Canada Tried To Ban The Indians' Logo And Team Name Before Game 3 Of The ALCS Tonight
This is like a South Park episode. You’ve got America trying to ban Terrance and Phillip in 1999, and 17 years later, you’ve got Canada trying to ban Chief Wahoo right before a playoff game in Toronto. Bananas.
Here’s how I’m going to sort this one out. On one side, fuck this lawyer guy who waited all this time to take action against the Indians logo and team name. I wrote about this last week, after the Blue Jays play-by-play guy said that he refuses to say “Indians” on the broadcast, and I talked about how it’s very clearly a racist logo. But if it offended you so much, then why did you wait until the DAY that the Indians came to Toronto for Game 3 of the ALCS before you did something about it? Are you doing this because you think it’s the right thing to do, or are you doing it because you know that all eyes will now be on you, since this game is being played on such a big stage?
KFC actually wrote about the Indians logo being offensive almost exactly three years ago, when the National Congress of American Indians released the photo above to provide context as to how racist the Indians Chief Wahoo logo is, so obviously this isn’t anything new. But Jerry Justice wants to spring into action RIGHT now, because he knows it’s a high profile series that’ll garner a lot of attention for him. Fuck outta here.
But for the folks who are on the side of, yeah, we should probably trash the Chief Wahoo logo, you won’t get any pushback from me. However, Cleveland Indians, I’m lookin’ at you. Back in April, Indians owner Paul Dolan made it seem like the Chief Wahoo logo was taking a backseat to a new logo, although he did also mention that the Indians have “no plans to get rid of Chief Wahoo, it is part of our history and legacy.”
“We have gone to the Block C as our primary mark,” said Tribe owner Paul Dolan. “Clearly, we are using it more heavily than we are the Chief Wahoo logo.”
The Indians have played five postseason games at the time of me writing this, and they’ve worn the Block C caps zero times. So, “clearly” they’re not using it very heavily at all. I can obviously see why Native Americans would find that logo to be racist, and that photo puts the whole thing in perfect context. But it’s the timing of this outrage up in Canada that rubs me the wrong way. Again, are you really trying to defend Native Americans, or are you capitalizing on a “look at me” opportunity?
Because of this ridiculous court hearing, MLB had to release a statement in regards to the use of the Chief Wahoo logo and the Cleveland Indians team name.
“Major League Baseball appreciates the concerns of those that find the name and logo of the Cleveland Indians to be offensive. We would welcome a thoughtful and inclusive dialogue to address these concerns outside the context of litigation. Given the demands for completing the League Championship Series in a timely manner, MLB will defend Cleveland’s right to use their name that has been in existence for more than 100 years.”
Boom. Perfect. Yes, we realize it’s offensive, and we’re open to discussing how we can handle this in an appropriate manner, but fuck you for trying to make it about you and take matters into your own hands in the middle of a postseason series, especially when that logo has existed since the 1940’s, and everybody that was alive when the team was officially named the Indians has since died of old age.