Without A Native American Logo – The Name Indians Is Racist

Before I begin, I feel I should put my cards on the table. I am a lifelong Clevelander. I'm also a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan. I grew up with Chief Wahoo. There may be thousands of Chief Wahoo images in my house.

Growing up in the 50's and 60's Westerns were a very popular television program format. It was common to feature Native Americans (referred to back then as Indians) on those shows. The characteristics those people showed were that they were fierce, brave, and honorable. To me at the time those were good characteristics for my favorite baseball team to emulate. I considered Chief Wahoo to just be a cartoon. I never felt he truly represented anybody or anything other than the baseball team.

The Chief has been diminished in the last few years.

One of my favorite memories of Chief Wahoo were the daily cartoons of the Chief in the Plain Dealer years ago. The Chief would be depicted as happy or sad depending on the outcome of the previous nights game. Perhaps the most memorable sign in Cleveland history was the giant neon Chief Wahoo swinging a bat at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

As far as team history goes, the Cleveland baseball club was a charter member of the American League in 1901. It used various names and became known as the Cleveland Indians in 1915. This was because one of the popular former players, Louis Sockalexis was a Native American. The Cleveland Indians have actually used a caricature of a Native American as a logo since 1928. Some were more offensive than others. The present version has been used since 1951.

The Chief stood over the old stadium.

Over time, I have realized that the use of Chief Wahoo was on life support. Times, attitudes, and sensitivities change. Back in the day, I ate at a restaurant chain called Sambo's without thinking twice about it. Today that inappropriate name seems obvious. I now believe if Chief Wahoo offends a group or race of people, then it should be changed. I'm tired of this distraction if an acceptable logo could be found

In the past I have written a HWR blog about this controversy. (Here's a link How The Indians Can Do Right By The Indians). In the article I suggested that instead of being embarrassed by the name or logo – it could be celebrated. Celebrate the Native American history and culture. Start a scholarship program for the Native American people. Play a preseason game on Indian land with proceeds going to the tribes. Bring attention to their modern problems and place in our country's history. I agree with an idea Terry Pluto had to hire a Native American artist to design a modern and more respectful logo or new Chief.

To me, the fact that the Cleveland Indians will still market and profit from Chief Wahoo gear seams a bit curious. Wahoo is good enough to sell, just not good enough for the team uniforms anymore. The argument that they want to still own the logo for protection from misuse wont work. With the number of tee shirt shops in Cleveland, facsimiles of the Chief will be used for decades to come.

So now we are left with the block C as the sole logo for the Cleveland Indians. There are no graphic references to Indians or Native Americans at all. But that's another problem. Without a Native American logo, the name Indians is racist.

I an not a Native American. However, if I was, I would not like to be referred to as an Indian. The term American Indian might be more palatable. To me an Indian refers to the people of Asia. Those people have little connection with Cleveland baseball. If they did maybe the new logo could be a picture of Gandhi with a bat.

If Chief Wahoo, or a modern version is gone for good, then the name Indians makes no sense.

As far as on the field results that matter, Chief Wahoo had one World Championship in 1948. But the block C also had one World Championship in 1920. I only hope it won't be much longer for another.