Current Events > Cleveland Indians will no longer wear Chief Wahoo logo on uniforms

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/sports/baseball/cleveland-indians-chief-wahoo-logo.html

The Cleveland Indians will stop using the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms beginning in 2019, according to Major League Baseball, which said the popular symbol was no longer appropriate for use on the field.

The logo has long been the source of anguish and frustration for those who consider it offensive, outdated and racist, but for many of the teams fans it is a cherished insignia a divide that has played out at all levels of sports in recent years with teams featuring such nicknames and insignias. Most universities have stopped using Native American nicknames, while other teams like the Washington Redskins in the N.F.L., for example, have resisted growing pressure to do so.

Chief Wahoo, a cartoonish caricature of a Native American that has assumed several forms over the years, first appeared on the Indians uniforms in 1948. In recent decades various groups across North America have appealed to the team to renounce the logo, to no avail. But over the past year the commissioner of baseball, Rob Manfred, has pressured Paul Dolan, Clevelands chairman and chief executive, to make a change.

Citing a goal of diversity and inclusion, Manfred said in a statement provided to The New York Times that the Indians organization ultimately agreed with my position that the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball, and I appreciate Mr. Dolans acknowledgment that removing it from the on-field uniform by the start of the 2019 season is the right course.

Cleveland has been edging away from the logo in recent years and has used it less frequently, but beginning in 2019 it will not be seen at all on the teams uniforms, or on banners and signs in Progressive Field, the teams stadium. Consumers will still be able to purchase items with the logo on them at the teams souvenir shops in the stadium and at retail outlets in the northern Ohio market, but those items will not be available for sale on M.L.B.s website.

We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion, Dolan said in a statement issued by M.L.B. While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, Im ultimately in agreement with Commissioner Manfreds desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.

Discussions about ending the use of the logo did not include deliberations over changing the actual name of the franchise, though opponents have also sought that over the years. Many schools and universities have changed their nicknames away from representations of American Indians. The St. Johns University Redmen, for example, became the Red Storm in 1994, and teams at the University of North Dakota, once known as the Fighting Sioux, have been the Fighting Hawks since 2015. But many teams still cling to the old names and likenesses despite pressure to eliminate them.

While getting rid of Chief Wahoo will be applauded by opponents, some may see it as only the first step toward the ultimate goal of changing the team name.

---

Dolan

---

So many people celebrating a stupid non issue,
---

it's good that sports teams are changing their logos. It doesn't matter that Native Americans don't find them offensive or don't care. They are even doing this for teams based on Vikings/Irish stereotypes.

Rather you think it's offensive or not you can't deny it's a stereotype. It doesn't matter if the logo was designed by a Native American decades ago. It's like being okay with black face logos. We can't keep only caring about racism if it's about black people. Other lives matter.

Sad, that logo is one of the most classic in sports
---

End of an era
---

If it's a non issue then no one should have an issue with the fact that it's being changed.

Win/Win for everyone!
---

I bet Wahoo isn't even a real Native American name
---

I always thought it looked stupid as a kid anyway.
---

Now I want Wahoo's Fish Tacos. :3
---

pikachupwnage posted...

So many people celebrating a stupid non issue,

It's a controversy with decades of history behind it. Hell, people have probably been protesting it since before you were born. So while you see it as a stupid non-issue, obviously it's important to quite a few people including those who have spent decades defending the mascot.
---

Anisoptera posted...

It doesn't matter if the logo was designed by a Native American decades ago.

It wasn't, for the record.
---

zH0mPfR posted...

Now I want Wahoo's Fish Tacos. :3

Their creamed collards are my new jesus
---

So like, if they changed the skin color to tan, would it still be offensive? Serious question.
---

It's not a win/win because Chief Wahoo is an excellent logo. And they've been using it for decades. There have been a few tweaks, but they essentially started using that exact logo in 1951.

Also, the logo they replaced it with is horrendous


---

It's not racist. It's a cartoon character, of course it's not going to look exactly like a real person. No one cries that The Simpsons or South Park are racist due to their characters not looking exactly like real people. SJWs only cared about this because they can't miss an opportunity to virtue signal.
---

Usual suspects being usual suspects. Shocking.

Then just change the logo and name then, i say logo because that Red C sucks, im sorry
---

I will agree that the new logo is ugly.
---

I really hope they didn't pay somebody to come up with a giant red c as a replacement
---

None of my Native relatives gives a shit about this.

Of course all the white people here do.
---

eston posted...

zH0mPfR posted...

Now I want Wahoo's Fish Tacos. :3

Their creamed collards are my new jesus

I usually get their burrito + taco plate with a carne asada burrito, blackened fish taco, white rice, and black beans. If I'm extra hungry, I get it banzai style. Soooooo fucking good.
---

At best its a crappy 1940s caricature that somehow lasted this long as a logo.

I'd like more of a logo like the blackhawks, but of course they will stay away from anything that looks like a native American.

Also I never liked that generic c, hope they make new logos.
---

I'm a fan of Native American imagery in sports when done appropriately (see the Chicago Blackhawks and the former use by the U of I by Chief Illiniwek), but there's a world of difference between these:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/29/Chicago_Blackhawks_logo.svg/1200px-Chicago_Blackhawks_logo.svg.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3a/Illiniwek_logo.svg/1024px-Illiniwek_logo.svg.png

and this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/52/Cleveland_Indians_logo.svg/1200px-Cleveland_Indians_logo.svg.png

Stylistic imagery versus essentially a caricature. You can like all three or hate all three, but there is a line between them somewhere.
---

I'm not a fan of the block C that's the logo now but I understand why they're doing it. Also they used the same logo a long time ago so it's sort of a throwback
---

I am the type to say stop being easily offended, or sjw alert and such.

But nah I definitely see why this logo should be replaced.
---

they should change the logo to a bull
---

Fair, next. Logo is by far the worst in sports and a total mockery of people
---

even the fucking Cleveland Indians changed their logo before the Redskins
---

Damn_Underscore posted...

It's not a win/win because Chief Wahoo is an excellent logo. And they've been using it for decades. There have been a few tweaks, but they essentially started using that exact logo in 1951.

Also, the logo they replaced it with is horrendous

LOL they added a thing on the end so it doesn't looks like the Reds. Just awful.
---

Pretty sure the Redskins issue is much more the name than the logo.
---

DeathVelvien posted...

Pretty sure the Redskins issue is much more the name than the logo.

Yup
---

fenderbender321 posted...

I posted this in another topic, but it applies here as well:

Honestly if you're at a point in your life where you actually offended by a symbol, I really hope you don't have kids and pass on your pussy ass genes and make the species weaker overall. It's a fucking symbol. It isn't attacking you. It's there for YOU to decide how to react to it.

But I doubt those kinds of people actually exist. Nope...these days it's all just people *looking* for a reason to hate on somebody else. A reason to release their hateful energy and inner anger that is building up inside of them. It's the absolutely disgusting reality of what society is turning into it. It's as if people don't want anybody to be happy. We must all be miserable fucks. That's what the masses are pushing toward.

You are just the cutest little thing
---

Getting offended on behalf of other people is liberal America's favorite pastime.
---

K181 posted...

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3a/Illiniwek_logo.svg/1024px-Illiniwek_logo.svg.png

Now that's a badass logo
---

Chief Wahoo is kind of ridiculous regardless of whether anyone is offended, so I think this a good move. The Indians had been slowly phasing him out over the last few years, so this is nothing new or surprising.
---

Honestly, all they have to do is meet with a bunch of Native tribes and get them to design a new logo.
---