UPDATED 12/14, 3:20 p.m. ET: On Monday the team put out a news release confirming less than 24-hour-old reports that it'll be changing its name.
No indication was given as to what that new team name will be, though the release did say that it will be "non-Native American based." It also spelled Cleveland incorrectly in the headline.
Oh well, typos happen. So long as that same spelling isn't on any new uniforms it shouldn't be too big of an issue.
See original story below.
Following in the footsteps of the Washington Football Team, the Cleveland Indians will finally drop its racist team name after years of criticism.
According to a report from the New York Times, three sources familiar with the decision say the MLB team is moving away from its offensive moniker, with an official announcement that could come as soon as next week.
For the 2019 season, Cleveland’s baseball team decided to phase out its cartoonishly racist Chief Wahoo logo from its uniforms. One source told the NYT that Cleveland intends to use its current name for the 2021 season, before abandoning it as early as 2022.
Cleveland’s baseball team got its name back in 1915, and has been publicly considering a name change since the summer. It’s unclear if the team has any alternative names in mind, or if plans to take a page from the Washington Football Team, which abandoned its racist name back in July, and has yet to choose a replacement.
The decision comes during a larger and longer conversation regarding racist tropes in American sports, as public recognition of the systemic structures that have and continue to exploit Indigenous people grows. The Cleveland baseball team has been one of many sports teams criticized by Native groups and activists, with protests taking place during Cleveland’s home opener each spring.
“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 in July. “We are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.”
