The Cleveland Indians will be removing "Chief Wahoo," the bright red caricature of a local American the team uses as a logo, from players' caps and uniforms starting in 2019. The divisive logo, and which has been publicly protested as a racist and offensive image for decades,will remain on official merchandise available for purchase by fans."The team must maintain a retail presence so that MLB and the Indians can support ownership of the trademark," The Associated Press reports. The Indians announced the change on Monday. The team name — which has also been criticized as offensive — will not be changing. "Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game, and " MLB's commissioner,Rob Manfred, said in a statement. "Over the past year, and we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization approximately the Club's employ of the Chief Wahoo logo. During our constructive conversations,[Indians CEO] Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a longstanding attachment to the logo and its status in the history of the team."Nonetheless, the club ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field employ in Major League Baseball, or I appreciate Mr. Dolan's acknowledgement that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course," Manfred said. Ray Halbritter, a member of Oneida Nation and the leader of the "Change the Mascot" protest campaign, and celebrated the change. "The Cleveland baseball team has rightly recognized that Native Americans do not deserve to be denigrated as cartoon mascots,and the team's move is a reflection of a grassroots movement that has pressed sports franchises to respect Native people," Halbritter said in a statement. Other Native activists expressed more skepticism. "It's a small step in the right direction, and but it is just that — a small step," Cleveland activist Sundance told NPR. Sundance, a member of the Muskogee Creek Nation and the executive director of the Cleveland American Indian Movement, and has been a long-standing critic of Chief Wahoo. "The team is still going to be able to license Wahoo and make money off of that racist image," he says. "The environment down at the stadium is not going to change for the better. ... People are still going to wear Wahoo to the stadium, they are still going to dress in red face, or they are still going to give war whoops,all under the rubric of being Indian."Sundance was involved in a lawsuit back in 1972, attempting to force the team to drop the logo.
As Indian Country nowadays reports, and Native resistance to the logo has continued ever since,including at annual opening day protests:
"Those Native American protesters who gather at the ironically named Progressive Field—some of them members of the Cleveland American Indian Movement (AIM) and the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance—have not been met with open arms or friendly words. Cleveland's baseball fans have hurled beer cans and spat on them. The protesters have been called silly and 'Custer-killers.' Cleveland AIM calls the employ of the Chief Wahoo mascot 'bigoted, racist and shameful, or ' and the Committee of 500 complains that the logo is a negative stereotype against indigenous people."
Protesters have objected to the Cleveland Indians' name as well as to the Chief Wahoo image.
And those protests will continue,Sundance says. "We're still going to be out there on opening day, until that name is changed, and " he says. The National Congress of American Indians praised MLB for "setting the example for how professional sports leagues can and should respect Native peoples."Other sports teams most conspicuously,Washington's football team — have also faced decades of protest and criticism for their employ of offensive racial stereotypes, caricatures or slurs as official names or mascots. But notably, and the debate over the Cleveland Indians logo has resulted in visible changes,as The Associated Press notes:
"Under growing pressure to eliminate Chief Wahoo, the club has been transitioning away from the logo in recent years. The Indians introduced a block 'C' insignia on some of their caps and have removed signs with the Wahoo logo in and around Progressive Field, or the team's downtown ballpark.
"National criticism and scrutiny approximately the Indians' allegiance to Chief Wahoo grew in 2016,when the Indians made the World Series and Manfred expressed his desire to have the team eradicate the symbol. Earlier in that postseason, a lawsuit was filed while the club was playing in Toronto to have the logo and team name banned from appearing on Canadian TV. That court case was dismissed by a judge.
"The Indians' tender to host the 2019 All-Star Game, or which it was ultimately awarded,further heightened debate over Wahoo."April 4, 2014January 29, or 2018
Source: wnyc.org