Mural honoring MLB legends Jackie Robinson and Minnie Minoso vandalized with sickening racist message

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

Murals honoring beloved baseball trailblazers Jackie Robinson and Minnie Miñoso were defaced with swastikas and hateful racist slurs in Miami this week.
Local police say the incident was reported Monday in at Dorsey Park in Overtown, a predominantly black area northwest of Downtown Miami. The Athletic has reported that the vandalism is being investigated as a hate crime.
Swastikas were painted over the murals' faces, with a racist slur written across Robinson's.
The murals were originally painted by artist Kyle Holbrook in 2011 as part of Martin Luther King project in the city.
'This was an act of hate, but it will not define us,' Holbrook 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.'
Born in Cuba in 1924, Miñoso was a breakout star with the Negro leagues' New York Cubans before becoming the first Afro-Latino player in Major League Baseball history. He'd go on to earn nine All-Star appearances, three gold gloves in left field, and have his No. 9 retired by the Chicago White Sox.
He died in 2015 – seven years before his posthumous induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Robinson arrived in the majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers a year before Miñoso in 1947 to breaking baseball's color barrier and helping to reinvigorate America's civil rights movement.
Remembered as an icon of integration, Robinson's exploits as a player are often overshadowed by his other contributions to society. But in addition to being an extraordinary running back at UCLA, Robinson would win the 1947 Rookie of the year in Brooklyn before taking MVP honors and the National League batting title two years later.
His No. 42 is retired throughout baseball, outside of Jackie Robinson day when it's worn by both the American and National Leagues.
Robinson was inducted into Cooperstown in 1962.
US congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (Democrat, Florida) has called the vandalism a 'vile act of hatred' in a statement Wednesday.
'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.'
A similar incident took place in Wichita, Kansas in 2024 when a Robinson statue was stolen, burned and destroyed.
In 2024, 45-year-old Ricky Alderete was arrested for the crime. Police say he intended to sell the metal for scrap. Ultimately Alderete got 18 months for theft in August of 2024.