The Cleveland Indians — as they’ve been known — is a thing of the past.
One year after the Washington Redskins dropped the controversial moniker from its name, rebranding itself the “Washington Football Team,” the Cleveland baseball team has followed suit.
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The newly minted Cleveland Guardians announced its name change Friday with a video narrated by actor Tom Hanks.
In a statement, team owner Paul Dolan said he is “excited to usher in the next era of the deep history of baseball in Cleveland.”
“Cleveland has and always will be the most important part of our identity,” he said. “Therefore, we wanted a name that strongly represents the pride, resiliency, and loyalty of Clevelanders.”
“‘Guardians’ reflects those attributes that define us while drawing on the iconic Guardians of Traffic just outside the ballpark on the Hope Memorial Bridge,” Dolan continued. “It brings to life the pride Clevelanders take in our city and the way we fight together for all who choose to be part of the Cleveland family. While ‘Indians’ will always be a part of our history, our new name will help unify our fans and city as we are all Cleveland Guardians.”
The official switch from “Indians” to “Guardians” will happen after the 2021 season wraps.
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It should be noted the change has been coming for some time. In 2018, the Cleveland team stopped using its controversial Chief Wahoo logo, removing the image from jerseys and baseball caps.
Crystal Echo Hawk, executive director and founder of IllumiNative, a group fighting misrepresentations of Native Americans, described the name change as “a major step toward righting the wrongs committed against Native peoples and is one step toward justice,” ESPN reported.
“Guardians” will be the fifth name in the team’s history, joining “Blues” in 1901, “Bronchos” in 1902, “Naps” from 1903 to 1914, and “Indians” from 1915 to 2021.
As for the Washington Football Team, it dropped “Redskins” after nearly 90 years using the name. The decision came after intense pressure from corporate sponsors like FedEx, Nike, Bank of America, Pepsi, and Amazon stopped selling the team’s merchandise online.
Additionally, a group of Native American leaders and organizations sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in July of last year, when the change was made, demanding the league immediately stop using the term “Redskins,” which many criticized as a “dictionary-defined racial slur.”
While the team opted to keep its burgundy and gold colors, it announced it would do away with its iconic Native American logo, which was designed in 1971 by Native American Walker “Blackie” Wetzel, who created the image to depict John “Two Guns” White Calf, a Blackfeet chief who also appears on the Buffalo Nickel.
Wetzel’s son, Lance, said the football team’s logo evokes pride in many Native American circles and shouldn’t be considered offensive. While he understood the decision to drop “Redskins,” Lance believed the logo should remain part of the team’s identity, according to WUSA-TV.
“Everyone was pretty upset [about the change],” he told the news outlet. “Everyone understood the name change — we were all on board with that. Once they weren’t going to use the logo, it was hard. It takes away from the Native Americans. When I see that logo, I take pride in it. You look at the depiction of the ‘Redskins’ logo and it’s of a true Native American. I always felt it was representing my people. That’s not gone.”
“The Native Americans were forgotten people,” he continued. “That logo lets people know these people exist. If it were changed and it removed any derogatory feelings toward any person, then I think it’s a win. I don’t want that logo to be associated in a negative way, ever.”
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