Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Cleveland Indians, finally put the racist “Chief Wahoo” logo to rest after creating controversies for so long. The Chief Wahoo logo has been a part of the team and has appeared on jerseys and stadium posters since the year of 1948. However, with the end of the 2018 MBL season also came the end of the Chief Wahoo logo.
The Chief Wahoo logo was seen as offensive, outdated and racist to many but wasn’t removed as it held sentimental value to dedicated fans. Some even viewed this symbol as tradition and a way to honor Indigenous People (Freng &Willis-Esqueda, 2011). For decades, there has been many attempts to remove the symbol from the Cleveland Indians but all trials were rejected until 2018. MBL Commissioner, Rob Manfred stated that, “Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game. Over the past year, we encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the club’s use of the Chief Wahoo logo”. In 2018, Manfred and Indians team owner, Paul Dolan came to a consensus that the logo was no longer appropriate and that it would not return starting in the 2019 MBL season.
Grace Gormley
Sport, Not Games ⚽ 