Community rallies to replace a Jackie Robinson statue after it was stolen from a Kansas little league park
Jaimarius Barnes, an 11-year-old in the Wichita, Kansas-based League 42 baseball organization, planned on suiting up for games this season just feet away from a Jackie Robinson statue.
Jaimarius Barnes, an 11-year-old in the Wichita, Kansas-based League 42 baseball organization, planned on suiting up for games this season just feet away from a Jackie Robinson statue.
“He really inspires me because he played baseball and I now play baseball,” Jaimarius said in an interview. “It means a lot. He’s a person you can look up to.”
Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 265 pounds, the bronze monument outside the McAdams Park backstop represented hope for Jaimarius and other Black children looking to learn the game.
But back in January, those dreams were dashed. The statue of the legendary Brooklyn Dodgers player and civil rights icon, who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947, was chopped off at the feet and days later found smoldering in a trash can. Local authorities said there was no evidence of a hate crime and added that the statue appeared to have been stolen to sell off its metal.
News of the incident sparked national outrage.
Rating: 5