NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rips Trump's DEI policies on Jackie Robinson Day: 'Ruse to discriminate'

NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar used his speech at the Los Angeles Dodgers' commemoration of Jackie Robinson Day to call out President Donald Trump’s policies. 

Robinson was honored, as always, Tuesday on the 78th anniversary of him breaking the color barrier in MLB. He did so with the Dodgers, who had a celebration for the late Robinson that involved Los Angeles Lakers great Abdul-Jabbar, who grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in New York. 

In between telling stories about getting into fights with New York Giants and Yankees fans as a kid, saying he always made sure his Dodgers hat wasn’t knocked off, Abdul-Jabbar also called out Trump for wanting to "get rid of DEI," or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. 

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"I think it’s just a ruse to discriminate," Abdul-Jabbar told the crowd, via The New York Times. "So, I’m glad that we do things like this, to let everybody in the country know what’s important. They also tried to get rid of Harriet Tubman. But that didn’t work. There was just uproar about that. But you have to take that into consideration when we think about what’s going on today."

Trump issued an executive order last month to terminate DEI offices, positions and programs within the federal government. It also terminated equity-related grants and contracts, among other orders. 

The White House provided a "fact sheet" for the executive order, saying it is "restoring the values of individual dignity, hard work, and excellence."

YANKEES STAY COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AMID MLB'S QUIET ROLLBACK OF DEI

"President Trump believes that hiring in all parts of government should be based solely on merit," the fact sheet from the White House said.

The executive order, however, led to the scrubbing of many websites where DEI was involved, which included the Department of Defense website that highlighted Robinson’s military service. Abdul-Jabbar also brought up Tubman, whose page with the National Park Service had to be restored, just as Robinson’s with the Department of Defense. 

For Robinson, a story titled "Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Great Jackie Robinson Was WWII Soldier," was taken down briefly before being restored. ESPN initially reported it was taken down, which led the media to pounce on the executive order. 

The DOD released a statement saying a group was instructed to flag any pages considered DEI content. They were only given a week to examine thousands of documents, and human error came into play due to the condensed timeline. Mistakes were made, including the flagging of Robinson’s article. 

"Over the past few weeks, we've taken action to identify and archive DEI content from our websites and social media platforms," Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, said in a statement last month. 

"Without question, this task was an arduous but incredibly important undertaking. We enforced an aggressive timeline for our DOD services and agencies to comb through a vast array of content, while ensuring that our force remains ready and lethal." 

But it wasn’t just federal. MLB removed references to diversity in its career page in the past month, according to the Times. 

Abdul-Jabbar believes what Robinson fought for in baseball is still being dealt with today. 

"Jackie had an idea of what we had to confront," Abdul-Jabbar said. "We had to confront segregation. And, in many ways, we’re still confronting it. But it’s worth it. And it certainly makes people respect us as a country when they see that there is some tension there, and good people are trying to do the right thing."

The Dodgers were ridiculed by some for visiting Trump at the White House to celebrate their 2024 World Series victory. 

Manager Dave Roberts explained the team’s reasoning for going to the White House Tuesday. 

"I don’t personally view it as talking out of both sides of our mouth," he said. "I understand how people feel that way. But I do think that supporting our country, staying unified, aligned, is what I believe in personally. I just believe in doing things the right way, and I think people are going to have their opinions on what we did last week. 

"But I do know that we all stand unified, and we all have different stories and backgrounds and economic, political beliefs. But I was proud that we all stood together."

Roberts was also peppered with questions about Robinson, DEI and more before facing the Colorado Rockies Tuesday.

"This country needs a wake-up call," Roberts said. "I kind of touched on it a little bit (during the remembrance). This is not a one-day situation. It’s Jackson Robinson’s day for breaking the color barrier, but this is like an everyday sort of mindset, appreciation."

The Yankees remain committed to diversity and inclusion despite the national rollbacks of DEI programs. 

"We are continually working with the members of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee and are actively engaged with our neighbors and community partners," Yankees senior vice president of corporate and community relations Brian Smith told the New York Daily News on Jackie Robinson Day. 

"Our dedication towards these efforts remains unchanged, and our Diversity and Inclusion Committee continues to do its work."

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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