Article About Jackie Robinson's Military Service Removed From Government Website Amid DEI Purge

An article exploring MLB legend Jackie Robinson's military service during World War II has been removed from the Department of Defense's official website as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on anything they've perceived to relate to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

The Brooklyn Dodgers icon was drafted in 1942, but you won't be reading about his military career on the government website anymore. The Department of Defense purged the article from its website, even though Trump described Robinson last month as a figure who helped "drive our country forward to greatness."

ESPN reporter Jeff Passan noticed the removal of the article about Robinson, an American hero who became the first Black man to sign to an MLB team, in a tweet posted on Tuesday, March 18. The URL for the article, which shows a 'not found' message, also had 'dei' added.

In the past couple of weeks, the Pentagon has worked to remove various pages they believe could represent DEI programs. The Trump administration has made an effort to rollback DEI programs in the federal government.

As reported by The Guardian, Black Medal of Honor recipient Maj Gen Charles Calvin Rogers was also a target of the DEI purge. An article about his Medal of Honor was removed last week and had "dei" added to its URL. The page has since been restored, and a Department of Defense spokesperson said it was "removed during auto removal process." Which reads sort of like an admission that its "auto removal process" was designed to purge any page focused on anyone who wasn't a white man.

Despite restoring that page and several others honoring other service members, spokesperson Sean Panell defended the move. "I think the president and the secretary have been very clear on this—that anybody that says in the Department of Defense that diversity is our strength, is frankly, incorrect," he said. Thousands of pages focused on important figures, mostly women and minorities, have been removed from government websites.

As Trump himself said, per the White House website, his administration plans to "terminate every diversity, equity, and inclusion program across the entire federal government."