Native American Group Suing The Cleveland Indians For 9 Billion Dollars Over Chief Wahoo

CLEVELAND – The red block letter C for Cleveland seems to be replacing Chief Wahoo outside Progressive Field. But not everyone sees it that way. Robert Roche is the director of the American Indian Education Center and one of the plaintiffs planing to file a federal lawsuit in late July against the Cleveland Indians. The group says the team’s name and the Chief Wahoo logo are racist. The group wants a lot of money to help Native Americans with education, job training and housing. “We’re going to be asking for $9 billion and we’re basing it on a hundred years of disparity, racism, exploitation and profiteering,” Roche said. “If just a small amount of people are against it, than I think you’re doing a disservice to people that like it,” said Bob Rosen. Rosen is president of the Wahoo Club. Rosen said he sees only a few protesters on Opening Day, but thousands of Indians fans embrace Chief Wahoo as a friendly, loyal symbol “I’m not insensitive to the issue, but our 1,650 members of the Wahoo Club, anytime we have a Wahoo Club item they but it up they love it,” Rosen said.

9 billion dollars is enough to lose your self-respect, right? I’m asking. Because as a white Catholic, there’s really nothing you can say to me that deeply affects me and shakes me ancestral roots. Nothing that will bring up horrific memories of enslavement or genocide or Manifest Destiny. But if there was such a term for my people, if you gave us 9 billion dollars then I’d say that’s plenty and you can go on saying it to your heart’s content. We joke about we basically wiped out an entire indigenous population and stole all their land but gave them casinos so we’re even. But if I was a Native American I really think this would make me OK with Chief Wahoo, just as long as they didn’t actually do dumb shit with it like job training. Just split it up and give it to everyone, then you don’t need jobs. Idiot.

PS – Strong rebuttal by Bob Rosen. “Sure it’s insensitive to an entire race of people, but we’ve got 1,650 white Clevelanders who are card carrying members of the Wahoo Club and love their discounts at local restaurants, soooooo…”