The question has always been should baseball's Cleveland Indians change their "red man" MLB logo. The debate has been going on for years. The original intent of the logo was to was to honor a great native american baseball player, Louis Sockalexis. The spectacular athlete played in Cleveland from 1897-99. The mascot is a red-skinned, buck teeth, caricature of an Indian. The whole controversy over the logo first began in 1944 when a large crowd of members of the American Indian Movement flocked into the new stadium to protest the logo. They called it a racial stereotype of real Native Americans. The nickname and its cartoon logo have been criticized for perpetuating Native American stereotypes and from time to time many protests have arisen. The Blackhawks, Chiefs, Indians, and Redskins are all names of professional sports teams that use "Indians" for their nicknames, logos and mascots. Many high school and college teams also use similar nicknames.
I think their Indian mascot is fine and there is no need to change it. They have had it for years, I believe they should keep it! They are nicknamed "the Tribe" and "the Wahoos".
Protest video #1
1 comment:
I agree that the logo should remain the same. Back when it was introduced, there was not a racist connotation meant to be associated with the logo. If the Indians change the logo, the whole team's image will change and it will lose its history in a way. It was meant to honor Louis and taking it away will erase his memory and be demeaning.
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