Jackie Robinson’s history in the Army may no longer be available to read about on the U.S. Department of Defense’s website, but Clinton Yates refuses to let that alter the MLB legend’s legacy in any way.
During Wednesday’s episode of Clinton & Friends, the ESPN host addressed the Pentagon’s removal of an article regarding Robinson’s history in the Army, which appears to be a part of the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts. And while running down a laundry list of the Hall of Fame second baseman’s accomplishments both on and off the field, Yates emphasized that his legend lives on regardless of whether or not you can read about it on a government website.
“What we’re not going to do is sit up here and act like any website or any other place is going to somehow make us forget about the impact of Jackie on this country and on the people of this nation,” Yates said. “Jackie Robinson was the kind of character that you come along once in a lifetime. What he did to serve this country, it’s something that still people forget about. There was an incident in which he refused to move to the back of an Army bus, which led to his arrest and a court martial. And guess what? He was acquitted.
“Jack Roosevelt Robinson is the most important Black athlete in the history of this nation. Don’t ever forget it, regardless of what some website’s gonna tell you.”
Yates posted a clip of his comments from the show on X, while reposting ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan’s post calling attention to the removal of the Robinson article on Tuesday night. While ESPN personalities haven’t often waded into the political waters in recent years, this is an instance with an obvious sports connection and a situation where many are understandably passionate enough to speak up about.
Earlier this week, a Department of Defense spokesperson said that pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members that were taken down under similar circumstances were mistakenly removed before later being restored. And while the spokesperson defended the administration’s anti-DEI efforts, it will be interesting to see whether the backlash to the removal of the Robinson post — especially at the Worldwide Leader — leads to a similar outcome.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.