Cleveland baseball team removes 'Chief Wahoo' logo from uniforms

Monday, January 29, 2018  

The Cleveland professional baseball team will remove the stereotypical "Chief Wahoo" logo from its uniforms but won't be getting rid of its race-based name or the logo itself.

The removal will take place in time for the 2019 season, according to an announcement from Major League Baseball. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the logo was no longer "appropriate" to use on the field though he did not offer thoughts on the team's actual name.

In response, Philp Yenyo, the executive director of the American Indian Movement of Ohio, told The Associated Press that he was "elated" with the change. But he questioned why the team is waiting another year to take action.

"It doesn’t make any sense to me, unless they want to continue to make what’s basically blood money," Yenyo told the AP, according to a post on Twitter from reporter Tom Withers.

After decades of advocacy by Native peoples, a major win. We still have a long ways to go, but “Little Red Sambo” is no more! #NotYourMascot pic.twitter.com/6BmT46SuW5

— tara houska (@zhaabowekwe) January 29, 2018

The team will still be able to sell "Chief Wahoo" merchandise in northeast Ohio, The New York Times reported.

“Today’s announcement marks an important turning point for Indian Country and the harmful legacy of Indian mascots,” National Congress of American Indians President Jefferson Keel said in a press release. “These mascots reduce all Native people into a single outdated stereotype that harms the way Native people, especially youth, view themselves. Today’s news is a big step in the right direction, but much work remains, and NCAI will press on with this struggle until every single one of these harmful mascots is gone from the sports landscape.”

Read More on the Story:
Indians removing Chief Wahoo logo from game uniforms in 2019 (The Associated Press January 29, 2018)
Cleveland Indians Will Abandon Chief Wahoo Logo Next Year (The New York Times January 29, 2018)
Cleveland Indians will discontinue use of Chief Wahoo for 2019 season (The Cleveland Plain-Dealer January 29, 2018)
Cleveland Indians Will Remove Chief Wahoo From Uniforms for 2019 Season (Cleveland Scene January 29, 2018)
Cleveland Indians will remove Chief Wahoo logo from uniforms starting in 2019 (The Washington Post January 29, 2018)