ONtarget: World Series win overshadowed by Cleveland controversy

Why “honouring” these cultures is not an acceptable excuse

The World Series of baseball recently concluded with the Chicago Cubs defeating Cleveland to take home an historic victory. The Cubs had not won the World Series in 108 years.

The series was one for the story books. Cleveland led three games to one in a best of seven series. Chicago proceeded to do what only a few other teams have done before—come back from this deficit to win in game seven of the championship.

A truly beautiful sporting moment was unfortunately marred, as it has been in Cleveland for years, by protest from Native American groups happening outside the stadium.

Cleveland’s team, known as “the Indians,” is one of many sports teams in the world that have long used an inappropriate name and racist logo.Other teams include the Washington “Redskins,” Chicago “Blackhawks,” and the Edmonton “Eskimos.”

Many of these teams have often justified the use of their names and logos as honouring these cultures. The Cleveland organization claims that they cannot change the name as it is a long standing tradition in sport, as if that somehow justifies the hurt that has been caused. Cleveland said in 2013 that they would ditch the racist Chief Wahoo mascot, but despite that, they have continued to use the logo on their jerseys and advertisements.

The simple fact is that it is offending people, and mutual respect between cultures should not be controversial. This issue goes well beyond the team and into the world of media. Media’s use of the name without acknowledging the offence it causes, is in compliance with the disrespect shown to the Native American people.

I will only be using the name in reference to contextual situations and to call for its extinction. There is no place for blatant racism in sport.A true sporting culture can bring people of different backgrounds and cultures together to support their team.

Recently, a minor league baseball team from Alvinston, Ont., set a precedent for major league teams. Having named themselves after “the Indians” and adopting their logo almost 60 years ago, the team made the decision to drop both. The team released a video explaining their decision and adopting the slogan: “If the pros won’t, we will.”

This team is setting an important example for the Cleveland team who appear to be too stubborn to open their eyes to the hurt their logo has caused. There are no more excuses. The ethnic stereotyping of any culture is not a victimless crime. Native American people suffer from the highest teen suicide rates in the world, an issue that is all too relevant in Canada right now. Stereotypes and the presence of these racist mascots can hurt the self-esteem of native people globally.

Professional sports teams have successfully changed their names before and experts have said that there is no reason that teams like Cleveland and Washington couldn’t pull it off.The Cleveland organization has said that although they are sensitive to both sides of the conversation, they have no plans to rebrand.

Cleveland has an opportunity to truly honour the Native American people that they have hurt by rebranding and getting rid of the Chief Wahoo logo once and for all. Not only that, a rebrand could also bring a large profit to the club with all the new merchandise that would be sold.

I strongly believe that there is no place for making excuses when it comes to racism in sport. Cleveland has agreed to talks with local Native groups, which is a step in the right direction. The worry is that despite having these talks, a rebrand is still highly unlikely for the business that this club, like many, have built themselves upon.

These organizations need to remember that sport is just that­­—sport. A game. A game that should not cause any damage when there is an opportunity to change. Cleveland is in a position to take the example set by minor league teams such as the one from Alvinston. Cleveland can set a precedent for other clubs to make a positive change, to work with Native American people instead of justifying the hurt that they are currently causing.

Photo courtesy of chris-metcalf-_cc-0-2.