The legend of the NBA, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, used his speech during the commemoration by the Dodgers of Los Angeles of Jackie Robinson Day to call the policies of President Donald Trump.
Robinson was honored, as always, Tuesday the 78th anniversary of him breaking the colored barrier in MLB. He did it with the Dodgers, who had a celebration for the late Robinson which involved the great Abdul-Jabbar of Los Angeles Lakers, who grew up in a fan of Brooklyn Dodgers in New York.
Between telling stories about the fights with the New York giants and the Yankees fans when he was a child, saying that he was still ensuring that his Dodgers hat was not eliminated, Abdul-Jabbar also called Trump to want to “get rid of Dei”, or diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
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The former center of Los Angeles Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (left) and striker James Worthy attend a match between the Rays of Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. (Kirby Lee / USA TODAY SPORTS)
“I think it’s just a trick to discriminate,” Abdul-Jabbar told the crowd, via the New York Times. “So I am happy that we do things like that, to let everyone in the country know what is important. They also tried to get rid of Harriet Tubman. But that didn’t work. There was just a pie on this subject. But you have to consider this when we think about what’s going on today.”
Trump published an executive decree last month to terminate the DEI offices, posts and programs within the federal government. He also terminated subsidies and contracts related to actions, among other orders.
The White House provided a “information sheet” for the decree, claiming that it “restores the values of individual dignity, hard work and excellence”.
The Yankees remain attached to diversity and inclusion in the middle of the retro-return of Dei by MLB
“President Trump believes that hiring in all regions of the government should be based solely on merit,” said the White House information sheet.
The executive decree, however, led to the strap of many websites where Dei was involved, which included the website of the Ministry of Defense which highlighted Robinson’s military service. Abdul-Jabbar also mentioned Tubman, whose page with the National Park Service had to be restored, as was Robinson with the Ministry of Defense.
For Robinson, a story entitled “Sports Heroes that served: Big Baseball Jackie Robinson was a soldier of the Second World War”, was briefly removed before being restored. ESPN initially pointed out that it had been deleted, which led the media to jump on the decree.
The DOD published a statement saying that a group had been invited to report all the pages considered to be content. They only received a week to examine thousands of documents, and human error came into play due to the condensed calendar. Errors have been made, in particular the signaling of Robinson’s article.
The end of the MLB Jackie Robinson icon (Hulton Archive / Getty Images)
“In recent weeks, we have taken measures to identify and archive the contents of our websites and social media platforms,” said Sean Parnell, assistant to the Secretary for the Defense of Public Affairs, last month.
“Without a doubt, this task was an arduous but incredibly important company. We applied an aggressive chronology so that our services and DOD agencies have repercussions through a wide range of content, while ensuring that our strength remains ready and fatal.”
But it was not only federal. MLB removed references to diversity in its career page in the last month, according to Times.
Abdul-Jabbar thinks that for which Robinson fought in baseball is still treated today.
“Jackie had an idea of what we had to face,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “We had to face segregation. And, in many ways, we always confront ourselves. But it is worth it. And that certainly makes us respect us as a country when they see that there are tensions there, and the good people try to do the right thing.”
The Dodgers were ridiculed by some for visiting Trump in the White House to celebrate their victory in 2024 World Series.
President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony in honor of the members of the World Series Champion 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers in the east house in the White House. (Leah Millis / Reuters via Imagn Images)
Manager Dave Roberts explained the team’s reasoning to get to the White House on Tuesday.
“I do not personally consider this as speaking on both sides of our mouth,” he said. “I understand how people feel this way. But I think that supporting our country, staying unified, aligned, is what I believe personally. I just think I do things the right way, and I think people will have their opinions on what we did last week.
“But I know that we are all unified, and we all have stories and history and different economic political beliefs. But I was proud that we were all holding together.”
Roberts was also dotted with questions about Robinson, Dei and more before facing the Colorado rockies on Tuesday.
“This country needs an alarm clock,” said Roberts. “I approached it a little (during the memory). It is not a day’s situation. It is Jackson Robinson’s day for having broken the color barrier, but it’s like a daily mindset, the appreciation.”
The Yankees remain attached to diversity and inclusion despite the national setbacks of the Dei programs.
The former center of Los Angeles Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar attends a match between the Rays of Tampa Bay and the Dodgers of Los Angeles in Dodger Stadium. (Kirby Lee / USA TODAY SPORTS)
“We are continuously working with the members of our diversity and inclusion committee and we are actively engaged with our community neighbors and partners,” said Brian Smith, vice-president of business and community, at the New York Daily News at the Jackie Robinson Day.
“Our dedication to these efforts remains unchanged, and our diversity and inclusion committee continues to do its job.”
