As fellow ESPNer Jeff Passan reported on the U.S. defense department’s efforts to erase references to Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson and his military service, Mina Kimes used her celebratory “Face Time” on Wednesday’s Around the Horn to honor Robinson’s legacy in the armed services.
Beyond breaking baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson was a veteran and a statesman. That was the subject of the webpage on the Department of Defense’s site until Tuesday, when the federal government wiped the stories about his service from the internet as part of a rewriting of history that seeks to extinguish diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (which have nothing to do with Robinson enlisting in the army).
Kimes told the short version of that story after winning Wednesday’s Around the Horn, detailing why she believes it is important for Robinson’s story to be captured in the government’s digital footprint.
“Jackie Robinson was known for many things. But above all, first and foremost, it was his ongoing courage in the face of racial discrimination,” Kimes said. “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. That matters. That history can be erased, it cannot be undone, and it must be recognized to fully understand and celebrate his legacy.”
You cannot tell the story of Jackie Robinson–the ballplayer, serviceman, or human–without acknowledging our country’s history of racial discrimination.
From @AroundtheHorn: pic.twitter.com/k5HY7v9gbp
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) March 19, 2025
After Passan’s reporting, the defense department ultimately republished the webpage on Robinson.
The incident highlights the broad use of the term “DEI” to include anything that relates to race and ethnicity at all. Robinson chose, of his own accord, to sign up for the army.
And he is a Hall of Fame baseball player with his jersey number retired by all 30 MLB teams, regardless of the government’s censorship.
As Kimes notes, this is not a political fact. It is simply the truth of Robinson’s life and career, and necessary to understand the full breadth of who he was as a man and a historical figure.
