The plinth where the statue of Jackie Robinson once stood at McAdams Park in Wichita is empty. Thieves made off with it Jan. 25, 2024. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector)
Whoever stole Jackie Robinson from a Wichita park and burned him in effigy attempted to send a hateful message to the community, that equality and justice and even the power of dreams matter not.
Whatever the motive for the crime — whether it was premediated racial hate or an opportunistic act of vandalism — the theft of the statue and its subsequent fiery destruction have struck at the heart of the community. But the city’s calm and measured response, and the outpouring of support from nearly every quarter, provide us with hope that Robinson’s legacy lives on in the collective heart of Wichita.
Six months after Kansas garnered international attention over the bone-headed police raid on the tiny newspaper at Marion, the theft of the Jackie Robinson statue from its homebase-shaped plinth at McAdams Park in Wichita is again bringing unwelcome attention to Kansas.