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The Cleveland Indians are removing the ‘Chief Wahoo’ logo from their uniform

The baseball team has been under pressure to change the name for years.
The baseball team has been under pressure to change the name for years. The baseball team has been under pressure to change the name for years.

The Cleveland Indians baseball team has announced it will drop the Chief Wahoo logo from its uniform.

The team has had the logo in some form since 1948, but in recent years Native American groups and activists have urged it be changed due what some call its offensive, racist connotations.

The team will remove the logo from their uniforms starting with the 2019 baseball season.

“We have consistently maintained that we are cognisant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion,” said Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan.

“While we recognise many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I’m ultimately in agreement with (baseball) Commissioner (Rob) Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.”

Reaction to the decision has been varied online. Some argued the logo was a positive step, while others felt the logo was never offensive in the first place.

The team has been distancing itself from the Chief Wahoo logo since 2014, when it began to adopt the block C. The block C will now function as the team’s primary logo. The team will retain its name.

The Cleveland Indians aren’t the only team to have come under pressure for team names or logos which are offensive to Native Americans.

The NFL’s Washington Redskins and fellow baseball team the Atlanta Braves have come under pressure in recent decades, but have shown no sign of changing their names or mascots.