Jackie Robinson, Minnie Miñoso murals desecrated with hate speech in Miami
Murals honoring baseball trailblazers Jackie Robinson and Minnie Miñoso in Miami's historic Overtown neighborhood were defaced this week with racist graffiti, including swastikas and a slur.
The Miami Police Department was notified of the crime Monday afternoon, and the department's special investigations unit has been investigating the incident as a hate crime, Officer Michael Vega said on Friday.
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The paintings are located at Dorsey Park, a historic Negro League park located in Overton, a neighborhood that was known as the 'Harlem of the South' during segregation.
The defacements included spray-painted swastikas over Robinson's and Miñoso's faces and a racist slur on Robinson's mural. The vandalism was discovered by a seven-year-old boy who asked his mother what it meant, Nicole Crooks of the community group Catalyst Miami told reporters.
'This was an act of hate, but it will not define us,' Kyle Holbrook, the artist who painted the mural in 2011 as part of the MLK Mural Project, told The Miami Herald. 'This mural was born from a community's pride, history, and power. We will restore it — stronger, bolder, and with even more purpose. Black history is American history. And no spray paint can erase that truth.'
Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant, director of Miami's Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum, told reporters this week it was important for 'the community to uncover the hurt and the hatred that is existing.'
U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) called the vandalism a 'vile act of hatred' in a Wednesday statement.
'We must treat this for what it is: a hate crime meant to instill fear and division,' she said. 'But we will not be intimidated. We will respond with unity, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to truth, justice, and the preservation of our history.'
Wooden boards currently cover parts of the mural as crews work to remove the graffiti and restore the artwork.
Robinson and Miñoso played integral roles in breaking baseball's color barrier in the 1940s. Robinson became the first Black player in the major leagues when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Miñoso, who was born in Cuba, was the league's first Black Latino player when he played for Cleveland in 1949.
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Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 after a 10-year MLB career that included a Rookie of the Year Award, six consecutive All-Star selections, the 1949 National League MVP Award and a 1955 World Series ring.
Miñoso was inducted in 2022, 42 years after his last appearance in the majors as a 56-year-old with the Chicago White Sox. His MLB career spanned 17 seasons from 1949 to 1980. He made nine American League All-Star teams and won three Gold Glove Awards.
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