With spring training just around the corner, Major League Baseball made a decision with their franchise, the Cleveland Indians, to discontinue the use of the Chief Wahoo logo from the players’ jerseys after the 2018 season. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement, “Major League Baseball is committed to building a culture of diversity and inclusion throughout the game. Over the past year, we have encouraged dialogue with the Indians organization about the club’s use of the Chief Wahoo logo. During our constructive conversations, [Indians owner] Paul Dolan made clear that there are fans who have a long-standing attachment to the logo and its place in the history of the team.”

MLB and the Indians have elected to have the Native American caricature removed from the on-field uniforms for the 2019 season, but the Chief will still be sold in Northeast Ohio and the Indians’ spring training facility in Goodyear, AZ. The franchise will now focus on a block “C” logo and there are no future plans to change the team’s name.

As increasingly more stories like this have been surfacing, some fans of the team have not been taking it lightly; still, others have been waiting a long while for these changes. After the news broke, fans took to Facebook to share their opinions.

“This was a solid decision. The logo lives, and the organization can continue to profit from the sale of merchandise and not lose their intellectual property rights to it. What I don’t get is the reasoning – who exactly would be traumatized by the team no longer using it on the field? Are the games somehow less enjoyable because Wahoo isn’t on the uniform?”

“They should be honored that Major League Baseball would want to name a team after them and make a logo I bet if you told them they would pay them royalties to the logo then they would love it”

“Team sports should be named after birds animals or your beloved trucks not a segment of the population. It is definitely time for humankind to have some sensitivity to how it feels to have your race religion ethnicities or the color of your skin ridiculed. Tired of this get over it attitude try kindness life is better that way.”

“Give me a break. Everyone is so sensitive. The name of the team is Cleveland Indians. I can’t take it!”

“Native American here….I like the logos and the names in sports. They also come from a different time. I find them to be more of a tribute tbh… let it go people”

“I’ve always appreciated Chief Wahoo as a proud symbol of my people … Chief Wahoo has always meant the world to me as a positive, perhaps even heroic, zeitgeist of our proud Native heritage. We will miss you Chief Wahoo.”

The Cleveland Indians are not the first team under fire for their “politically incorrect” name. The Washington Redskins are notorious for their controversial team name and logo, as are the Chicago Blackhawks, Illinois Fighting Illini Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, McGill Redmen, Florida State Seminoles and many more.

The argument is charged by the stereotypical logos of Native Americans matched with names of cultural groups, primarily that of Native Americans or Native American tribes. While many claim the franchises to be racist and offensive to all minority groups, others defend the team saying the monikers are signs of “strength, courage, pride and respect.”  In a Washington Post poll, nine in ten Native Americans say they are not offended by the team’s names. Native Americans have stepped in to say their part:

“Every argument they use is emotionally charged, and emotion doesn’t win a debate.” – Michael Owens, 19, Cherokee

“Let’s start taking care of our people and quit worrying about names like Washington Redskins” – Rusty Whitworth, 58, Flathead Indian Reservation

“That’s not as bad as the n-word for African Americans” – Brian Gladden, 55, Shawnee

“We should be proud to have a team named after us” – Jean Manfred, 72, Pamunkey

“I take pride in it. Most people I see griping about it are not Native Americans” – James Scott, 40, Cherokee and Delaware Tribes

“I’m proud of being Native American and of the Redskins…I like that name.” – Barbara Bruce, 70,  Chippewa

While this attention is circulating through the sports world, some LF/LB residents are wondering about the future of the Scout mascot, including the Native American representation adorned on the Competition Gym wall given to the school by the class of 1979. The Athletic Department at LFHS has been slowly waning out the Scout logo in its Native American connotations and implementing the LF spear into jerseys and gear. The decision to use this logo was motivated by aesthetics rather than political correctedness. Mr. Burkhalter, the school’s Athletic Director, describes a Scout as the “toughest of the tough, strongest of the strong, bravest of the brave.” According to Burkhalter, there are no current plans to change or remove the Scout mascot.