How to honor Jackie Robinson? Defend his legacy from those who wish to erase him.

Do not be fooled by the Jackie Robinson jersey giveaway the Los Angeles Dodgers are doing or any of the empty platitudes they and Major League Baseball spout.

Their lionizing of Robinson this year is the epitome of rank hypocrisy given their actions, or rather inaction, of recent weeks. Never forget that these same people who will claim to treasure Robinson and his sacrifices Tuesday were conspicuously silent when the Trump administration was trying mightily to erase them both.

When the Department of Defense removed a page about Robinson from its series on sports stars who served in the military, not a word was heard publicly from either MLB or the Dodgers. Instead, it fell to people who cover the sport and the general public to create a great enough outcry that Trump’s minions were forced to back off.

MLB also removed “diversity” from its careers website, kowtowing in advance to the administration’s shameless efforts to whitewash American society, as if discrimination doesn’t still exist.

To compound that cowardly compliance, the Dodgers went to the White House and yukked it up with Trump, as if he hadn’t just disrespected the greatest player to ever wear their uniform and all he stood for.

Moral courage is in short supply these days, especially by people who can afford to have it. But standing up for Jackie Robinson should not be a subversive or controversial stance, especially for the Dodgers and MLB.

Robinson is more than a baseball icon. He’s an American hero. By breaking MLB’s color barrier, as he did on April 15, 1947, Robinson changed the course of this country’s history.

Baseball was the national pastime then, as big as the NFL is today. It was played and followed everywhere, providing common ground between the Jim Crow South and the rest of the country. If baseball could accept a Black man, it proved anyone could. If Robinson could make it to the big leagues, it showed nothing was out of reach.

That’s not to say racism melted away that day Robinson took the field with the Dodgers. It would be another two decades before the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts were passed, and the fight for equality cost the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers and too many others their lives. Even now, there are daily reminders that the poisonous hate from our country’s original sin still festers.

But Robinson gave us a glimpse of what is possible when we let go of fear and ignorance. He shattered the stereotypes used to deny and demean Black and brown people. He was living proof that diversity, equity and inclusion make us stronger, not weaker.

The Dodgers had made the World Series five times in their first 60-plus years of existence. With Robinson, they made the World Series six times in a decade and won their first title, in 1955.

Robinson, meanwhile, was Rookie of the Year in 1947 and the NL MVP two years later. In his 10 years in the majors, he was either an All-Star or an MVP candidate, or both, in all but one season.

Robinson did all this with unflinching dignity, too. Despite routinely being subjected to death threats, hate mail and abuse — including by others in baseball — he never once buckled.

“He set the path for changes not only in sports, but in society. He didn't fail, although most people wanted him to fail, and so we celebrate all this as we should,” Bud Selig, who as commissioner decided Robinson’s No. 42 would be retired across baseball, told MLB.com in 2001.

“Why do we celebrate? Because no generation should ever forget what Jackie Robinson did.”

That’s what the Trump administration wants, though. It is trying to rewrite this country’s history, removing Black and brown people from current positions of influence and erasing or attaching asterisks to the accomplishments of past trailblazers.

When a story about Robinson was removed from a Department of Defense website, “DEI” was inserted into the error message so there would be no doubt of the reason for its absence. His biography was initially included on a list of books flagged for removal for promoting themes of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Besides minimizing what Robinson did, this pettiness insults his character. Robinson was the equal of any white player in skill, and had far more courage than any of the wannabe segregationists in the Trump administration.

But instead of sounding an alarm and raising objections, as they should have, the Dodgers and MLB simply … acquiesced. Instead of telling Trump officials it knows what’s best for the business of baseball, MLB caved.

Instead of defending Robinson and everything he stood for, the Dodgers and MLB sold him out.

It's commendable that MLB and the Dodgers continue to honor Robinson on the day he integrated baseball. It would be even better if they did it the other 364 days of the year, too.

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