Cleveland’s Unthinking Racism(Waaaaaaaa!)

nytimes.com ^ | 10/29/2016 | David Leonhardt

[rktman]

For many of Cleveland’s passionate, patient baseball fans, their team’s logo is a joyful connection to the past. It’s a reminder of the players from their childhood and from generations earlier. The logo — which was the centerpiece of a 28-foot-high sign that welcomed fans to Cleveland’s old ballpark for many seasons — is one of the few constants across the decades.

But the logo is also an ugly racist caricature.

That much is undeniable, whatever else may be true. It consists of a cartoon face with bright red skin, grotesquely large teeth and a bent nose, topped by a single feather. The character is named Chief Wahoo, and the team, of course, is the Cleveland Indians.

[rktman]

Wait until you see the Fred Astaire post I just made. ;-)

[workerbee]

Sorry, my comment was aimed at this NYTimes author, not you.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Injun Indians

[Dilbert San Diego]

I heard that the Seminoles of Florida support the team name being used; it’s used by either Florida or Florida State, as I recall.

Anyway, the tribe fully supports the use of their name by the university for their team.

Maybe there’s money involved; I don’t know. But I do recall as this issue has come up, that when it was discussed in Florida, the Seminole tribe in Florida positively endorsed the use of their name for the sports teams.

[Rurudyne]

Indeed.

Political correctness means always being able to distract the PCdiots.

[Altura Ct.]

What we really need to get rid of is all the constant whiners and those who think they are somehow holier than thou.

[trebb]

I guess that's why GM got rid of the Pontiac line....when will they want them to rename the city?

Ironic since he was a respected warrior/leader who was respected enough to have lots of territory named for him....

[Ohioan]

Those sanctimonious twits who keep attacking teams for using American Indian names and mascots, are too full of their PC rectitude to appreciate just how insulting they--not the teams under attack--are to the various American Indian nations involved.

Consider this. No one protests Notre Dame using the term "Fighting Irish," because no one is stupid enough to believe that that name insults people of Irish lineage. They recognize that it is the opposite of an insult. It flatters the ability of the Irish to fight.

Similarly, no one attacks the use of the name "Yankees," by the New York American League baseball team.

Those who are insulting the heritage of Indian nations, are not the team owners or their fans. They are honoring that heritage. The disparagers are the sanctimonious PC twits, who continue the mindless attacks.

Of course the twits are also too stupid or confused to realize that they are being played by internationalists who want to abolish the very concept of race or ethnicity, to reduce all of us to the level of ants in a gigantic humanist ant hill. Any one with natural pride in any heritage will be the ultimate victim, if those under the idiotic attacks all cave in.

From an historic perspective, much of this PC lunacy is rooted in a two generation attack, via our "educational" system, on public perceptions of reality.

See Surrender By Subterfuge.

[uncitizen]

This is the stuff that pushed so many people to Trump. Yet they keep on doing it. Oh well, they are reaping the rewards of their BS.

[dfwgator]

That’s what FSU did with the Seminoles.

[mmichaels1970]

Loved the ‘73-’79. Had it painted on my bedroom wall.

[katana]

The Shawnee lived along the Ohio River valley. Other Ohio tribes included the Chippewa (there was an old camp and lake amusement park near Cleveland under that name when I was a kid), Ottawa (came in from Ontario), Delaware (aka Lenape, from the Delaware region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, relocated after being cheated of their land by PA's proprietors in Britain, the Penn family ... I'm a descendant on my mother's Ohio side).

Ohio was fought over fiercely. It was a rich land with rivers everywhere, a great lake passage to the Atlantic to the north, and river passage to the Mississipi and Gulf of Mexico to the south. The tribes here lived in organized towns and all of them were forcibly pushed west after the battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. So what we have left are just place names and, as with me, some ancestry.

The baseball team went through several name changes but settled on "Indians" in 1915, a nickname the Cleveland Spiders acquired at the end of the 19th century because one of their star players was a Penobscot named Louis Sockalexis (picture below). Possibly the first Native American to be on a major league baseball team. The "L" on his jersey probably relates to the former team's name "Lakeshores".

So to sum up, we've got every freaking right to claim Indians as our team's symbol. And having seen Chief Wahoo on baseball caps worn on the reservations, the objections are mostly from ever offended pasty faced Liberals who should butt out and find something productive to occupy their time with.

[steve8714]

“Lighten up, Francis”.

[Salman]

It's a caricature of Bob Feller. :)

[zeugma]

But the logo is also an ugly racist caricature. That much is undeniable

I absolutely deny it.

[Right Wing Assault]

Looks joost like me ooncle Seamus!

[Right Wing Assault]

Thanks for the great history!

...pasty faced Liberals who should butt out and find something productive to occupy their time with.

The job of all true libs is to find something people like and set out to destroy it.