Pentagon Reinstates Jackie Robinson Tribute After Wave of Public Backlash Over Latest DEI Purge; Democrats Cite Racism, But Republicans Shift Blame AI

The Defense Department has reversed course after scrubbing a feature on Jackie Robinson’s Army service, which spotlighted his defiance against racism in the military before he broke baseball’s color barrier. 

The removal of Robinson’s inspirational story Tuesday came amid President Donald Trump’s hardline crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across federal agencies. To comply, the Defense Department has since gone out of its way to systematically dismantle iconic symbols of Black military history.

Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina warned that the Trump administration’s policies were ushering in a new era of discrimination, citing recent efforts to erase Black historical figures from government websites and roll back civil rights protections.

“What does DEI have to do with Jackie Robinson and Medgar Evers? And what did it have to do with saying it is no longer persona non grata to have government-sponsored events in segregated establishments?” Clyburn said, according to the Hill.

“This is the establishment of Jim Crow 2.0,” he continued. “I said that before we ever had the election, and it’s coming true.”

Meanwhile, Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer defended the Trump administration, insisting they have no history of racism and wouldn’t intentionally target Jackie Robinson’s story.

In an interview with TMZ, Comer suggested that artificial intelligence, still a developing technology, may have mistakenly flagged the entry while handling the Pentagon’s vast archives.

Comer also emphasized that the mistake had been acknowledged and corrected, with the story reappearing on the Department of Defense’s website following public backlash. Despite concerns over why historical records were being altered now, he maintained that technological errors are inevitable in large government systems.

Originally published in 2021, Jackie Robinson’s story vanished from the department’s website Tuesday night without explanation — only to quietly reappear the next day after the apparent decision to remove it sparked a wave of public backlash.

The page on Robinson includes biography about his military service during World War II, but when that web address was entered on the day in question, a message showed up saying it “might have been moved, renamed, or may be temporarily unavailable.” 

The webpage was taken down March 18 with “dei” inserted into the URL before the story’s headline—raising questions about the motive behind its removal, according to KSBW and ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The story’s reinstatement followed a string of statements from Defense press secretary John Ullyot to ESPN, condemning DEI while praising the Department for its “swift compliance” with Trump’s directive to eliminate all symbols of diversity.

Just moments later, a revised statement to ESPN shifted gears, with Ullyot paying respect to Robinson’s military service. In both statements, Ullyot insisted that any mistakenly removed content would be reinstated, however, he ultimately sidestepped the question of whether the page’s removal was deliberate. Following Ullyot’s second statement, the Jackie Robinson story was reappeared on the Department’s website, while the term “dei” no longer showed in the URL.

Robinson was the latest in a steady stream of pivotal content erased from the Pentagon’s website, celebrating America’s long lost war heroes. However, the only ones taken down are those who are not white. 

Robinson’s son released a statement expressing shock over the Trump administration’s decision to take down the tribute, emphasizing that Jackie Robinson was widely regarded as a national treasure.

“We were surprised to learn that a page on the Department of Defense’s website featuring Jackie Robinson among sports heroes who served in the military was taken down,” said David Robinson, who is also a board member of the Jackie Robinson Foundation. “We take great pride in Jackie Robinson’s service to our country as a soldier and a sports hero, an icon whose courage, talent, strength of character and dedication contributed greatly to leveling the playing field not only in professional sports but throughout society.

“He worked tirelessly on behalf of equal opportunities, in education, business, civic engagement, and within the justice system. A recipient of both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, he of course is an American hero.”

Later Wednesday, the page reappeared on the department’s site, and the Pentagon released a statement.

“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms,” press secretary John Ullyot said. “In the rare cases that content is removed — either deliberately or by mistake — that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”

Earlier Tuesday, the Trump administration sparked additional outrage by scrubbing pages honoring the Navajo Code Talkers, a Black Medal of Honor recipient, and Japanese American veterans. In every case, administration officials blamed automated processes and acknowledged it had made a mistake in its efforts scrubbing the contributions of women and people of color, which the Trump administration considers “DEI.”

The Pentagon has since restored the web page about Jackie Robinson. However, the ongoing pattern of removals signaled that more erasures were likely on the horizon. At least 24,000 articles on the Pentagon website were reportedly on the chopping block, according to CNN.

Alongside Robinson, the Defense Department also removed a page on its website commemorating the service of the late Major General Charles C. Rogers, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon after he defended a U.S. base in Vietnam, being wounded three times in the process.

In a similar move by the administration, World War II veteran and civil rights leader Medgar Evers, once praised by Trump as “a great American hero,” has been removed from the Arlington National Cemetery website. The site had previously honored Black Americans who served in the military.

Back in January, on the same day the Senate confirmed Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, the Air Force abruptly eliminated training courses which showcased videos of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots — both trailblazing Black service units that played a crucial role in World War II.

Critics of the decision asserted that the removal of the Tuskegee Airmen videos had “NOTHING to do with DEI and everything to do with the accomplishments of heroes who happened to be Black,” wrote political influencer Brian Krassenstein, whose X account touts more than 828,000 followers. 

Nearly two months later, the administration took down the story of Robinson’s journey before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, focusing on the pivotal moment that nearly cost him his military career — and, by extension, his shot at baseball history.

In 1944, Robinson was arrested and court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of an Army bus but was ultimately acquitted. He was later transferred to Camp Breckinridge, where he coached Army athletics until his honorable discharge that November.

Robinson went on to excel in the Negro Leagues before making history in MLB, breaking the color barrier and posting a .313/.410/.477 slash line. Over his career, he earned seven All-Star selections, an MVP award, Rookie of the Year honors, a batting title, and helped lead the Dodgers to their first World Series win in 1955. In recognition of his impact, MLB retired his No. 42 league-wide in 1997.

Trump has previously honored Robinson, announcing during Black History Month that a statue of the baseball icon, along with other notable Black figures, would be included in his proposed National Garden of American Heroes.

Robinson’s family has previously objected to Trump’s use of his image. When Trump’s 2020 campaign featured a photo of Robinson alongside other civil rights icons in an ad, his daughter, Sharon Robinson, condemned the move and demanded its removal.

“Jackie Robinson’s family strongly objects to the use of Jackie Robinson’s image in a Donald Trump @JRFoundation The Trump campaign is in opposition to all that Jackie Robinson stood for and believed in. We’re insulted and demand that his image be removed!”