Jackie Robinson's legacy is not under attack

Properly understood, that legacy fits nicely with the war on DEI

Today is the 78th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s big-league debut. Major League Baseball is commemorating the event in various ways, including every player and coach wearing Robinson’s number, 42. MLB has done this every year since 2004.

Yet, the subtitle of this article in the paper edition of today’s Washington Post declares that Robinson’s legacy is “under fire” because of the Trump administration’s “unprecedented crackdown on diversity.”

Before examining the Post’s case that Robinson’s legacy is under fire (spoiler alert, it isn’t), let’s note that there is no crackdown (unprecedented or otherwise) on diversity. Nothing Trump has done evinces a quarrel with diversity. Rather, the administration’s quarrel is with diversity for diversity’s sake — diversity that awards jobs and benefits to people based on their skin color, not their merit.