Things are happening fast around the sports world when it comes to team names and mascots. With things changing to represent a more politically correct culture, the NFL’s Washington Redskins are now having discussions about changing their name.
MLB’s Cleveland Indians, who have boasted that name for more than a century, are also potentially set to follow suit.
Cleveland Indians prepared to discuss changing team name
“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice,” the team said in a statement Friday evening to Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic. “With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”
This would represent a dramatic change for Major League baseball and its team from Cleveland. In recent years, the term “Indian” has been seen as derogatory towards the native population.
All of this comes as statues seen as racist and depicting the Confederate States of America have been removed from multiple state capitals around the United States.
Cleveland Indians history
A charter member of the American League back in 1901, Cleveland’s baseball team was originally called the Bluebirds, Broncos and Naps before making the change to the Indians in 1915.
It was just last season that the Indians decided to get rid of their Chief Wahoo logo as it was seen as racist to the masses. It had led to annual Opening Day protests outside of the ballpark in Cleveland.