The Cleveland Indians finally made the decision to at least scale back the use of the Chief Wahoo logo, starting next season, when the racist caricature will be removed from Indians uniforms, mostly so that the Cleveland Indians will be allowed to host the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. It’s a half-measure, and a cynical one, and Native American protesters are still at work trying to convince the franchise and MLB to fully move on from the racist logo. Per a cleveland.com report:
As they have for 25 years, people gathered outside Progressive Field during opening day to protest the team’s name and Chief Wahoo logo, which they say are racist and dishonor the heritage of indigenous people.
Led by the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance, demonstrators marched from West 25th Street to the Ontario Avenue side of Progressive Field, where they held signs and chanted at people entering the ballpark.
This should not be a very controversial thing. On the one side, a deeply marginalized and violently oppressed group finds a caricature offensive; on the other side, some fans of a baseball team enjoy the status quo. Quick, guess which of those two groups behaved worse at Friday’s Indians home opener:
Indians fans insisting that Chief Wahoo isn’t meant to be disrespectful to Native Americans, and then mocking Native American protesters with that stereotyped War Cry noise. Goddamn.
H/t Brandt