FIGHT LIKE FORTY-TWO A Call for Economic Withdrawal and Moral Accountability from the Texas Rangers Baseball Club.

 

FIGHT LIKE FORTY-TWO

A Call for Economic Withdrawal and Moral Accountability from the Texas Rangers Baseball Club. Story: https://www.readeyeblack.com/p/reviving-the-racist-history-of-the-texas-rangers-was-a-team-effort

Contact: Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

817-966-7625 | kptatum1@gmail.com | www.newmountrose.com

North Texas civil rights leaders are rising with one voice—clear, courageous, and uncompromising—calling for an immediate economic withdrawal from the Texas Rangers Baseball Club until the “One Ranger, One Riot” display is removed from Globe Life Field.

This is not a call rooted in anger—it is a call anchored in justice. It is a demand for dignity. It is a declaration that history must be told truthfully, not selectively. Symbols that reflect a legacy of racial violence and injustice—without context, accountability, or correction—have no place in spaces that claim to represent unity, community, and progress.

We stand in the enduring tradition of the civil rights movement, which has always understood a fundamental truth: when systems refuse to listen, economic power makes them hear.

“Jackie Robinson would boycott the Texas Rangers for this insensitive act of racism,” said Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., president of the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas. “Jackie Robinson was more than a baseball player—he was a freedom fighter in uniform. He challenged injustice at great personal cost. To honor his legacy requires more than celebration—it requires conviction and action.”

Pastor Tatum continued:

“We will not spend another dime with this organization until they acknowledge their wrongdoing and take meaningful, measurable steps toward reconciliation. This is about accountability. This is about respect. And this is about the moral responsibility we all share to confront injustice wherever it stands.”

This call also comes with deep disappointment. In 2021, the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas entered into partnership with the Texas Rangers Baseball Club to help increase engagement and attendance from Black communities across North Texas. That effort was rooted in good faith, shared vision, and the hope of building bridges.

Leaders now say the placement of the “One Ranger, One Riot” display inside Globe Life Field represents a profound breach of that trust—a step backward that undermines the very relationships that were being built.

“The insanity of white supremacy makes no sense—and it does not meet the needs of the people,” Pastor Tatum said.

The Fight Like Forty-Two Movement is a modern-day call to conscience—drawing strength from the legacy of Jackie Robinson and the broader civil rights struggle. It calls upon churches, community leaders, organizations, families, and allies across North Texas and beyond to stand united by withholding financial support until change is realized.

This movement is not about tearing down—it is about lifting truth up. It is about ensuring that the stories we elevate reflect the values we claim to uphold.

In that spirit, organizers are mobilizing alternative ways to honor Jackie Robinson on April 15—events centered on education, empowerment, economic justice, and community unity. These gatherings will celebrate Robinson not only as a pioneer in sports, but as a prophetic voice for equality, dignity, and human rights.

“This is bigger than baseball,” organizers declare. “This is about what we choose to honor—and what we refuse to ignore. It is about whether we have the courage to align our actions with our values.”

Now is the moment.

People of goodwill are encouraged to stand in solidarity, support alternative commemorations, and make a conscious decision not to attend the April 15 game.

Don’t just remember Forty-Two. Fight like Forty-Two.