The U.S. Department of Defense just quietly deleted a webpage about Jackie Robinson’s military service—a piece of history that sheds light on his role as a Black Army officer who fought against segregation in the military. And why? Because it was part of a broader purge of anything connected to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Let’s not sugarcoat this. This isn’t about DEI—it’s about erasing Black history.

Jackie Robinson Was a Fighter, On and Off the Field

We all know Jackie Robinson as the man who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. But before he ever stepped onto a Major League field, he was an Army officer who stood up to racism in the military. In 1944, he was arrested and court-martialed for refusing to move to the back of a military bus. That was more than a decade before Rosa Parks’ famous stand in Montgomery.

He won his case, but the Army still pushed him out. His military career ended because he dared to challenge the system.

For years, the Department of Defense recognized this moment as an important chapter in American history. Now, suddenly, it’s gone. And the reason? Because a politically motivated “anti-DEI” purge decided that Black history is too inconvenient to keep.

DEI Is Not the Enemy—But Erasing History Is

Let’s be real: the war on DEI isn’t about fairness or neutrality. It’s an ideological campaign designed to roll back progress and erase uncomfortable truths. Some folks want to pretend that racism was just a misunderstanding, that the struggles of Black Americans are a “divisive” topic rather than an undeniable part of our nation’s history.

Removing Jackie Robinson’s Army story from the Defense Department’s website isn’t just some minor edit—it’s part of a bigger push to rewrite history by omission.

Think about the pattern:

• Florida banned AP African American Studies.
• Book bans are pulling Black authors off school shelves.
• Now, even the military is erasing records of Black service members who stood up against injustice.

And let’s be honest—if Jackie Robinson’s legacy isn’t safe, whose is? Will they go after the Tuskegee Airmen next? The Montford Point Marines? The Black soldiers who fought in every American war, only to return home to segregation and discrimination?

This isn’t about cleaning up government websites. It’s about controlling the narrative.

What Happens When the Truth Disappears?

When you erase history, you make it easier to repeat.

By deleting stories like Robinson’s, they’re stripping future generations of the knowledge they need to understand how deeply racism has shaped American institutions—including the military. This isn’t just about what gets taught in schools or which historical figures get their own webpage. It’s about shaping what people believe about America itself.

Because here’s the thing—if people don’t know what really happened, if the struggles of Black Americans are scrubbed from public records, then it becomes easier to claim that systemic racism never existed in the first place.

And that’s the real goal.

We Can’t Let This Go Unchallenged

This should make all of us angry. Jackie Robinson was a soldier, an activist, and a pioneer—and his story deserves to be told, not erased to fit a political agenda.

So, what do we do?

• Call this out for what it is: a targeted effort to erase Black history.
• Demand that the Department of Defense reinstate the page and explain why it was removed in the first place.
• Support policies and initiatives that protect historical truth in schools, museums, and public institutions.

This isn’t just about one webpage or one story. It’s about who gets to be remembered, who gets erased, and who controls history.

They might delete a webpage, but they can’t delete the truth. And we won’t let them.