'The Chief' takes a backseat
Some say that it’s racist. Others suggest that it is a rich part of the baseball team’s history. Chief Wahoo has been a part of the Cleveland Indians baseball team since 1947.
At first, the logo depicted a yellow-skinned, big nose “Indian” with black hair. Since then, the logo has evolved into a red-faced character with a toothy grin, slightly smaller nose and what appears to be a navy headdress. The mascot reigned in the 1990s but has since then faded out.
In light of the Washington Redskins controversy where owner Daniel Snyder suggests that he will “never” change the name of the team, the Cleveland Indians have decided to take a different approach to the growing controversy. Instead of speaking directly, the team has instead decided to alternate logos and slowly fade away the symbol of Chief Wahoo.
In an article, Curtis Danberg, the Indians senior director of communications, reminds everyone that the Indians rotate between three logos—the script “C”, the block letter “C”, and Chief Wahoo. Responding to the Redskins controversy, he goes on to say that, “[The team] is not reacting to any news. There is no conspiracy theory here.”
Since 2009, the baseball team has slowly faded to the block “C” letter. The “C” turns up in places like sports gear, the back of the pitcher’s mound and now, on top of the baseball helmets. Recently, leaked pictures of the baseball team’s 2014 practice jerseys came to the public’s attention. Nowhere on the jerseys does Chief Wahoo appear.
Kevin Keane, a freshman at Ohio University, believes that the logo is racist.
“When I was younger, I didn’t even realize what the logo was. I grew up an Indians fan and my family are huge supporters of the team. But as I got older and got to high school, I realized what it was. I think it puts a bad message towards professional teams.”
In a statement, Sundance, the director of the Cleveland American Indian Movement, protests that the logo is racist. “This behavior is exploitive, bigoted, racist and shameful. It makes fun of genocide and mocks mass murder. The logo is the head of an Indian. That means that he is an ex-Indian. This has been going on for 50 years. I hope it does not go on for another 50.”
Some people are adamant about keeping the long-time logo, however.They argue that the logo isn’t racist but is simply paying homage to Native Americans.
The Indians have been proactive when dealing with the issue of Chief Wahoo. For fans that have purchased tickets from the Indians website this past season, they were asked to take a survey. The goal of the survey was to measure the fans’ satisfaction with the team. In the survey, there was a question about Chief Wahoo and gauged how the fans thought about it.
As for now, the logo of Chief Wahoo is not completely erased, but rather taking a back seat.