The theft and arson in Wichita of Jackie Robinson’s statue has hit me quite hard.
BRIEF SOAPBOX MOMENT: I fully realize that nobody is here to be preached at, especially if politics is what will be preached.
On this anniversary of his birthday (January 31), Jackie Robinson would be 104 were he alive. 51 years after his death, we are still in the middle of this both literal and symbolic battle. Without arrests, we do not know exactly the motives and intents of these thieving arsonists.
Yet it does not take a huge leap of faith to speculate about what they hoped to accomplish and the messages they were attempting to send in their craven destruction. Personally, I am getting really tired of this bullshit, and I would hope that would be the case for most of us, regardless of where we land on the political spectrum and whom we might support. A segment of our population wants to deny the Enlightenment and refuses to acknowledge the United States’ 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
It is an act of intimidation and an act to blot out social justice and basic human decency. We should all be compelled to act immediately by contributing to the statute’s GoFundMe or supporting causes that will raise social awareness and/or fight for social justice in response to these pernicious actions.
A disheartening end to the stolen Jackie Robinson statue has generated a Robinson-like resolve from the public for good to overcome evil! You can steal the statue but can’t steal the spirit of what the statue represents!
Life is not important except for the impact it has on other lives — Jackie Robinson (Jan 31, 1919 – Oct 24, 1972)
