Jackie Robinson mural in Miami defaced with hate speech

Miami murals honoring baseball trailblazers Jackie Robinson and Minnie Minoso were defaced with swastikas and racist slurs this week.

The vandalism in the city's Overtown neighborhood was reported Monday to police, who told The Athletic on Friday that they are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

The defacements of the murals in Dorsey Park included swastikas painted over the players' faces and a racial slur scrawled on Robinson's image.

"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."

Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. The Hall of Famer's uniform No. 42 is retired throughout the big leagues.

Minoso, who was born in Cuba, also broke ground as the first Black Latino player when he played for Cleveland in 1949. He was inducted into Cooperstown in 2022.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) 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."

In 2024, a statue of Robinson was stolen from a park in Wichita, Kan., and later found burned and dismantled.

--Field Level Media