable and cowardly implementation of laws meant to combat “wokeness” – another parroted term, of course, that conservative leaders and pundits bandy about and employ like Pavlov triggering his dogs.

And such a vicious attack on ideas, programs and actions aimed at truly providing disadvantaged, oppressed populations in this country opportunities that have for centuries been denied them, and that prevent all Americans from learning about the actual history of the United States, including its warts, of which there are quite a lot, will have tragic, far-reaching repercussions.

Which brings us back to Jackie Robinson; specifically, legendary journalist Sam Lacy’s 1946 commentary about the baseball trailblazer’s potential impact on American society, politics and culture.

Lacy – who, as I’ve explained before, is my journalistic hero – was incredibly prescient with his words in the May 11, 1946, issue of the Afro-American, for, in many ways, he described exactly what Jackie turned out to be – a key bellwether and impetus of the coming Civil Rights Movement.

Like Lacy wrote, No. 42 became not just a trailblazer, but a hero to millions and the embodiment of justice, fairness, equality and tolerance in a country that for so long had failed to provide such to all of its people – and, harsh truth be told, that America continues to sadly fail to do.

So when someone at the Department of Defense, whoever it may have been, removed the article about Robinson from the department Web site, they attacked not just Jackie, his life and his legacy, but also the very ideas and values of tolerance, justice and quality that this country must strive to achieve to at long last transform this country into a truly great one, a nation that actually lives up to the notions expressed in its sacred documents and repeated, often with a shameful amount of hypocrisy, by its leaders for multiple centuries.

I sometimes hesitate to post articles on this blog that discuss major sociopolitical issues and events beyond the scope of simply the Negro Leagues and the history of African-American baseball, because, although I frequently drop hints of my progressive beliefs, I want this space to offer not just a critique of such issues and events, but also a celebration of the way men and women of color bravely, persistently and optimistically forged their own way in the American pastime during a time of brutal, unjust segregation and discrimination.

I want this blog to be about the triumphs and achievements that comprised Black baseball history, the joys and celebrations, the camaraderie and the contributions to American history as a whole.

As such, I’ll conclude with not so much a lamentation of the dire situation in which the United States finds itself, but a call to action for all my readers to fight back against the ignorance, hatred and arrogance coming from the top, to rebel courageously against the negativity and triumph over it in a way that celebrates and trumpets the ideas of diversity, democracy, fairness and equality – in baseball, baseball history and society as a whole.

At this moment, we have an opportunity to show the world that we will not abide by bigotry and blindness, that we as a country can and will truly become that beacon on a hill, that we reject ignorance, discrimination and the foregoing of true justice.

We cannot and will not be cowed. We will not be denied. We will not buckle and run in the face of fear, hatred and oppression. We’ll fight, and we will win, in the name of justice, democracy and righteousness. We are brave, we are right, and we will win. We. Will. Win.