The Cleveland teamof the MLB announced in December of 2020 that they will be changing their team’s name after years of protest about the use of a racist team name and logo. This decision follows prominent systemic racism through the year 2020, and the Washington Football Team of the NFL dropping their team name as well. 

Once called the Cleveland Naps, the franchise changed their name in 1915 to the controversial name in reference to their third baseman Louis Sockalexis who is known as the first acknowledged Native American in baseball. Alongside this, over half of their fans counter the decision to change team names. 

Although there has been a lot of spotlight on racist team names in recent history, there are many others that have been discussing future steps for many years. There are the obvious racist team names and logos , including the Chicagoteam in the NHL which aerstill in use, but even teams names such as the Golden State Warriors feature a potentially racist background. 

These multi-million-dollar franchises seem to get a pass in regard to the use of racial terms, whether that be because of the unison that sports provide, or the history associated with a team name. Regardless, it does not change the fact that if one person individually used one of the terms that these franchises sport on their jerseys and merchandise it would be regarded as racist, and that is the issue. Ultimately, the negative connotations of the term ‘Indian’ outweigh the importance of the past history and its role in Cleveland sports. 

JamesM 

Featured Image: A fan wearing a custom t-shirt that features a crossed out Cleveland Logo Chief Wahoo, which was fazed out (Source: Rhett Butler, 2020)