Cleveland Indians to drop 'Chief Wahoo' logo from uniforms; Redskins on notice

The Cleveland Indians announced Monday that they’ll be dropping the “Chief Wahoo” logo from the team’s uniforms starting with the 2019 season.

This Just In: The Cleveland Indians are removing the divisive Chief Wahoo logo from their jerseys and caps starting in the 2019 season. pic.twitter.com/oh0ZgezVsY

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 29, 2018

We’ve announced changes to our uniform for 2019. https://t.co/oVvWkSXjsZ pic.twitter.com/E7pGY59v9o

— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) January 29, 2018

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said the Indians ultimately agreed with him that “the logo is no longer appropriate for on-field use in Major League Baseball” and agreed to remove the logo from caps and jerseys, but perhaps not from other Indians merchandise.

While some are sad to lose the historic logo and are unifying behind the #KeepTheChief hashtag, others see it as a step in the right direction — but not the final step.

Change it all, @Indians. The name, the logo, all of it. Relinquish your trademarks, and bury one of the most conspicuously racist images in sports. I am glad that I won't have to see a red Sambo on my hometown team's uniforms, but this here is piecemeal. https://t.co/IOUdxtVYAu

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) January 29, 2018

The @Indians have not banned fans from attending games in redface/headdresses. The team will con't to sell merch w/ the racist caricature, profiting off the dehumanization of Natives. The team hasn't changed its name, and they have not apologized for enabling racist behavior.

— Simon Moya-Smith (@SimonMoyaSmith) January 29, 2018

It's a significant change, to be sure. But the franchise is not retiring the image — just taking it off uniforms. In 2019, not this year. And it is NOT changing the mascot name of Indians.

— Margaret Holt (@chicagomargaret) January 29, 2018

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Good start. Now move towards the right side of history – follow through & change the name. https://t.co/RXvz2nVQTu

— signals midwest (@SignalsMidwest) January 29, 2018

Good start, @Indians, but maybe we could change the mascot entirely? Maybe even the name? Love, a longtime fan and former Clevelander. https://t.co/UnuvWseWgu

— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) January 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/NatsSquid/status/958050969761218562

Soon we won't be able to call them "The Tribe" anymore. In the meantime, what's good, Washington Redskins/Atlanta Braves? https://t.co/8qrrkeLAgL

— Anne Kamakizi (@KamakiziDeVor) January 29, 2018

It's about damn time. Your move @Redskins https://t.co/D6Q7yTA2h2

— Jojo Otseidu (@JojoOtseidu) January 29, 2018

A team in Washington needs to follow suit. https://t.co/crrGkWEc1N

— Tyler Dragon (@TheTylerDragon) January 29, 2018

How is a Ohio team more progressive than a team from DC? Still ashamed to be from a city where a historical racial epithet is a team name. #Redskins https://t.co/sISY6oEBbn

— Akshay (@JayKayShay) January 29, 2018

Can Cleveland fans at least expect a better replacement than the capital letter “C” that’s been standing in for Chief Wahoo in more PC environments, like corporate sponsorships?

Better come up with something better than this. pic.twitter.com/6Z4CbzrWsI

— Kevin (@CleSportsFan10) January 29, 2018

No need to debate the Chief Wahoo logo any further, the decisions made made, time to move on… but @Indians, can we PLEASE get something better than that godawful generic Block C.

— Ryan McCrystal ??? (@TribeFanMcC) January 29, 2018

@Indians What are our plans to replace the Block C logo? That can’t be our plan go forward???

— I Smith (@019Smitty) January 29, 2018

Wouldn't a better solution be this: Cleveland Indians donate $ amount to local Native American charities each year, host educational events, etc and still be able to keep an edited version of native american logo (i.e. 1951 logo change) #SaveTheChief

— Mark Primuth (@PRIMsanity22) January 29, 2018

We confess … there are a lot of variations on this next logo going around, and we laughed.

The Cleveland Indians are dropping Chief Wahoo logo from their jerseys because of it being culturally insensitive, they will be replacing it with a culturally sensitive logo of a fake Indian.#ChiefYahoo pic.twitter.com/vZmSI0JLkf

— Nat Shupe (@NatShupe) January 29, 2018

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