Chief Wahoo
Chief Wahoo is the logo of the Cleveland Indians, a Major League Baseball team. The logo is a cartoon caricature of a Native American face. It has drawn criticism from some sportswriters, religious groups, and Native Americans, but remains popular among fans of the Cleveland Indians. The team considered replacing the logo in 1993,[1][2] but it was ultimately retained.[3][4] Although Chief Wahoo is most properly described as a logo, he is sometimes called a mascot.[5]
History
Use of Native American imagery before Chief Wahoo
The Cleveland ball club adopted the name "Indians" in 1915, and depictions of Indians first appeared on team uniforms in 1928. These depictions predated the creation of Chief Wahoo, and were used for a period of only about ten years.
Creation and first incarnation
In 1947, Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck hired the J.F. Novak Company, designers of the patches worn by Clevelands police and firefighters, to create a new logo for his team.[7] 17-year-old draftsman Walter Goldbach, an employee of the Novak Company, was asked to perform the job.[7][8] Tasked with creating a mascot that "would convey a spirit of pure joy and unbridled enthusiasm", he created a smiling Indian face with yellow skin and a prominent nose.[8] Goldbach has said that he had difficulty "figuring out how to make an Indian look like a cartoon",[8][9] and that he was probably influenced by the cartoon style that was popular at the time.[10]
Sportswriters would eventually take to calling the unnamed character "Chief Wahoo".[8] Goldbach has said that the logo's moniker is inaccurate.[9] Quoting a child he met while talking at a school, Goldbach explained in a 2008 interview, "He’s not a chief, he’s a brave. He only has one feather. Chiefs have full headdresses.”[9]
Revised design and early use
In 1951, the mascot was redesigned with a smaller nose and red skin instead of yellow skin.[8] This logo has remained in use ever since, with only minor changes to the design. In the 1950s, the logo had black outlines and red skin; today the logo has blue lines and red skin.[7] After its introduction, the face of the 1951 logo was incorporated into other, full-body depictions of the character.
Ohio sportswriter Terry Pluto has described comics of Chief Wahoo that would run on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer in the 1950s, with the character's depiction signifying the outcome of yesterday's game.[11] Wins were illustrated by Chief Wahoo holding a lantern in one hand and extending the index finger on his other.[11] Losses were illustrated by a "battered" Chief Wahoo, complete with black eye, missing teeth, and crumpled feathers.[11]
Later variations on the logo
By 1973, when Cleveland businessman Nick Mileti bought the Indians, the team had introduced additional depictions of Chief Wahoo, some of which showed the character at bat. Mileti hired a designer named Leonard Benner to modify an existing at-bat design for use as a logo. Several changes were made: Wahoo's nose was made smaller, his body thinner, and he was now drawn as a right-handed batter instead of left-handed.[12] Overall, however, the design of Chief Wahoo remained largely similar to the previous version.[12] These modifications, however, heralded other changes to the team's use of Indian-themed imagery, such as the removal of a teepee from the outfield area.[1][12] The 1973 logo is no longer used by the team.
1970s scoreboard animations
When the Cleveland Indians installed a new computer-programmed scoreboard in 1977, newspaper articles described how it could display animated depictions of Chief Wahoo yelling "Charge!"[13] At 137-by-54 feet with an 86-by-29-foot lighted screen, the scoreboard was described as the largest "single unit board" in the country. Animation was provided by Hilda Terry, creator of the comic strip Teena.[13] Technical difficulties blamed on weather conditions and pollutants from Lake Erie initially prevented the scoreboard from working properly,[14] but by the 1978 season homeruns were celebrated with fireworks and an animation of Chief Wahoo dancing.[15] The complete package of commissioned animations included an arrow skewering two players to signify a double-play.[13]
New prominence in the 1980s
During his tenure as Indians President, Peter Bavasi asked players how the team's uniforms should look.[11] Bavasi has described Joe Carter and Pat Tabler suggesting that Chief Wahoo be added to the hats, with Tabler predicting that it would "sell like crazy".[11] Bavasi recalls expressing concern that it would offend Native American groups, but that player Bert Blyleven reassured him, "Nah, it shouldn't. Really looks like [manager] Phil Seghi."[11] Blyleven made a similar remark to Sports Illustrated, and the magazine described the resemblance as "uncanny".[16] Tabler's prediction was ultimately borne out, with hat sales increasing significantly after the reintroduction of Chief Wahoo.[6] The revised hat design has been described as a change "in keeping with Major League Baseball's trend toward 'old-style' simulacra."[17]
Around the time Bavasi added Chief Wahoo to the Indians hats in 1986, he also banned "derogatory" banners at the stadium.[18] The elimination of references to Cleveland on the uniforms, including replacing the old style hats with Chief Wahoo, led to speculation that the team might be moved to another city.[18][19]
Move to Progressive Field (formerly known as Jacobs Field)
In 1994, the Indians moved from the Cleveland Municipal Stadium to Jacobs Field (later renamed Progressive Field). The team considered dropping the logo around this time,[1][2] but it was ultimately retained.[3][4] Several years later, the Associated Press reported that the Chief Wahoo debate had not hurt the team's souvenir sales, which at the time were better than those of any other team in the league.[20]
From 1962 through 1994, a 28-foot-tall, neon-lit sign of Chief Wahoo at bat stood above Gate D of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. When the stadium was demolished, the neon sign was donated to the Western Reserve Historical Society.[21] Working with the original blueprints,[22] and the help of $50,000 in donations, the historical society refurbished the sign and it is displayed today in the group's museum.[21] Anonymous donors have since provided funds to support maintenance work that allows the sign to remain lit.[23]
According to a senior vice president and historian[24] at the Western Reserve Historical Society, the acquisition of a 28-foot-tall neon Chief Wahoo sign was debated for several reasons. Among them was the belief that it was "hugely negative for a portion of the population". Ultimately, the historical society decided that "history is history. This sign is a point in a major American issue, which is racial caricature. Some people have a problem with it, some people don’t. It’s important because it not only represents the rich history of baseball in Cleveland, it gets into a really deep issue in American history.” The sign is displayed with written materials that show several points of view; these include "The Legacy of Racism Continues", "Chief Wahoo: Brief History of a Civic Icon", and "Enthusiasm! That's Chief Wahoo!"[21]
Battle flag over the USS Cleveland
For many years, the USS Cleveland flew a battle flag featuring the Chief Wahoo logo. The time and circumstances under which the flag were first flown are not known, but the flag was retired in 2006 and presented to former Indians pitcher and World War II US Navy veteran Bob Feller. The flag had previously flown over center field at Cleveland Stadium.[25]
Use during spring training
In 2009, the Cleveland Indians moved their spring training operations from Winter Haven, Florida to Goodyear, Arizona. During the years the Indians trained in Florida, Chief Wahoo was displayed on a municipal water tower there. The Chief Wahoo mural had been touched up at least once in 1993,[26] but because of the team's impending move the town did not bother to repaint the logo when it eventually faded.[27] Due of the expense of repainting the water tower, the logo remained there for several years after the Indians last trained in Florida. It was not until 2012 that Chief Wahoo was finally replaced with a logo for Polk State College.[28][29]
Chief Wahoo creator Walter Goldbach and his wife spent 15 winters living in Winter Haven, Florida.[7] During the spring training season, he would work with the team when they conducted tours.[7] Goldbach is now retired from his career as an artist, and medical issues prevent him from drawing today.[7] In spite of his contribution to the team, he must pay for his own tickets to Indians games.[7]
Allegations of phase-out
Sportswriters have periodically alleged that the Cleveland Indians are gradually phasing out the logo. A sportswriter for the New York Times suggested this in 2007, noting that Chief Wahoo enjoyed a much-diminished presence in Cleveland's home stadium.[30] Sportswriter Craig Calcaterra wrote about his suspicions of a phase-out when he observed that the team used an alternate logo on their scoreboard,[31] and the Journal News of New York has alleged the team is "so embarrassed by their grinning Indian logo that they've all but banished it from Jacobs Field".[32] Changes to the batting helmets in 2013 led to renewed speculation of a phase-out.[33][34]
Sportswriters have speculated that a slow phase-out allows the team to avoid a negative short-term reaction.[31][35] However, Indians president Mark Shapiro and other team spokespeople have said there are no plans for a phase-out.[33][34][36][37]
Merchandise and promotional tie-ins
One early piece of Chief Wahoo merchandise depicts a squatting Native American figure holding a stone tool in one hand a scalp in the other.[38]
On the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Indians, the team gave away blankets that depicted the various incarnations of Chief Wahoo.[39] In 2011, the team gave away free T-shirts with a picture of a heart, a peace sign, and Chief Wahoo.[40] The West Side Leader of Akron, Ohio declared this design "a lot better than the previous freebie shirt, which featured representations of three racing hot dogs".[40]
In 2005, the team partnered with a candy maker to produce a Chief Wahoo chocolate bar.[41] The name "Wahoo Women" has been used for a ladies night out promotion,[42] and in 2013 the team is running a "Wahoo Wednesdays" promotion with Domino's Pizza.[43]
When Major League Baseball released a line of hats fashioned to resemble team mascots, a writer for Yahoo! Sports observed that the league had "wisely passed over fashioning Chief Wahoo into a polyester conversation piece".[44] Although Chief Wahoo is the logo for the Cleveland Indians, the official team mascot is a character named Slider. Major League Baseball does in fact sell a hat shaped to resemble Slider, who himself wears a Chief Wahoo hat.[45]
The Cleveland Indians have also sold Chief Wahoo bobblehead dolls.[46]
A 1999 editorial reported annual revenue of $1.5 million from sales of licensed merchandise, and $15 million from sales at official team shops.[47] An interview subject in a 2006 documentary on Chief Wahoo estimated that the logo brings in over $20 million per year.[48]
Depiction on Cleveland uniforms
Although the club had adopted the name "Indians" starting with the 1915 season, there was no acknowledgment of this nickname on their uniforms until 1928. In the years between the team's 1901 formation and the 1927 season, uniforms contained variations on a stylized "C" or the word "Cleveland" (excepting the 1921 season,[49] when the front of the club's uniform shirts read "Worlds [sic] Champions"). According to baseball historians, the 1928 season saw modified club uniforms whose left breast bore a patch depicting the profile of a headdress-wearing American Indian.[50] In 1929, a smaller version of that same patch migrated to the home uniform sleeve, where similar incarnations of the early design remained through 1938.[51] For 1939 the club wore the Baseball Centennial patch on the sleeve. Various other patches were worn for the next few years, none of them featuring Indians.[52] In 1946, both the home and road shirts featured a City of Cleveland Sesquicentennial patch.
In 1947, home and road uniforms began featuring the first incarnation of Chief Wahoo. The new Chief Wahoo logo, a caricature drawn from a three-quarter perspective, supplanted the earlier profile drawings. A redesigned Chief Wahoo caricature appeared on the uniform shirt sleeve starting in 1951.[53] Uniform designs have varied in the years since, but the 1951 Chief Wahoo design has been used in most years since then. Exceptions include the 1972 uniform, which featured no Chief Wahoo logo, and the 1973 through 1978 uniforms, which featured a modified logo in which Chief Wahoo is depicted at bat.[54][55] Chief Wahoo was featured on Cleveland hats from 1951 through 1958,[56] and returned to Cleveland's hats in 1986.[6] The 1986 change followed an increase in the size of the logo on uniforms sleeves in 1983.[56]
As of 2013, Chief Wahoo was featured on every variation of the team's uniforms.[21]
Alternative logos
In addition to the Chief Wahoo design, which remains the team's main logo, the Indians also have and use alternative logos: A block-letter "C", a script-letter "I", and the word "Indians" written in script. Cleveland Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio has described the block-C logo as alternative to Chief Wahoo: "We have added a logo, the block C, recently in addition to the Wahoo logo and the script 'Indians'. Fans of the team have alternative ways to express their support."[57] In 2002, DiBiasio described an Indians hat with the letter "I" in similar terms, as official merchandise that provides an alternative without Chief Wahoo.[58] Owner Larry Dolan has said the alternative logos are "another marketing tool" and "it's not true" that they are a means of phasing out Chief Wahoo.[59] The Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing has described the new hats and team mascot Slider as "an effort to distance the franchise from the controversy".[60]
Notable uses of alternate logos
The use of these alternative logos has at times proved newsworthy. In 1994, when President Bill Clinton threw the first pitch at Jacob's Field, he wore a hat with the letter-C logo instead of Chief Wahoo.[61][62][63] A White House aide described the decision in as one taken "in recognition of the sensitivities" involved,[61] and it spurred public debate on the issue of Native American names and images in sports.[62] Critics accused Clinton of "an apparent attempt to appease his 'politically correct' constituency".[64]
When Cleveland played Baltimore in the 2007 "Civil Rights Game" in Memphis, logos were removed from uniforms for both teams during that games.[65] This caused some sportswriters to assert that the office of the Major League Baseball commissioner understood, "on some level, that Chief Wahoo is the wrong message".[65] The controversy was heightened by Memphis' location on the Trail of Tears.[66] The president of the Faraway Cherokees in Memphis said, "My family was on the Trail of Tears. We feel offended that they would bring a team here called the Indians. It's racist. We aren't gone."[66]
In 2013, the Chief Wahoo logo was also absent from merchandise sold at All-Star Game FanFest activities in New York City.[67][68] The use of alternate logos on official merchandise led sportswriters to speculate that Major League Baseball was uncomfortable or cautious about using the Chief Wahoo logo.[67][68] Major League Baseball's use of an alternate logo on its website has led to similar speculation.[69]
Use during spring training
In 2009, when the Cleveland Indians moved their spring training operations to Goodyear, Arizona, the Chief Wahoo logo was not used on the outside of the local stadium where they practiced. The Chief Wahoo logo had been prominently displayed at the team's previous spring training facilities in Winter Haven, Florida.[70] Explaining that Wahoo's absence from the city-owned Goodyear Ballpark had not been the team's decision, then-Indians-president Paul Dolan said, "It's not our ballpark. I would expect some sensitivity was involved, but ultimately it's the city's ballpark."[71] A city spokesperson said that they were following Cleveland's marketing lead after the team used the script "I" logo on the player development complex in addition to the ballpark.[71] Dolan said there was also "some sensitivity involved" with player development complex.[71] The logo is also absent from team property and employee clothing in Arizona.[72]
Cleveland sportswriter Paul Hoynes has written that the Chief Wahoo logo was not used in Goodyear "because of the heavy population of Native Americans in Arizona."[73] According to the 2010 census, the Arizona population is 4.6% Native American or Alaska Native, compared to 0.4% in Florida and 0.2% in Ohio.[74] Sportswriter Craig Calcaterra has described the issue more bluntly, saying that "in the southwest there is a much larger Indian population than there is back in Ohio and that not putting up a big racist, comically-exaggerated red-faced logo of an Indian is simply a matter of common courtesy."[72] Chief Wahoo is still used on the Cleveland Indians' spring training web page, where the logo is framed within the name of their host city.[75]
"Stars and stripes" logo variant
In 2008, Major League Baseball introduced special caps with each team's cap logo woven into the "Stars and Stripes" that were worn during major American holidays. The Indians cap with Chief Wahoo emblazoned in stars and stripes was criticized by some sportswriters. In 2009 MLB redesigned the Indians "Stars and Stripes" cap with a "C" logo replacing Chief Wahoo.[76]
Similar events played out several years later. In 2013, manufacturer New Era Cap Company released an image of a hat featuring a flag-themed Chief Wahoo to be worn by the team on the Fourth of July. According to a source at Major League Baseball, the image was mistakenly released because of a misunderstanding that all teams would be using their main logo. After news reports criticized the "short-sightedness of covering a Native American logo with stars and stripes", New Era removed the Chief Wahoo design and released an image of a flag-themed block-C logo hat that would be worn instead.[77][78][79] Some sportswriters have speculated that the Chief Wahoo design may actually have been intended for use.[80][81] The Cleveland Scene called it "the most offensive Cleveland Indians hat ever".[67]
Controversy
The use of Chief Wahoo has been criticized by Native American activists and some contemporary sportswriters. Chief Wahoo is a centerpiece of a Ferris-State-University-maintained traveling exhibit on racist Native American imagery, and a 2012 article in The Cleveland Scene described him as "the only professional sports logo in the Western world that caricaturizes a race of people".[8] The Cleveland Indians' Vice President of Public Relations has defended the use of Chief Wahoo, while framing the team's decision to no longer "animate or humanize the logo" in terms of their "acknowledgement to the sensitivities involved".[8] The head of the Cleveland American Indian Movement (AIM) has described the use of the mascot as "exploitative, bigoted, racist, and shameful",[57] and an article in a 2010 psychology text cited Chief Wahoo as an example of a racial microaggression.[82]
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, without specifically mentioning Chief Wahoo, has opposed the use of Native American mascots by non-native teams.[83] The NAACP has also opposed the use of Native American symbols by sports teams.[84] Artist David Jakupca of the International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA) is credited with designing the current Anti-Wahoo Logo in 1992.[85] It gained international popular attention when it was it exhibited by ICEA at the 1993 UN World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria.[86]
In a list of "10 Sports Team Names that Caused Controversy", BET called the debate over Chief Wahoo "one of the most infamous mascot controversies".[87] In 2011, Business Insider listed Chief Wahoo as one of twelve "uncomfortably racist vintage brand mascots."[88]
Chief Wahoo was featured in a 2012 Ohio Historical Society exhibit called Controversy 2: Pieces We Don't Talk About.[89] The exhibit featured "difficult" objects from Ohio Historical Society collections, including a vintage Chief Wahoo jacket, a Nazi flag, and 19th century prints that stereotyped African Americans.[89] The following year, the National Museum of the American Indian advertised a daylong seminar on racist stereotypes in American sport with a handout that featured Chief Wahoo.[90]
In 2013, amidst growing debate around a campaign for the Washington Redskins football team to change their name, a writer for The Cleveland Scene described what he saw as the difference between the Redskins debate and the Chief Wahoo debate: "Bluntly, there's zero legitimate debate as far as Chief Wahoo is concerned. Zero. It's an aggressively racist symbol, and it's mortifying if you take thirty seconds to look at the image, or think about it in a human context."[91]
Legislative and legal challenges
There have been multiple failed legal and legislative attempts to end the use of Chief Wahoo. In 1972, Indian activist Russell Means announced a $9 million suit by the Cleveland American Indian Center[93] against the team for libel, slander, and defamation from the use of Chief Wahoo.[94] Writer Don Oakley criticized both the dollar amount and the grounds for the suit in an editorial article, saying,
"$9-million is 'umpteen' dollars in anybody's vocabulary, including that of the original Chief Wahoo, the comic strip character who coined the word. But the suit is real enough, and it reads like something that might have been brought against a defendant at the Nuremburg trials ... Such a heavy burden for such a little guy to carry. The 'racism' behind Chief Wahoo will be news to the millions of people who have followed the baseball Indians over the years, and who no more associated their symbol with real Indians than they believe that Englishmen are short, pot-bellied, run around in knee breeches and wear a Union Jack for a vest."[95]
Russell Means described receiving hate mail for the only time in his career after a TV appearance on the subject,[1] including letters advocating the "ethnic cleansing" of Indians,[48] and the legal process lasted over a decade. In 1982, both sides announced that they were near an agreement; one method of settlement being considered was an annual "Indian Day" at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. A lawyer for the defense said that an out-of-court settlement was preferred, but that he doubted a financial agreement would be part of it.[96] The suit was finally settled in 1983.[97]
In 1993, an Ohio state lawmaker promised to introduce legislation that would have blocked the use of public funds for a new stadium if the Indians did not change their logo.[98] A similar measure had been introduced in 1992, but it failed to pass by six votes.[99] Former Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White once condemned the logo as a racist caricature and proposed a referendum to strip it from all city-owned property,[100][101] but the suggestion went nowhere. The Universal Church of Christ and some Native American leaders praised even the possibility of an official condemnation.[100] However, Juan Reyna, chairperson of a local activist group, criticized White's reasoning, saying, "There will never be a majority in favor of getting rid of it. There are more people at a single Indians game than all the Indians in the whole tri-state area. It needs to be done because it's the right thing to do."[102]
A 1998 article in the Cleveland State Law Review outlined several possible legal challenges to the use and validity of the Chief Wahoo trademark. Among the possible arguments was the notion that the Indians' actions in Jacobs Field (since renamed "Progressive Field") were a state action according to the symbiotic relationship test established in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority. If there was also an implicit discriminatory intent in the design of the logo, then its use would be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The author indicated that this approach would face significant legal hurdles. An alternative and perhaps more successful approach would be to challenge the validity of the trademark, because trademark law bars the registration of disparaging or scandalous marks.[103] A 1999 article in the Harvard Law Review also outlined an equal protection (Fourteenth Amendment) strategy for suits against teams that use native American names and symbols.[104]
Native American activists used one of these strategies — suing to remove trademark protection on disparaging marks — against the Washington Redskins in the 1990s.[47][105] After early victories for the activists, newspapers including the Ohio State University Lantern and the Akron Beacon Journal suggested that trademark protection for Chief Wahoo might be in jeopardy.[47][105]
Resolutions of Penobscot Indian Nation and Maine State Legislature
The Penobscot Indian Nation, the tribe with which former Cleveland player Louis Sockalexis is identified, has formally asked the Cleveland Indians to stop using the Chief Wahoo logo. In 2000, the Penobscot Tribal Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the team to retire the logo.[106] The resolution said that the Penobscot Nation found Chief Wahoo "to be an offensive, degrading, and racist stereotype that firmly places Indian people in the past, separate from our contemporary cultural existence."[106] It also said that the logo "emphasizes a tragic part of our history — focusing on wartime survival while ignoring the strength and beauty of Indian cultures during times of peace."[106]
After the resolution passed, it was sent to the Cleveland Indians for the first time.[107] Tribal Governor Barry Dana predicted that "reasoned discussion" would be productive and that the Cleveland franchise would be willing to talk with the Penobscot Nation.[106] Although Indians vice-president of public relations Bob DiBiasio received a hand-delivered copy of the resolution several years later, as of 2009 the team had not acknowledged the resolution.[107]
When a writer for Associated Press attempted to contact DiBasio in 2009 about the Penobscot resolution, he reported that messages "were not immediately returned".[108]
Almost nine years after the Penobscot nation first passed their resolution against Chief Wahoo, the Maine State Legislature passed a bill that condemned the logo. The legislation, HP1045,[109] made explicit reference to the team's failure to acknowledge the Penobscot resolution. HP1045 read in part:
WHEREAS, the Cleveland Indians team ignored a petition by the Penobscot Nation in 2000 to cease and desist the use of its caricature mascot "Chief Wahoo," which the Penobscot Nation and many other Americans consider racist and disrespectful to the memory of Louis Sockalexis ...
RESOLVED: That We, your Memorialists, respectfully urge and request that the Cleveland Indians baseball team immediately drop the use of the mascot "Chief Wahoo," which would demonstrate the team understands the disrespect this symbol represents to the Penobscot Nation, the citizens of Maine and the legacy of Louis Sockalexis.[109]
Protests
Newspapers record protests against Chief Wahoo as early as 1971,[110] and news accounts describe annual Opening Day protests every year since 1973.[111][112] The size of the protests grew in the 1990s. In 1991, a group called the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance was formed to protest quincentennial Columbus Day celebrations.[113] The next year, the group shifted its efforts, and since then has focused on protesting the Indians' team name and logo.[113] In its early years, the group drew national media attention as it negotiated with team management over whether Chief Wahoo would continue to be used once the Indians moved to their new stadium.[113] Around this time, a group called Save Our Chief collected 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for the team to keep the logo,[3][114] and Chief Wahoo ultimately remained in use.[3][4] Team owner Richard Jacobs cited the petition drive,[4] and in an allusion to popular support announced that "Baseball belongs to the fans, and if they want us to keep it as our logo, we will."[115] When the team moved to its new ballpark, the stadium manager, Gateway Economic Development Corporation, attempted to prohibit demonstrations there, and protesters sued for access.[116][117]
The logo drew renewed scrutiny during the 1995 World Series, when the Cleveland Indians played the Atlanta Braves.[118] The games were marked by protests in both cities.[119] During game three of the series, researcher Ellen Staurowsky recorded 650 verbal mentions or visual appearances of Cleveland-team-related Native American images.[120] Although protestors had by then demonstrated against Chief Wahoo for decades, High Country News reported on a fan's accusation of "fair-weather" activism.[121]
The 1997 All-Star game was also home to protests; these were attended by a descendant of Louis Sockalexis, the Native American player in whose honor the Cleveland team is supposedly named.[122] The Cleveland Indians played again in the World Series that year; before the series began ABC News covered the Chief Wahoo protests and named Native American activist and artist Charlene Teters their person of the week.[123][124] At the turn of the 21st century, newspapers described the recurring protests as "an Opening Day tradition".[125]
Newspapers and other publications have described a tense atmosphere surrounding these protests, some of which resulted in legal actions (see below). Reporters have described antagonistic[117] behavior from game attendees (e.g, shouting "You killed Custer!", or directing war whoops at protesters),[111][113] and characterized fans as "ambivalent and sometimes belligerent".[111] According to researchers, "it is the protestors whose phenotypic traits correspond with stereotypical representations of Indians that receive the most negative attention ... [the] most vocal fans make darker-skinned protestors the targets of their most disparaging remarks".[113] Physical confrontations have included fans throwing beer on protestors,[126] and participants have described derogatory remarks:
"Each year for the past six or seven years I have joined our native American brothers and sisters and others from the Cleveland area in protesting the use of the racist symbol of Chief Wahoo. Each year we stand outside the stadium, and hear people yell at us to 'go back home.' The irony of telling a native American to go back home is never understood by them it seems."[127]
Asked if the strength of the argument was more important than the size of the protest, team owner Larry Dolan agreed that it was, and said that "you can whip a group of non-thoughtful people to come up and protest anything".[128] Later, in the same interview, Dolan described the protests in greater detail:
"It frankly bothers me when I see protestors out there, every opening day. Invariably in the last few days, they want to go to the court to say they ought to be able to protest closer to where the folks are. Now, people who are serious about what they're about don't do it that way. It's difficult for me to give them a whole lot of credence when they just show up, television cameras are there, they do their thing, and they're gone. I'm not encouraging them to come back, you understand, but if we're going to have a possible dialogue, they need to understand where we're coming from."[128]
Protests are still a regular feature, but are smaller than they were in the 1990s.[113] Today, the Committee of 500 Years of Dignity and Resistance has 8 to 12 core members and a total membership of approximately 150 people.[113] Researchers have suggested that Cleveland's low Native American population and its transient status, traveling to and from reservations, have contributed to recruiting difficulties.[113] American Indian Movement chapters elsewhere in the country have sometimes held protests at Cleveland's away games.[129]
News media policies against printing the logo
The Native American Journalist Association (NAJA) has formally called on newspapers to stop broadcasting Indian mascot names and images.[130] As of 2009 only five newspapers had committed to doing so in all cases.[130] In some cases, such as the Journal Star of Lincoln, Nebraska,[131] newspapers have chosen to do away with "particularly offensive" examples such as Chief Wahoo.[130][131] Explaining their decision to no longer print the logo, the Journal Star called it "an example of rank caricature".[132] The move was criticized in a book about "hard-charging leadership in politically correct times", which described the Journal Star's decision in a section titled "Into the PC Cesspool".[131] A year after the Journal Star implemented its original policy, it announced a broader policy wherein the paper would no longer print logos for teams that use Native symbols.[132]
Since 1992, The Oregonian has had a policy banning the use of team or mascot names offensive to members of racial, religious, or ethnic groups,[133] and in a 2013 editorial column, a writer for the paper cited Chief Wahoo as a particularly egregious example of a logo the paper would not print.[133] The policy, the first of its kind in the United States, was made by then-editor Bill Hilliard[133] and continued by his successor Sandra Mims Rowe.[134]
Both Hilliard and Rowe were lauded in a speech to NAJA by Minneapolis Star-Tribune editor Tim McGuire.[134] Under McGuire's direction, the Star-Tribune implemented a similar policy in 1994.[134][135]: 15 McGuire described the 1994 policy as "easily the most polarizing decision I've ever made", one that resulted in 218 cancelled subscriptions and his being called a "liberal socialist".[134] According to McGuire,
"The clincher in the decision making process was an odd discovery that during the Twins/Braves World Series in 1991, our page one writer, Howard Sinker, wrote every page one story on that series without ever mentioning the word Braves. And no one noticed. Editors at the Star Tribune didn't notice. Readers didn't notice. The Native American community didn't notice. That discovery convinced me, obviously wrongly, that the move to ban these nicknames just wouldn't be that big a deal."[134]
Under the leadership of editor Anders Gyllenhaal, the paper reversed its position in 2003, although it vowed to use alternate logos for teams that had them.[135]: 15 [136][137] Describing the paper's new policy in 2003, Gyllenhall wrote, "If a newspaper bans the common phrases that offend one group of readers, how does it respond when others take issue with words in the news?"[136] The new policy specifically cited the Cleveland Indians' "script 'I'" logo as a preferable alternative to Chief Wahoo.[135]: 16 In an editorial, the paper approved the new policy, saying that "newsrooms should reflect reality as accurately as possible", but nevertheless called on teams to drop nicknames that had been appropriated from Native Americans.[138]
In a 1997 incident, the Seattle Times digitally erased Chief Wahoo from a photos of Cleveland players, prompting executive editor Michael Fancher to apologize, "We took racial sensitivity a step too far."[139][140] Fancher explained that the Times' policy is to "respect Native-American complaints that the nicknames and mascots of some sports teams are offensive", and to "avoid discretionary uses of the mascot images".[140] General news editor Mike Stanton said that sensitivity must be addressed through inclusion or exclusion of option images, but that "We can't change the objective reality."[140] Fancher said that the appropriate solution would have been to choose an alternate image.[140]
In 2001, the Kansas City Star implemented a new policy that discouraged publication of certain logos.[141] The paper's vice president and editor described the rationale using Chief Wahoo as an example: "Chief Wahoo is a ridiculous, offensive, racist caricature. We would be ashamed to run it as an editorial cartoon or comic strip, so why should we repeatedly publish it in the sports pages of our newspaper?"[141] In a 2003 interview, Kansas City Star managing sports editor Mike Fannin also used Chief Wahoo as an example when describing the policy.[135]: 14 Drawing a line between what he viewed as "stupid" versus inoffensive subject matter, Fannin said:
"We’re just really interested in documentary style sports journalism. We just think that stupid things like the Redskins and Chief Wahoo get in the way of us doing serious work ... We don’t think [terms like 'chief or brave' are as] compelling and obvious an issue as Redskins and Chief Wahoo. Braves, in my mind it’s like using the generals, the Kansas City Generals."[135]: 14
NAJA commended the Kansas City Star for their new policy.[142] In a 2003 report, NAJA listed several other newspapers that "generally tend not [to] publish pictures" of Chief Wahoo. The list included The Oregonian, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Kansas City Star, and the Lincoln Journal-Star, as well as The Portland Press Herald and The St. Cloud Times.[135]: 11–16 An article in an American Bar Association publication described these policies as an example of voluntary restrictions on hate speech.[143]
Condemnation by religious groups
"It destroys the self-esteem of native American children and it mis-educates other children. It teaches them that indigenous people are sports team mascots, not human beings created in the image of God."
—Bernice Powell Jackson, executive director of the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice
"I would cease being a United Methodist before I would cease wearing my Chief Wahoo clothing."
—Delegate at the 1998 annual meeting of the United Methodist Church's East Ohio Conference
Various religious groups have condemned the use of Chief Wahoo. In 1991, the United Church of Christ passed a resolution condemning the use of Chief Wahoo, saying that "the use and misuse of Native American imagery affronts basic human rights and dignity and has a negative impact on human self worth". The Native American head of the group's Indian council criticized the logo, saying, "The image that it depicts looks kind of sub-human. It doesn't look like someone I would consider to be Indian."[144][145] In an article on the resolution, the team spokesman defended the use of the logo, describing the team's relationship with the local Native American community as "very positive".[144]
Two years later, the Catholic Church's Diocese of Cleveland denounced the use of the logo in a statement by their Commission on Catholic Community Action to Promote Justice.[145] The statement cited a 1988 Vatican document saying that acts "which lead to contempt and to the phenomena of exclusion must be denounced and brought to light without hesitation and strongly rejected in order to promote equitable behavior."[146]
When Minneapolis Star-Tribune editor described his decision to stop printing certain team logos in 1994, including Chief Wahoo, he framed the act in terms of a spiritual epiphany:
"A key part of that spiritual inquiry was an increased focus on the concept of the Second Great Commandment ... The Second Great Commandment is Love your Neighbor as you love yourself. I understood well the concept of the Second Great Commandment but what did it really mean for a newspaper editor whose publication makes people sad, mad and glad everyday. It seemed to me that it clearly meant that I ought to deeply consider that if these nicknames were offending a certain and important part of my audience, then I needed to get rid of those names. It seemed like a basic, humane gesture to my fellow man."[134]
In 1997 the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, calling the use of Chief Wahoo "insulting and racially insensitive marketing," succeeded in pressuring various companies to stop using the logo. As a result of their efforts, Anheuser-Busch stopped using Chief Wahoo in their Ohio beer ads, and Denny's Restaurants barred its Ohio employees from wearing the logo to work.[147]
The United Methodist Church denounced the use of Chief Wahoo in a vote taken during their quadrennial General Conference that took place in Cleveland in 2000. The measure passed without debate by a vote of 610-293, and was similar to previous resolutions that did not specifically mention Chief Wahoo.[145][148][149] The East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church had previously considered the issue of Chief Wahoo in 1998.[150] Delegates at the conference's annual meeting defeated by a two-thirds majority a resolution condemning its use.[145] The resolution urged church members to stop wearing hats or clothing displaying the logo,[150] causing one delegate to say, "I would cease being a United Methodist before I would cease wearing my Chief Wahoo clothing."[145][150]
The United Church of Christ reaffirmed their position in 2000, when Bernice Powell Jackson, the executive director of the UCC Commission for Racial Justice and executive minister of one of the UCC's five covenanted ministries, called for the logo to be discontinued. She wrote:
"Chief Wahoo is a racist stereotype and logo. The bug-eyed, buck-toothed, grinning red figure honors no one. It destroys the self-esteem of native American children and it mis-educates other children. It teaches them that indigenous people are sports team mascots, not human beings created in the image of God. The definition of racism most often used is prejudice plus power. All of us have learned prejudices about other groups of people, but when we have the power to live out those prejudices, then it is racism. Chief Wahoo is a racist symbol because those in power — in this case, the sports industry and the mainstream media — refuse to hear the voice of the oppressed."[127]
When stadium management made efforts to exclude protesters, the United Church of Christ joined others in a First Amendment suit.[127] A 2005 editorial appearing in Religion News Services said the UCC had been active against Chief Wahoo since the 1980s, and added that "no other major-league city has a logo with such an offensive stereotype".[151]
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism has joined the UCC in their efforts.[152] According to Mark Pelavin, the associate director of the organization, said that the UCC "asked us to sign letters to team owners and to join in some quiet meetings with team officials, and we were glad to do so".[152] In contrast, a 2001 editorial in the Jewish World Review defended Chief Wahoo.[153] In the piece, Cleveland-born columnist Jeff Jacoby contrasted Chief Wahoo with "a grinning, watermelon-munching Sambo".[153] Jacoby said that that the latter would be intolerable "because it promotes an ignorant view of black people as jovial, juvenile simpletons", whereas Chief Wahoo and other logos symbols are merely "stylized caricatures, cheerful cartoon figures that demean nobody and reinforce no negative stereotype."[153]
At their 2001 general assembly in Cleveland, the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations passed a resolution urging "the Planning Committee and the Board of Trustees to consult and cooperate" with the UCC's struggle against the use of the Chief Wahoo.[154] The secretary of the association, Wayne Arnason, described the church's call to witness against the use of mascots and logos like Chief Wahoo: "This witness is one your Board of Trustees endorsed as consistent and compelling in our effort to create an anti-racist Association ... This is about the owners of professional sports teams, the media that covers them, the fans that turn a blind eye—and also the political leaders who do not act."[154] After the opening ceremony of the 2001 Unitarian general assembly, more than three-quarters of the attendees participated in a vigil against the use of the logo,[154] with hundreds of Unitarian Universalists marching in solidarity with Native Americans through the rain from the convention center to Jacobs Field.[155][156] At a 2012 Unitarian Universalist workshop in Cleveland, participants suggested joining again with the yearly protests against Chief Wahoo.[157]
Logo use by amateur and semi-professional teams
Elementary and high schools
According to a 1996 New York Times article describing a Connecticut high school's decision to do away with the logo, Chief Wahoo has been "adopted by many high school teams."[158] The Connecticut decision prompted student walk-outs and sit-ins.[158] One student, describing his uncertain stance on the issue and desire to have seen a compromise instead, said that Indians were "brave, good-hearted and not corrupt like the Europeans," that "they were the best race of people that ever were," and it gave him pride "to pretend to be one of them."[158]
In 2003, an elementary school district in Channahon, Illinois stopped using Chief Wahoo as the logo for their athletic teams.[159][160] Explaining the change, a school principle in the district said, "The Cleveland Indian character is not the least bit flattering to Native Americans. As we educate our children, we teach them there is a proud and strong heritage relative to Native Americans, and we should respect that. This is a change we should make."[159]
As of 2011, a high school in Calumet Township, Indiana, continued to use a logo that is named after and strongly resembles Chief Wahoo.[161][162] The logo was removed from a school sign circa 2009, when the sign was taken down for repairs.[161][162] Later, all but one member of the local school board agreed that the logo should be reinstated.[161][162] A news report said that the mascot remains "evident throughout the building, including at the entrance on floor mat." A spokesman for the Indiana High School Athletic Association said the association has no mascot restrictions.[161][162] In a 2001 interview, the school's athletic director said that the school was generally moving away from the use of the Chief Wahoo logo, but that no formal change had been implemented.[163]
When a high school in upstate New York retired the team name "Redskins", an Oneida Indian Nation representative praised the decision and criticized the Cleveland Indians logo, saying that "high school students are showing more wisdom than these wealthy major league owners".[164]
College of William and Mary
In the 1960s and 1970s, the College of William and Mary used as a logo a character named Wampi, "a caricature similar to that used by the Cleveland Indians".[165][166][167] A 1972 article in The Flat Hat, the William and Mary student newspaper, discussed the ongoing use of the logo in light of the American Indian Center's recently launched lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians.[166][168] The president of the student association said that William and Mary's team name should be changed, or the logo should be modified.[168] The college's director of sports information said, "It may not be an accurate portrayal, but then what portrayals are in the promotion business?"[168] He also asked, "Are we going to eliminate all ethnic jokes? Are we becoming so that we can't laugh at ourselves? We sometimes depict our opponents in a demeaning way. Are they going to sue us?"[168] The Wahoo-like character was retired by 1978.[166]
North Coast Indians
The North Coast Indians, a semi-professional team in California, uses a logo based on Chief Wahoo.[169] Leaders of the Chumash Tribe have asked the team to stop using the logo.[169][170] The tribe sent a cease-and-desist letter to the team, and planned to ask the city council to bar the team's use of public fields until the logo is changed.[169][170] The team owner did not respond to requests for comment for two different news stories on the subject.[169][170]
Acceptance of logo in schools and libraries
Statements by educational bodies
Educational bodies have sometimes criticized Chief Wahoo. In a guidebook on evaluating American Indian resources for classroom use, the Montana Office of Public Instruction has described Chief Wahoo as an example of a disrespectful image of Native Americans.[171] A report on the use of Native American mascots by the Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction described Chief Wahoo as an example of a stereotypical Native American image.[172]
The faculty senate at Kent State University has passed a resolution objecting to the use of Chief Wahoo by members of the school community.[173] The resolution[174] was first proposed in 2002.[175] In the discussion around the issue, one of the faculty members compared the use of Chief Wahoo to a hypothetical baseball teamed named the Phoenix Fallen Four that uses a bright red target for its logo.[175] In the hypothetical scenario, the intent of the name and logo is to honor of the victims of the Kent State Massacre, but the result is that positive images of Kent State are "unable to compete".[175] The same faculty senator said that the American Indian Society on campus viewed the issue as a concern.[175] Arguments against passing the resolution were that it would generate ill will on campus and that the intent was fine but "we don't change beliefs by proclamation".[175] The 2002 resolution failed to pass by two votes.[175] The resolution was again brought before the faculty senate in 2004,[176] when it passed by a vote of seventeen to six.[177]
After the Kent State faculty resolution passed, it received some criticism in the school's student press. One student columnist characterized the resolution as seeming like "yet another instance of the radical left trying to make other people feel bad about not conforming to their perception of what constitutes offensive behavior".[178] He accused the radical left of wanting to criminalize the wearing of a Cleveland Indians jacket while allowing pornographers and flag burners to "gleefully dance around under the umbrella of the First Amendment".[178]
Cuyahoga County Public Library
In 1999, Cuyahoga County Public Library barred its workers from wearing the Chief Wahoo logo to work.[179] A memo issued to employees said that the logo was not the image that the library wants to project.[180] The policy drew approval from local Indian groups but caused the executive director of the library to receive "a lot of grief" from employees,[179] one of whom complained that "the library prides itself on not censoring".[180] Nevertheless, a library spokesperson later said that the staff was "accepting the directive".[181] The ACLU protested the decision, and the legal director for ACLU Ohio said that the issue was one of free speech, not racism.[182] The ban prompted Ohio state legislator James Trakas (R-Independence) to propose legislation that would cut public funding to any agency that bans a sports logo.[183] The legislation did not pass.[184] Trakas described the ban as "political correctness at its extreme".[181] In response to concerns that some might feel denigrated by the logo, Trakas said, "America certainly has a scattered history when it comes to Indians, but we're talking about a sports team here. Get over it."[185]
Stakeholder beliefs
Statements by Cleveland management and partners
By current and former owners
When owner Larry Dolan bought the team in 2000, he said, "I have no problem with Chief Wahoo. I don't think there is any disrespect meant. If I did, I would consider a change."[186] In a 2006 interview, team owner Larry Dolan defended the use of Chief Wahoo after describing a meeting with student demonstrators at Oberlin College:
"I agreed to meet with them, they gave me their ills, and some of their personal backgrounds. I ask them, 'What you tell me is sad, and is worthy of response, but can you give me any antidotial [sic] evidence that these things that you speak of actually have occurred? And where and by whom?' They have no such evidence. And they never were able to supply any, and never has any of the other groups that have protested. My personal feeling is, I don't wear their shoes, I understand that, but the dour Indian is not in the, is not the best traditional Indian. The smiling Wahoo is probably a little bit over-the-top, but it's better than the other, and it's a beloved figure around the country."[59]
The Oberlin student newspaper recorded the interview and quoted Dolan as saying, "I firmly reject that Wahoo is racist. I see that it makes some Natives uncomfortable — clearly not all. I think I understand racism when I see it."[187] The paper reported that Dolan claimed his incentive to action was weakened by the fact that Native Americans do not universally find the logo offensive.[187]
Larry Dolan's son, Paul Dolan, was at the meeting, and was quoted as saying, "Whether or not [Chief Wahoo] is offensive is not really a debate. Whether it's racist is really the crux of the issue."[187] Paul Dolan was at the time vice president and general counsel to the Indians, and after a tenure as franchise president would go on to become the team's CEO and controlling owner.[188][189][190]
Former owner Richard Jacobs vowed not to drop the logo as long as he owned the team.[191][192]
By team spokesperson
Team spokesman Bob DiBiasio has defended the use of Chief Wahoo, saying that while the logo is a caricature, it is "not meant to represent anyone or any group." He has also stated that Chief Wahoo is not meant to be racist, and asked "if there is no intent to demean, how can something demean?"[58] DiBiasio has expanded on these statements elsewhere. In another interview, he said:
"We believe this is an issue of perception. We think people look at the logo and they think about baseball — they think about C.C. Sabathia, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, and Omar Vizquel. The Wall Street Journal did an editorial about the Jeep Cherokee and concluded that something cannot be demeaned if there is no intent to demean. We still believe the vast majority of our fans like Chief Wahoo."[186]
By other members of team management
Statements from other members of Cleveland management have ranged from noncommittal to very supportive. Kurt Schloss, former director of merchandising[193] and now vice president of concessions,[194] has defended the use of the logo as part of the team's identity: "Chief Wahoo is a piece of who we are ... It's not about representing a person or a group, it's about our history."[193] In 2007, while working as general manager of the team, Mark Shapiro stated, "It's not an area I have control over or choose to focus."[186] In 2013, after becoming president of the Indians, Shapiro was asked by an interviewer about "the official position of the club on the, on the whole, you know, Chief Wahoo thing".[195] He explained:
"I think you always want to be sensitive to anybody that finds it offensive, that, you know ultimately the Indians name and the team, ah, is in recognition of our pride and affiliation with the first Native American baseball player. So I think what we choose to do is celebrate, you know, Louis Sockalexis and and his history and tradition with the Indians and, and not to focus on uh anything that we would view, that, you know, anything that we don’t view and certainly don’t want to put, uh, be offensive to anyone."[195]
On interactions with Cleveland American Indian Movement
DiBiasio has described conversations about Chief Wahoo with the Cleveland American Indian Movement and others as "an exchange of ideas, concepts, philosophies".[21] The Cleveland American Indian Movement also sought comment from Progressive Insurance, owners of the naming rights to the Cleveland stadium.[21] The group's request had gone unanswered for several months as of May 2013, when a Progressive spokesperson claimed to have no knowledge of their letter.[21]
Statements by Native Americans
By Louis Sockalexis descendants and members of the Penobscot Tribe
Penobscot Indian Kenneth Paul, who at the time of a 1993 interview was former Indians player Louis Sockalexis' oldest surviving relative, described his reaction to being photographed in a Chief Wahoo hat, saying, "They made me look like a fool."[197] On the subject of the logo itself, he said, "Wahoo or Yahoo, it's more insulting than anything. I think they should change the whole thing to something else. It won't break my heart. It won't break anybody's."[197] Paul's son, Kenneth Jr., has said of Chief Wahoo, "I wish they'd get rid of that smiling Indian head."[197]
Donna Loring, the Penobscot Indian Nation's representative to the Maine State Legislature, has criticized the logo, saying that it "denigrated the contribution that Sockalexis made to the team and to professional sports."[198]
By activists and academics
After the Indians' management chose to retain Chief Wahoo in 1993, Clark Hosick, executive director of the North American Indian Cultural Center in Akron, Ohio, explained his position on the logo. Hosick said he believed that the logo encouraged stereotypical comments, such as sports reports describing how "the Indians scalped" their opponents. He also said that he believed some of these comments would disappear if the team dropped the logo.[199]
Charlene Teters, a Native American artist and activist, was interviewed for a 1997 story on Chief Wahoo and remarked, "We are the only group of people still used as mascots. You wouldn't have someone painted in blackface run on the field."[20] Teters again discussed the logo in a 2009 documentary produced by New Mexico PBS: "This image should have gone by the wayside along with Little Black Sambo and the Frito Bandito ... That this image honors neither Indian or non-Indian people, and that I think anyone who looks at this can recognize it as a blatant racist caricature, tells you, really, again, our place in the society ... If it is trivial, as they like to say, then why is there any objection whatsoever to changing these images? I really feel that it has to do more with power than it has to do with money."[196]
The Youth "Indian" Mascot and Logo Task Force is a group in Wisconsin that has asked high schools to retire Native American mascots. In a statement, the group has contrasted the relative acceptance of Chief Wahoo versus that of Little Black Sambo: "How is it that our society can agree to get rid of the image of 'Little Black Sambo', but allow our schools to continue to use caricatures like 'Chief Wahoo' or the sacred symbolism of a chief's headdress? In an age when we are teaching our children to be morally responsible and racially sensitive, we cannot continue to let this form of institutional racism be a matter of choice."[200]
In a 2011 statement before the Senate, Morning Star Institute president Suzan Shown Harjo cited Chief Wahoo as an example of the "savage savage" stereotype of Native Americans (as opposed to the "noble savage"), describing the logo as one of several prominent "hideous, inhuman, insulting or just plain dumb-looking" depictions.[201]
Russell Means has criticized Chief Wahoo, saying, "It epitomizes the stereotyped image of the Native American. It attacks the cultural heritage of the American Indian and destroys Indian pride."[202]
James Fenelon, a researcher and member of the Dakota tribe, has described Chief Wahoo as an "unambiguous racial icon meant to symbolize stereotypical and usually negative images of Native people as ‘wild’ but ‘friendly’ savages."[203]
By writers
Writer Jack Shakely described his childhood purchase of Chief Wahoo hat in a Los Angeles Times editorial that criticized the use of Native American mascots:
"I got my first lesson in Indians portrayed as sports team mascots in the early 1950s when my father took me to a Cleveland Indians-New York Yankees game. Dad gave me money to buy a baseball cap, and I was conflicted. I loved the Yankees, primarily because fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle had just come up and was being touted as rookie of the year. But being mixed-blood Muscogee/Creek, I felt a (misplaced) loyalty to the Indians. So I bought the Cleveland cap with the famous Chief Wahoo logo on it. When we got back to Oklahoma, my mother took one look at the cap with its leering, big-nosed, buck-toothed redskin caricature just above the brim, jerked it off my head and threw it in the trash. She had been fighting against Indian stereotypes all her life, and I had just worn one home. I was only 10 years old, but the look of betrayal in my Creek mother's eyes is seared in my memory forever."[204]
Native American writer and filmmaker Sherman Alexie has referenced Chief Wahoo when describing the impact of his book The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven: "To break Indians out of museums and movies and Chief Wahoo—that’s a legacy for any book."[205] In an interview for Time magazine, Alexie compared the logo to Little Black Sambo: "A lot of people think it's a minor issue. Google search Chief Wahoo, put it up on one side of your screen, and then Google search Sambo, and put it on your screen. And this horribly racist, vile depiction of African Americans looks exactly like the Chief Wahoo mascot of the Cleveland Indians. Exactly. And why is one acceptable and the other isn't?"[206]
Anton Treuer, author of Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, was asked in an interview whether "native people can be more readily imagined than known".[207] Treuer replied that this was the case, and cited sports mascots as an example.[207] He went on to describe the persistence of Chief Wahoo: "We've come a long way since, you know, Little Black Sambo, you know, effigies and things like that kind of dominated the cultural landscape in America, but for some reason Chief Wahoo has persisted."[207]
Steve Russell, a writer and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation,[208] has contrasted Chief Wahoo with what he views as the relative inoffensiveness of Cleveland's team name:
"The Cleveland Indians are probably the least offensively named professional team, until you meet Chief Wahoo. It is like naming a team the 'African-American Freedom Fighters' and then making Sambo the mascot. It is like naming a team 'La Raza' and then resurrecting the Frito Bandito for mascot duty. No one can make the honor claim with a straight face, unless they seriously think Chief Wahoo is a straight face."[209][210]
The issue was framed similarly in The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America by Bruce Elliott Johansen. Johansen writes:
"The term Indians, on its face, is not overtly defamatory. Sometimes the context, not the name itself, is the problem. In the case of the Cleveland Indians, face value is the clincher — the face, that is, of the stupidly grinning, single-feathered Chief Wahoo."[211]
A writer for The Encyclopedia of Race and Racism makes a similar point, writing that the "use of laudatory nicknames contrasts sharply with the practice of using racial caricatures as mascots—such as Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians".[212]
On the logo's depiction of a religious artifact
Bob Roche, director of the American Indian Education Center, has criticized the design of the logo:
"This red feather that is worn by the so-called Chief Wahoo is a part of a ceremonial feather that is given to our warriors that have shed their own blood in battle ... It's very spiritual, the eagle feather; the eagle represents the messenger to the creator because it flies so high. And the eagle, of course, is revered. And so it's a mockery of our own religion, our own spirituality."[213]
Ellen Baird, a Native American professor of sociology at the University of Dayton,[214] has criticized the logo on similar grounds as Roche. Baird says that the feather depicted in the logo is traditionally given to a warrior wounded in battle, and alleges that institutional racism prevents people from learning of this.[48]
Sherman Alexie has also criticized the Cleveland team's appropriation of items considered sacred. After comparing Chief Wahoo to Little Black Sambo in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, Alexie added, "The feathers, paint and drums are part of our religion. More than just racist, those images are blasphemous."[215]
In the press
Reporter and columnist Phil Wieland recounted the remarks of a man named Kenny Lone Eagle in a 2013 opinion piece for the Northwest Indiana Times.[216] According to Wieland, Lone Eagle is not bothered by Chief Wahoo.[216] Wieland opens the piece by referring to Lone Eagle as a Native American, one of "the people we used to call Indians and whose butts John Wayne kicked in all those movies".[216]
Indian Country Today Media Network has called the logo "grossly offensive".[217]
Statements by professional athletes and administrators
Chief Wahoo has been criticized by former Cleveland Indian Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League. Explaining his desire to see the team do away with the logo, he said, "It reminds me of blackface minstrel shows."[119] Former Cleveland pitcher Charles Nagy, talking about the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves logos during the 1995 World Series, has said, "I understand what the big fuss is and everything like that," but to him "it's just a team logo".[218][219] When the Cleveland Indians were considering drafting Navajo player Jacoby Ellsbury in 2007, a member of the organization asked him whether he would be bothered by the logo. Ellsbury told a reporter, "They asked me if I would be offended or anything like that if they had taken me. I said it was fine, but I thought that was nice on their part ... I'm not offended. You can look at it two different ways. You can look at it that it's offensive or you can look at it that they are representing Native Americans. Usually I'll try to take the positive out of it."[186]
In 2007, Northeastern University athletic director Peter Roby, who previously directed the Center for the Study of Sport and Society, commented on the issue:
"It is absolutely racist. Does Jacoby Ellsbury look like that? He's a Native American. That's the problem with the issue and with those kinds of caricatures. They are not in any way representative of that culture and the people and they send a message that is disrespectful and stereotypical of a race of people that deserve better. I think it says something that they felt a need to ask him about it."[186]
University of North Dakota president Charles Kupchella criticized Chief Wahoo in a 2006 interview that he granted shortly after the University of North Dakota lost an appeal to retain its Fighting Sioux nickname and logo. Describing his belief that respectful logos were being incorrectly grouped with offensive logos, he said, "Chief Wahoo, for example, is a cartoonish, goofy-looking portrayal of an Indian. And they’ll say studies have shown … Well, our logo is not like that. They also will use nicknames like “redskins” and “savages” and lump the Sioux in with all of those and say they’re all wrong. In fact, there some that aren’t and some that are. Those that are should be changed and stopped immediately."[220]
The spokesman for the Kansas City Chiefs has contrasted his team's use of Native American imagery to that of teams like the Cleveland Indians, saying, "Each situation is different ... we don't have what we consider to be Native American caricatures."[221]
According to New York Daily News sportswriter Flip Bondy, a "high-ranking Yankees official" criticized the logo during the 2007 playoffs in Cleveland, saying, "I can't believe they still have that thing."[222] Bondy has accused Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig of giving Chief Wahoo "a tacit go-ahead".[66]
Statements by sportswriters, journalists, and authors
Various sportswriters have gone on record supporting or opposing the Chief Wahoo. Among those who have supported the use of the logo are Phil Rogers, who applauded team owner Richard Jacobs "for risking political incorrectness by letting Chief Wahoo live".[115] The logo has been opposed by Ohio sportswriter Terry Pluto, who wrote, "I love Chief Wahoo. But I also know it's time for Chief Wahoo to go."[192][223] Cleveland-born sports columnist Joe Posnanski has written, "Wahoo is an inherentry racist symbol. Nobody could really deny this. Nobody could look at that grinning mug and say, 'No, it’s really a flattering portrayal of Native Americans, who were conquered, nearly wiped off the planet by our ancestors and then forced to live on reservations.'”[224]
In a piece for USA Today, sports columnist Joe Saraceno called Chief Wahoo "probably the most outrageous, blatant symbol of racism in sports today."[225] In a column that generally criticized activist Russell Means' work against Native American imagery in sports, sportswriter Bud Leavitt made an exception in the case Chief Wahoo, saying that the Cleveland Indians "engage in goofy, smiling, dumb, stereotypical baseball".[226]
Chief Wahoo has also been criticized by author Paul Lukas, who regularly writes about sports uniforms on his website "Uni Watch". Writing for ESPN, he cited the logo as an example of "inherently offensive" imagery and said, "It's hard to view Chief Wahoo (the Cleveland Indians' logo character) as anything other than a racist caricature."[227] Lukas has also predicted, "It's no longer a question of whether the Indians will retire their racist Chief Wahoo caricature. It's just a matter of when."[228] Lukas' prediction was printed alongside a list where he ranked the Cleveland Indians' uniforms 28th out of 30 Major League Baseball teams.[228] The previous year, he had ranked Cleveland uniforms 29th out of 30 teams, writing that Chief Wahoo is a "lightning rod of an ethnic caricature whose time has clearly passed."[229] Sportswriter Jim Caple ranked Chief Wahoo last among Major League Baseball logos, calling it "wildly inappropriate" and criticizing the argument that the logo is a tradition.[230]
Caple's criticism was the impetus for an editorial in The Lantern, the student newspaper of Ohio State University. The author of the editorial wrote:
"It is no surprise that in today’s ultra-sensitive culture people would take offense to a Native American logo, because frankly, some individuals take offense to everything ... Organizations do not choose their teams’ names to express racist emotions toward a certain group of people. They choose their names to express strength, pride and, in the case of the Indians, respect. I am afraid that we are slowly becoming a society that bends after every word of complaint. There are serious efforts in place to sterilize our culture, even in sports. But before anyone finds fault with the Indians’ name or logo, they should first learn the story behind it."[231]
In 2005, the NCAA implemented a ban on tournament participation among teams with "hostile or abusive" logos or mascots.[232] In the ensuing debate, sportswriters on both sides of the issue used Chief Wahoo an example of an unacceptable logo. Writing for Sports Illustrated, Roy Johnson, who supported the ban, wrote that "Each time I see Chief Wahoo, the grinnin' caricature that represents the Cleveland Indians, my mind's eye sees big-lipped black-face images from the Stepin Fetchit era."[233] An Indianapolis Star editorial on the NCAA ban also compared Chief Wahoo to Stepin Fetchit.[234]
Jason Ashcroft, a sportswriter for the Kentucky-based Ledger-Independent, called the NCAA ban "political correctness gone too far" but nevertheless cited Chief Wahoo as an example of a racial stereotype. Ashcroft went on to describe how seeing Chief Wahoo reminded him of a conversation with an Ojibway and Wyandot Indian friend who said, "That mascot is just like a black sambo cartoon or something that you'd see on a poster during Nazi Germany. He doesn't represent anything honorable or brave about native people; he's a caricature and it's wrong."[235] An editorial in the Miami Herald complained that the Florida State University mascot was being unfairly targeted, and said, "Nor can you lump the Chief Osceola mascot with the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo caricature, which is demeaning."[236]
During the American League Championship Series in 2007, ESPN ran a picture of Cleveland fans whose faces were painted to resemble Chief Wahoo. The photo prompted discussion in several media outlets. Deadspin asked if it is "really okay for Indians fans to be dressing up in red face".[237] King Kaufman, writing for Salon, said "There is nothing about grinning-Indian redface that’s even a little bit less racist than minstrel-show blackface."[238] Matthew Felling, writing for CBS News, called Kaufman's column "off-day filler", but said that the logo "truly does call to mind Black Sambo or a similarly belittling depiction".[239] In an e-mail statement, an ESPN spokesman said, "The photo came down due to normal, daily editorial cycle. However, we have also discussed the photo choice internally and determined that we must, and will, be more selective as the series progresses."[238]
In a 2007 column for The Poynter Institute, Roy Peter Clark discussed television images of fans dressed in feathers and red face paint to resemble Chief Wahoo, and encouraged journalists not to wait on protests before acting on the story.[240] Clark described Chief Wahoo as "the absolute equivalent of the blackface Sambo images that polluted American culture in the first half of the 20th century, and Nazi propaganda portrayals of Jews with big noses and wicked sneers."[240] He went on to assert that Chief Wahoo was news because these media images "offer vicious portrayals of a race of people — iconic representations that become associated not with shame but with triumph and joy."[240]
Justice B. Hill, a Cleveland-born sports reporter, has characterized Cleveland's continued embrace of Chief Wahoo as a failure to depart from his country's racist past.[241] Hill writes of Cleveland,
"Here, you find a remnant of racism plastered everywhere. It shows itself in the image of Chief Wahoo, a cartoonish mascot the Cleveland Indians parade everywhere to promote the ballclub. Shunting aside political correctness, the team owners and fans have clung to a stereotype so abasing of Native Americans that it shames a hard-luck city that needs no farther shame ... It is impossible to find right in racist symbols like a Nazi’s swastika, a Klansman’s robe and Chief Wahoo. They are nothing but wrong."[241]
Joseph Hayes, writing for the Times Herald of Michigan, has criticized Chief Wahoo as a stereotypical character that demoralizes a culture.[242] Mansfield Frazier, a Cleveland-born resident and activist who has written for local papers,[243] has said that Chief Wahoo presents an unwelcoming image for the city.[244]
Sportswriters have occasionally written about the "Curse of Chief Wahoo",[8] suggesting (seriously or not) that Chief Wahoo is the cause of the Cleveland Indians' failure to win a World Series since 1948. In a rank-ordered list of 50 Major League curses, an ESPN column listed The Curse of Chief Wahoo as number 5.[245] By way of explanation, the columnist writes, "Get rid of the logo and join the 21st century. Their choke in the '97 Series is underrated."[245]
In the book Baseball: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, author Edward J. Rielly writes that "Chief Wahoo does no credit to anyone, much less to team management and fans who persist in failing to understand the demeaning nature of the characterization".[246] In the book Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture, David McGimpsey writes, "If the Washington Redskins are guilty of the most sharply racist use of Native American imagery, the mascot of the Cleveland Indians, Chief Wahoo, is the most painfully ridiculous."[17] The Rollie Fingers Baseball Bible describes in two paragraphs how perceptions of the logo have changed since its creation:
"It was way back in 1947 when the highly animated Chief Wahoo first made his way into the hearts of Cleveland fans. The people of the era found him to be an inviting beacon, and the Chief quickly became a symbol of city pride. His wide comic smile and playful eyes insinuated that anyone who came into his ballpark would be given a most enjoyable experience.
"But as the decades passed, more and more people began finding this wahoo to be an insensitive sterotype. Accordingly, his visibility began to shrink. Although Chief Wahoo still exists, he has been pushed off of the primary real estate into less visible acreage, not unlike the Indians he was modeled after."[247]
Author Jeffrey Powers-Beck compares elements of derogatory comics to elements of the Chief Wahoo design. In his book The American Indian Integration of Baseball, he describes an early 20th century cartoon where Native American player Louis Leroy is shown wearing a feather pinned in his baseball cap, performing a "mock-Indian dance", and "comically hunched with the same absurd toothy grin as 'Chief Wahoo'".[248]
Sportswriters have sometimes used references to Chief Wahoo as a lead-in to other Native American imagery. For example, a 1986 Associated Press article begins, "C'mon Chief Wahoo, start beating those war drums. The Tribe is in first place."[249] A Wall Street Journal article on hypothetical trades between fantasy baseball teams said, "If this deal were made prior to the season, it would smell. People would think Chief Wahoo was smoking too much peace pipe."[250]
Statements by others
Logo creator Walter Goldbach suggested one possible resolution to the controversy: "If they have a problem with it, why don't they get a bunch of Native American artists and have a contest between them to come up with a new logo? Does that sound fair?"[10] Donna Loring, the Penobscot Indian Nation representative to the Maine State Legislature, has said that she hopes for a similar resolution, one where "the Cleveland Indians will someday work with Penobscots to draw up a new, respectable emblem to replace Chief Wahoo".[198] Others have taken a harder stance. In 1993, a founder of the pro-Wahoo group Save Our Chief suggested that Native Americans had failed to examine the Indians' history or to discern the logo's honorific intent: "The Cleveland Indians name and logo has a huge history behind them. If Native Americans would look at the history they'd realize they are being honored."[1]
In a 1999 interview, the head of a sports marketing company in New York commented on the Cleveland Indians' good performance and high apparel sales that year: "From a sports marketing standpoint, this is what you live and die for. You wait for the big win, then you take that logo and you go crazy with it."[10] Eleanor Rusnak, owner of the J.F. Novak company, which designed and manufactured the original Chief Wahoo emblem in 1947, has spoken out against the logo: "People felt differently back then, and we didn’t know how American Indians felt about the emblem. But it’s become a whole different world, and I’m just glad I’ve gotten to live long enough to be a part of it.”[251]
Some fans have defended Chief Wahoo in the press. In a 1997 interview, a fan who used the name "Dave Wahoo" to run an online bulletin board said that the team should not change its logo, adding, "What's next — German people complaining because the Milwaukee Brewers have a mascot named Bernie the Brewer?"[20]
Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, has called the logo "the most blatantly offensive of all the symbols I've seen of Native Americans" during 40 years working in his field.[252]
Students at Oberlin College have discussed the logo's use with team owner Larry Dolan, who serves on Oberlin's board of trustees. The head of the American Indian Council at Oberlin presented Dolan with a packet "containing historical, scholarly and position papers about American Indian team mascots",[253] and Dolan has met with Oberlin students and faculty who oppose the use of Chief Wahoo.[254] In 2000, the school's American Indian Council expressed its concern over Dolan's presence on the board of trustees at an open forum meeting.[255] Around the same time, other Oberlin students, faculty, and staff spoke out about Chief Wahoo. The assistant dean of students and director of the school's multicultural resource center said, "On finding out that Larry Dolan was a trustee, I almost fell out of my chair. It surprises me that Oberlin would get a trustee that was related to a racist symbol like that."[256] A professor of history said, "It's clearly offensive. And I am as flabbergasted as I was when I first moved to Ohio every time I see that logo. I'm also flabbergasted that all Indian fans don't recognize its offensiveness."[256] The college secretary was more ambivalent, saying, "I'm not a big baseball fan, but I've always found the anti-Indians/Wahoo argument non-convincing. I don't see it as racist, but I'm not an Indian."[256]
Stanley Miller, the executive director of the NAACP's Cleveland branch, has lamented the lack of response to Chief Wahoo's continued use.[257] In an interview, Miller said that if black Americans were depicted in an image akin to Chief Wahoo, "the NAACP would be up in arms about it. The Urban League would be up in arms about it."[257]
During the 2007 post-season, the Christian Science Monitor ran an editorial deploring the logo's continued use.[258][259] In 1993, the Christian Science Monitor said that the team's move to a new stadium "would seem an ideal time to change the team's mascot",[260] and in 2000 it suggested that social pressure might force the team to change its name and logo.[261]
Ohio-born comedian Drew Carey, a libertarian and a critic of political correctness,[262] has commented on Chief Wahoo multiple times. In one interview he said, "I used to wear a Wahoo hat all the time. But if it hurts so many people, they probably ought to get rid of it."[262] In an interview with sportswriter Tom Hoffarth, Carey said, "I don't really mind it. Although my ancestors were from Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England. So… Fighting Irish anyone?"[263] Native American activist and writer Suzan Shown Harjo has criticized Carey, saying that his "punch lines portray actual Indian people as a notch below fictional 'Indian' logos and as dumb, easily duped and deservedly caricatured."[264] In 2006, Carey's likeness was used for a bobblehead doll in which the comedian was modeled wearing a Chief Wahoo hat.[265]
Comedian John Oliver, commenting on writer Scott Raab's Chief Wahoo tattoo, called the logo "a reminder of one of the most painful moments in American history."[266] Raab has written about the complicated relationship he has with his Chief Wahoo tattoo, which he got while drinking with Dennis Rodman in 1994.[267] Although he "love[s] Chief Wahoo", Raab also describes the logo as "a degrading, racist caricature" and believes it should be retired.[267]
While working with New Era Caps, rapper Kid Cudi wrote about his desire to "revamp" the Cleveland logo and create "something that doesn't offend Native Americans".[268] It was not clear whether the revamped logo would appear on a hat.[268] Stalley, a rapper and Ohio native, described in a 2013 interview his large collection of fitted Indians caps, including Chief Wahoo hats.[269] Stalley references a fitted Chief Wahoo cap in his track "Go On", where he raps, "Wahoo fitted, pick my beard in case it's matted."[270]
In his autobiography, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas wrote that a Wahoo-decorated pennant commemorating Cleveland's 1954 American League championship was a "prized possession" from his childhood.[271]
Research
Researchers have studied the effects of exposure to Chief Wahoo and other depictions of Native Americans. One study of American Indian high school students found that, although exposure to Chief Wahoo generated positive associations, students also reported depressed self-esteem and community worth scores.[272] After exposure to Chief Wahoo, these students' depressed scores were lower than those of other students who read about how depictions of Native American communities commonly emphasize high rates of alcoholism, suicide, and teen pregnancy.[272][273] Follow-up research on American Indian college students found that exposure to Chief Wahoo resulted in depressed predictions of future achievement.[272] The researchers concluded:
Although these studies cannot address the process by which these undermining effects occur, the studies do suggest that the effects are not due to negative associations with mascots. We suggest that the negative effects of exposure to these images may, in part, be due to the relative absence of more contemporary positive images of American Indians in American society ... The only way to reduce the negative impact of these constraining American Indian mascot representations is to either eliminate them or to create, distribute, and institutionalize a broader array of social representations of American Indians. The latter option would communicate to both natives and nonnatives that, beyond the historically constituted roles as Indian princesses and warrior chiefs, there exist other viable and desirable ways to be American Indian in contemporary mainstream society.[272]
This research has been presented to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs within the context of other studies showing similar results.[274] In a prepared statement to the committee, Jesse A. Steinfeldt, a researcher at the University of Indiana, described the scientific evidence available:
There is an emerging body of psychological research that demonstrates the deleterious psychological ramifications of race-based mascotery ... While this practice has a negative impact on the psychological functioning of American Indians, the insidious nature of race-based mascots, nicknames, and logos is further evidenced by its ability to improve the psychological functioning of members of the dominant culture at the psychological expense of members of a marginalized group in society ... Just because the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo is seen frequently on ESPN doesn't make it right.[274]
Subsequent research has found that exposure to the Chief Wahoo image "activated negative, but not positive, American Indian stereotypes", and that the predominately European-American study participants' "motivation to control prejudice, prejudice level, and experience did not predict negative stereotype activation".[275]
In 2010, the authors of a paper published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology reported the results of two studies on the effects of American Indian mascots on observers.[276] According to the authors, "both studies show that participants primed with an American Indian sports mascot increased their stereotyping of a different ethnic minority group."[276] The alternative weekly publication Cleveland Scene sardonically interpreted these results to mean that "looking at Chief Wahoo, the mere existence of Chief Wahoo, can change your opinions of a whole separate ethnicity", adding that the study "probably confirms that Clevelanders and Indians fans are inclined to stereotype and hate just about every group in the world."[277] The magazine Pacific Standard also framed the study in terms of the Indians' logo, headlining their story "Chief Wahoo’s Revenge: One Stereotype Begets Another".[278]
Historical research into the veracity of popular stories regarding the origins of the Indians' team name and logo[120] has been cited in an American Psychological Association resolution recommending the retirement of Native American mascots, symbols, and images by sports teams.[279][280] Research into the Cleveland Indians' use of Native American symbols[281] has been cited in a bibliography[282] accompanying an American Sociological Association resolution calling for an end to the use of Native American logos in sports.[283]
Depictions in artwork and film
American Leagues by Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds
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In 1996, the Cleveland Institute of Art opened an exhibit featuring the work of Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds, a half-Arapaho, half-Cheyenne associate professor of art at the University of Oklahoma.[1][284] Among the pieces he designed for the exhibition was a 25-by-12 foot billboard featuring an image of Chief Wahoo and the text "Smile for Racism".[285] Amidst controversy, the school initially announced that the piece would not be funded or shown.[285] Heap of Birds announced his intent not to attend the opening, and alleged that the school was afraid of losing donations from Indians owner Richard Jacobs.[285] The Indians' spokesman had no comment on the matter, while the chairman of the institute's board explained that he was offended by the piece and said, "I don't think that's art."[285]
Eventually, the school reversed its position after determining that it was contractually obligated to fund the work.[284] Heap of Birds decided to attend the opening,[284] and the piece was eventually shown.[1] He produced at least two different variations on the work, referred to in a journal as American Leagues 1 and American Leagues 2, both of which used the same design.[286] The billboard itself was installed in 1998 near the approach to Jacobs Field.[287] Heap of Birds later wrote of his artwork:
"Today, Indian people must still struggle in order to survive in America. We must battle against forces that have dealt us among the lowest educational opportunities, lowest income levels, lowest standards of health, lowest housing conditions, lowest political representation and highest mortality rates in America. Even as these grave hardships exist for the living Indian people, a mockery is made of us by reducing our tribal names and images to the level of insulting sports team mascots, brand name automobiles, camping equipment, city and state names, and various other commercial products produced by the dominate culture. This strange and insensitive custom is particularly insulting when one considers the great lack of attention that is given to real Indian concerns. It must be understood that no human being should be identified as subservient to another culture. To be overpowered and manipulated in such a way as to thought to become [sic] a team mascot is totally unthinkable."[288]
Artwork by Charlene Teters
Chief Wahoo has appeared in other artwork as well. Native American artist Charlene Teters has incorporated Chief Wahoo merchandise into installation pieces.[289] She describes this art as "an extension of the work that I've been doing on the front lines, of the struggle to remove stereotypes and symbols that reinforce the stereotype of the Native people".[289] Teters goes on to say, "What I do is collect these things and put them in a context for people to examine them. I think that we become so desensitized to them that we don't even see them for what they are. And so what I'm doing is putting them in a very concentrated space for people to feel the bombardment. The purpose for me is to create a forum for people to debate the issue."[289]
Teters has also incorporated Chief Wahoo into mixed-media pieces. In a work titled What We Know About Indians, large black and white portraits of the artists' family members are "blocked" by brightly colored overlays of mass-media depictions of Native Americans.[290]: 32 Teters' childhood portrait is overlaid with a Disney image of Pocahontas, and another portrait is overlaid with an image of Chief Wahoo.[290]: 32
Artwork by Cyprien Gaillard
In Germany, artist Cyprien Gaillard has installed a 12-meter, neon-outline Chief Wahoo replica atop an abandoned building in Berlin's Mitte district.[291] The Wall Street Journal has said the project "combines a symbol of the American Rust Belt with a souvenir of Communist town planning", and is "meant to reflect on the broader subject of urban decline."[292]
In another work, titled Indian Palace, Gaillard silkscreened the logo onto a salvaged window from East Berlin's demolished Palast der Republik.[293] The work appeared in an exhibition whose curator described the piece in terms of power, hierarchies, and values: "The window panes have arrived as ‘spoils’ in Frankfurt. The term ‘spoil’ originally referred to the hide of an animal or the enemy’s armor and was later extended to apply to old fragments of architecture. The Native American grinning through the shimmering glass brings to mind the constant change in power relations, hierarchies and values."[293] In an article on Gaillard's work, Indian Country Today Media Network said that it is up to the viewer to decide "whether it is a clever re-imagining of a controversial symbol or merely a callous and harmful repetition."[294]
Folk art and fan art
Chief Wahoo has also appeared in numerous works of folk art and fan art. A 2002 decision by the US Department of Labor Employees' Compensation Appeals Board described the actions of a former letter carrier who claimed to have produced over 3,000 pieces of Chief Wahoo yard art, although she later said that claim was an exaggeration.[295] The former letter carrier also produced Chief Wahoo clocks.[295] In 2006, a likeness of Chief Wahoo took third place in a local sand sculpture competition, finishing behind sand sculpture versions of King Neptune and a man in a swimming pool.[296]
In Meadville, Pennsylvania, the adult children of a 74-year-old Cleveland Indians fan hired a chainsaw artist named Brian Sprague to carve a seven-foot-tall maple tree stump into a full-body statue of Chief Wahoo.[5][297][298] In 2007, a Toledo, Ohio newspaper reported that an Oregon man intended to have a tree trunk carved into a depiction of Chief Wahoo at bat.[46]
Elements of Chief Wahoo were incorporated into a collage that appeared in the Tribe Tract & Testimonial,[299][56][300] a fanzine that is now collected at the Cleveland Public Library.[301] In 2013, a Cleveland artist designed a T-shirt that combined Chief Wahoo's feather with imagery from the Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers.[302]
2006 documentary
The controversy surrounding Chief Wahoo, and arguments against the logo's use were reviewed in a 2006 documentary called WaWHO? Nothing is Sacred.[213][48] The documentary was completed by Dennis Atkins, an American Indian and a Cleveland native,[48] and was produced by the Cleveland branch of the American Indian Movement (AIM).[303] It was screened in October of that year[304] to a half-full auditorium at Ohio University.[48] Atkins and most of those interviewed for the documentary conclude that money is the ultimate factor behind the Cleveland Indians' ongoing use of Chief Wahoo.[48]
A Cleveland-area Girl Scout troop offered its members the ability to earn a "cultural sensitivity" patch by watching the documentary.[251][303] The patch was created by the same company that designed and manufactured the original Chief Wahoo emblem in 1947.[303][305] The troop leader had adult children with Chief Wahoo tattoos, and was herself a longtime fan of the logo until she watched the documentary.[303][306] She became interested in the subject after an encounter at a historic reenactment that made a Native American girl scout wonder if Indians were unwelcome.[303][305] The troop leader than asked the scout's father whether her troop could visit his family's reservation.[303][305] The father, activist and professor Robert Roche, agreed to the request, but asked that visitors not wear the logo.[303][305] Roche is interviewed in the documentary.[213]
In an Associated Press story, Roche said that he would gladly show the documentary to anyone willing to watch it.[303][306] He described his stance on Chief Wahoo in terms of his family, saying, "I'm nobody's mascot, and [my daughter] Feather is nobody's mascot. That's the bottom line."[303][306] Cleveland Indians spokesman Bob DiBiasio declined to comment for the story.[303][306]
Public opinion
"Whether or not [Chief Wahoo] is offensive is not really a debate. Whether it's racist is really the crux of the issue."
—CEO Paul Dolan, December 19, 2000
There is little available polling data specifically with respect to Chief Wahoo. The team has alluded to popular support as a reason for retaining the logo,[115] and the Indians spokesperson has said that a majority of people support the logo.[252] However, as of 2002 the team had conducted no polling research to see how many fans would welcome a change.[58] As of 2007, the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a communication policy center[307] that has studied similar issues, had also not conducted polling about Chief Wahoo.[308]
A non-scientific online poll from 1997 found that 42% of respondents favored doing away with Chief Wahoo, and 58% favored retaining the logo. The comments and opinions of poll respondents formed the basis of a university professor's essay on Native American mascots. The essay concluded that supporters and opponents occupy "mutually exclusive communicative communities" advancing competing visions of race.[309] In another non-scientific poll from 1999, the National Spectators Association reported that 60% of respondents believed that the Cleveland Indians should change their logo.[310] Respondents to a non-scientific online poll from 2008 voted Chief Wahoo the third most popular still-active pro-sport mascot.[311]
Surveys from a 2012 dissertation on Native American identity in northeast Ohio identified several different American Indian viewpoints about Chief Wahoo. The majority of participants thought that the logo was harmful. However, there was disagreement among this group over whether the elimination of the logo should be a priority in light of the other issues facing Native Americans. Those who felt most strongly negative about the use of the logo tended to have lived in both cities and reservations. Participants were drawn from two groups, Native People Reclaiming Indian Identities (NatPride) and Relocated Indians of Ohio (RelOH).[312] A 1995 survey asked college students whether the logo should be retained and whether its use was discriminatory. Indian and black students were most likely to believe that the logo was discriminatory and should not be retained.[313]
After visiting reservations across the West, sportswriter Terry Pluto wrote that an "overwhelming majority" of residents objected to the logo: "I've talked to people who live there. It comes down to this: Most don't like it. I didn't say all. I've even seen a few wearing Chief Whaoo caps. But the overwhelming majority object."[192][223] Comedian Drew Carey has remarked, "I work a lot of Indian casinos. They have no problem with [the team name] Indians. They have a problem with Chief Wahoo."[262] Conversely, team owner Larry Dolan has said that Indian groups he has met at casinos do not have a problem with the logo.[8][59]
More broadly, polling results published in Sports Illustrated reported that "neither Native Americans in general nor a cross section of U.S. sports fans" found Indian-related team names and mascots offensive. The poll did not specifically investigate opinions about Chief Wahoo.[314] Researchers and Native American activists have criticized the results on the basis of Sports Illustrated's refusal to provide polling information. Among the questions raised are how "Indians" were found and contacted, if they were concentrated in urban areas or on reservations, if a small number of tribes were overrepresented, and the exact wording and order of the questions.[315] A 2004 Annenberg survey reported similar results; in that poll 91% of self-identified American Indians were not offended or bothered by the name of the Washington Redskins.[316] Unlike the Sports Illustrated poll, the Annenberg report described the survey methodology and wording of the question.[316]
A possible flaw in random and anonymous polls of Native American opinion is that surveys must rely upon self-identification to select the target group.[317] In an editorial in the Bloomington Herald Times, Steve Russell, a Cherokee citizen and associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana University, states that both Sports Illustrated and Annenberg's samples of "self-identified Native Americans... includes plenty of people who have nothing to do with Indians".[318] The problem of individuals claiming to be Native American when they are not is well-known in academic research, and is a particular problem when non-natives claim Indian identity specifically to gain authority in the debate over sports mascots.[317]
Notable protests and related legal matters
When the Cleveland Indians played in the 1997 World Series, protesters demonstrated against the team's use of the Chief Wahoo mascot. When American Indian activist Vernon Bellecourt burned an effigy of Chief Wahoo, police arrested him and ordered others to leave. Later, the police arrested two other protesters who had moved to another part of the stadium. Officials claimed all three had actively resisted arrest. Bellecourt was charged with criminal endangerment and resisting arrest, while the other two were charged with criminal trespass and aggravated disorderly conduct. Charges against the defendants were later dismissed.[319][320]
During opening day protests in 1998, Cleveland police arrested three protesters for burning an effigy of Chief Wahoo, and shortly thereafter arrested two more protesters for burning an effigy of Little Black Sambo. They were booked and jailed for aggravated arson. However, no formal charges were filed after the booking, and the protesters were released the next day. The protesters, led by Bellecourt, later sued the city for violating their free speech rights.
In 2004, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision that the arrest did not violate the protesters' First Amendment rights. Justice Maureen O'Connor wrote in the majority opinion that "without question, the effigy burnings were constitutionally protected speech," but, citing the 1968 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. O'Brien, O'Connor also wrote that “the windy conditions coupled with the spraying of additional accelerant on the already burning effigies created a hazard" and that "the police were obligated to protect the public, including the protesters themselves.”[321][322]
Protests against the use of the Chief Wahoo mascot have continued since the 1990s. In 2004, ruling on a lawsuit brought by protesters who wished to demonstrate against Chief Wahoo's use, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the sidewalks near Jacobs Field were a public forum and the owner could not place content-sensitive restrictions on its use.[323] Demonstrators had moved their protests to a nearby public area while the case was pending.[324]
See also
- Native American mascot controversy
- Chief Noc-A-Homa
- Tom E. Hawk (similar mascot of affiliated Kinston Indians)
- Golliwog
- Sambo (racial term)
- List of sports team names and mascots derived from Indigenous peoples
- List of ethnic sports team and mascot names (all ethnicities)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Staurowsky, Ellen J. (1998). Thomas L. Altherr, series editor Alvin L. Hall (ed.). "Searching for Sockalexis: Exploring the Myth at the core of Cleveland's 'Indian' Image", appearing in The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 1998. pp. 138–153. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
{{cite book}}:|editor=has generic name (help) - ^ a b "Russell Means and Juanita Helphrey discuss the Cleveland Indians and Chief Wahoo". The Morning Exchange. 1994. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
Tell us what kind of response you've gotten from the Indians organization, from the team itself, did they listen at all? Because there was some point last year when they at least considered it.
- ^ a b c d Sheeran, Thomas J. (July 2, 1993). "Indians will keep logo, despite objections". Deseret News. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Associated Press (July 2, 1993). "Chief Wahoo's Domain is Still Turbulent". Appearing in The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
RICHARD JACOBS, the Indians' owner, announced Wednesday that the team would keep the name Indians and the logo. He cited historic reasons, including the use of versions of the "Chief Wahoo" logo since 1915 and the current one since 1952.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b Briggs, David (September 4, 2007). "A stump only a Tribe fan could love: Daughter's thoughtful gift turns an eyesore into a treasure". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on November 1, 2007. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Upon returning home from an out-of-town wedding a few weeks later, the 74-year-old die-hard Indians fan saw the stump had transformed into the nicest and most thoughtful present she had ever received. Staring back at her was a seven-foot sculpture of Chief Wahoo, the Tribe's long-time mascot. 'What's The Chief doing in my yard?' Allen asked her daughter, Joy Sherry, as the two pulled into the driveway. 'Oh my goodness.'
- ^ a b c Fleitz, David. "Chief Wahoo, Revisited". Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Foster, Gayle (April 15, 2012). "All hail to the 'chief': Wahoo designer visits Emeritus". The Post (Medina, Ohio). Retrieved June 13, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j Pattakos, Peter (April 25, 2012). "The Curse of Chief Wahoo: Are we paying the price for embracing America's last acceptable racist symbol?". The Cleveland Scene. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
- ^ a b c Andy Netzel; Walter Goldbach (2008). "Life According to Walter Goldbach". Cleveland Magazine.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Affleck, John (May 28, 1999). "Owner to Decide Fate of Chief Wahoo". Associated Press, appearing in AP News Archive. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Pluto, Terry (http://books.google.com/books?id=e1BbdxCoZAUC&lpg=PA17&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false). The Curse of Rocky Colavito: A Loving Look at a Thirty-Year Slump. Gray & Company, original printing by Simon & Schuster. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-59851-035-5.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help); External link in|year= - ^ a b c Fleitz, David (2002). Louis Sockalexis and the Cleveland Indians. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 187. ISBN 0-7864-1383-2.
- ^ a b c The Associated Press. "New Scoreboard Set for Cleveland Park". Appearing in The Victoria Advocate. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
That board can regale fans with ... animated cartoons of Chief Wahoo yelling "Charge!" ... [Terry] says she will come here soon to produce some cartoons such as one of a hatching chicken crying "Foul!" or two players being skewered by a single arrow to signify a double play. The latter, she said, was one she suggested for the Atlanta board, 'but they didn't like it.' Cleveland Stadium public relations director Dino Lucarelli 'loved it', she added.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Perazich, Chuck (April 23, 1978). "Cleveland Stadium Scoreboard Designed for Fan Appeal". Youngstown-Vindicator. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
The scoreboard, for those who desire detail, is 137 feet by by 54 feet, which makes it the largest single unit board in the country. The message area is 86 by 29 feet ... Weather conditions were different in New York than those on the lakefront. Dampness and pollutants from Lake Erie actually created the malfunctions.
- ^ a b "Chief Wahoo cheers HR in Cleveland stadium (photo caption)". Youngstown-Vindicator. April 23, 1978. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ Wulf, Steve (January 28, 1985). "Baseball's Dutch Treat". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
- ^ a b McGimpsey, David (2000). Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-253-33696-1.
- ^ a b Schneider, Russel (2004). The Cleveland Indians Encyclopedia (3rd Edition ed.). Champaign, Illinois: Sports Publishing, L.L.C. p. 370. ISBN 1-58261-840-2.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ Bjarkman, Peter C. (1991). http://books.google.com/books?ei=5HK2UabsGYrNiwKL1oCIDA&id=rOOBAAAAMAAJ&dq=phil+seghi+%22chief+wahoo%22&q=chief+wahoo#search_anchor. Mecklermedia Corporation. p. 127.
{{cite book}}: External link in|title= - ^ a b c McNichol, Tom (July 6, 1997). "A Major-League Insult?". USA Weekend, appearing in The Kingman Daily Miner. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) Cite error: The named reference "mcnichol-1997" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b c d e f g Podolski, Mark (May 5, 2013). "Chief Wahoo still a divisive symbol in Cleveland sports". The Morning Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "podolski" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Podolski, Mark (May 6, 2013). "Video interview with John J. Grabowski, published in the article "Chief Wahoo caricature controversy still hot topic for Cleveland Indians, Native Americans"". The News-Herald. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ Western Reserve Historical Society. "Cleveland's Chief Wahoo Lights Up with a Smile". Retrieved May 20, 2013.
- ^ "Staff at Western Reserve Historical Society". Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
Research & Publications: John Grabowski, PhD., Senior Vice President & Krieger Mueller Historian
- ^ Sheehan, Michael (September 1, 2006). "Battle Flag of USS Cleveland retired at Jacobs Field". US Navy. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "Water tower's Wahoo mug to receive delicate face-lift". Lakeland Ledger. November 3, 1993. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ "Spring Training 2008: The Cleveland Indians Say Good-Bye To Winter Haven, Fla". The Chattahoogan. March 22, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Sargent, Scott. "Indians Leave Florida, but Wahoo Still Remains". Waiting for Next Year.
- ^ "Winter Haven unveils water tower, city pride". Polk State College. April 27, 2012. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Kepner, Tyler (August 11, 2007). "Where Have You Gone, Chief Wahoo?". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ a b Calcaterra, Craig (February 27, 2011). "Scenes from Spring Training: No, Marty Brennaman is not Bob Uecker". NBC Sports Hardball Talk. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
I noticed a distinct deemphasis on Chief Wahoo around here. The Indians have the block C on the scoreboard and the script I is used a lot as well. I don't think this is an accident. In fact, I suspect it's part of the Indians' long, long-term phasing out of Wahoo. Do it slowly and subtly like this and you never have to announce anything and you thereby cut off an ugly fight. Smart play, Cleveland.
- ^ Abraham, Peter (October 2, 2007). "Untitled article comparing New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians". The Journal News. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
The Indians are so embarrassed by their grinning Indian logo that they've all but banished it from Jacobs Field. In their defense, they are named after an actual Native-American, Louis Sockalexis. But nothing beats the classic 'NY' logo of the Yankees.
- ^ a b Calcaterra, Craig (April 2, 2013). "UPDATE: No, the Indians are not walking away from Chief Wahoo". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "Comment on speculation of phase-out". Cleveland Indians Twitter stream. Cleveland Indians. April 2, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ Neyer, Rob. "Wednesday Wangdoodles". ESPN Sweet Spot. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
ShysterBall wonders if Chief Wahoo is on his way out. I don't know about that, but I do believe that when Wahoo goes, he goes with a whimper rather than a scream. I also believe that the men who run the franchise know the right thing, but are a little too worried about the short-term public reaction to actually do it, quick-like.
- ^ Metzger, Stephanie (April 18, 2013). "Will Cleveland wave goodbye to Chief Wahoo?". The Cleveland Stater. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro: "Chief Wahoo isn't going anywhere."". Cleveland Frowns. 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians, Chief Wahoo statue plus Rempel doll". Cowan Auctions. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Accompanied by two paper tags that read: The Chief Says - Put wampum in lucky feather, Come - see Indians in Sunny Weather. When you need a walk or single, Use the chief For a lucky symbol. A gift from Sis or Uncle Tom, To decorate the house for Mom. The Chief not only Helps the savers, But keeps old blades From "little shavers." Plus a Chief Wahoo squeezable doll produced by Rempel Manufacturing Co., Akron, Ohio, still with squeaker, 6.5 in. tall.
- ^ Tanier, Mike (May 16, 2013). "The All-Time Worst Mascot Fails". Sports on Earth. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
The Indians gave away fleece blankets with pictures of Wahoo through the years as part of their 100th anniversary promotions.
- ^ a b Marks, Craig (August 18, 2011). "Fired-up Tribe ready to battle Tigers". West Side Leader. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
The Cleveland Indians held a T-shirt promotion Aug. 11, passing out shirts that displayed a peace sign, a heart and the Chief Wahoo logo. Design-wise, it was a lot better than the previous freebie shirt, which featured representations of three racing hot dogs. But a shirt espousing peace and love? It may not have been the best night for it. The Indians were in battle mode, taking on their rival and, at least momentarily, themselves.
- ^ "Chief Wahoo Chocolate Bar Debuts". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. June 17, 2005. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
The Cleveland Indians today announced that they have forged a partnership with local candy maker Harry London Candies to produce the Chief Wahoo Chocolate Bar.
- ^ "Wahoo Women". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians, Domino's partner on new 'Wahoo Wednesdays' promotion". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. March 4, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ Kaduk, Kevin (August 7, 2012). "The 18 creepiest caps for sale on MLB.com". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
While the league has wisely passed over fashioning Chief Wahoo into a polyester conversation piece, mascots from 18 others teams can funnel more summer sweat onto your brow as you watch your favorite team from the stands. Not that I have a problem with these caps. For the kids, they're lots of fun. For the adults, they're an excellent way to signal you've had too much to drink, own an extensive collection of Tigger and Eeyore T-shirts and/or wish to end up on some sort of government watch list.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians 'Slider' Mascot Cap". Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on July 2, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ a b Silka, Zach (October 3, 2007). "300 bobble heads reflect Tribe pride for Cleveland fan from Oregon Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/East/2007/10/04/300-bobble-heads-reflect-Tribe-pride-for-Cleveland-fan-from-Oregon.html#A6SwDf7bMaPwsPxt.99". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
t all started for Tom Fuller with a trip to Cleveland's Municipal Stadium with his grandfather and brother to see an Indians' game when he was in junior high school in the late 1950s. While at the game, Mr. Fuller purchased a Chief Wahoo bobble-head doll. Little did he know then about the path he was setting out on ... His fantasy teams are named after player-manager Lou Boudreau from the 1948 world championship team, his license plate reads 'Mr. Wahoo,' his Springer spaniel is named Grady Sizemore Fuller, and his e-mail alias is 'chieftjfwahoo.' And he plans to have a tree trunk in his side yard carved into a resemblance of the old Chief Wahoo that sat atop Municipal Stadium.
{{cite news}}: External link in|title= - ^ a b c "Chief Wahoo needs an early retirement". The Lantern. April 7, 1999. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
Now that the almighty dollar is at stake, maybe it's finally time the Tribe will retire the glaringly racist symbol. A ruling last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stripped the NFL's Washington Redskins of the exclusive right to use its name and logo because it's derogatory to Native Americans. That allows anyone to use the name and logo at no cost, a major blow to merchandise licensing that might prod the team to change them both. It's unclear whether the ruling will be applied to the Indians, but the team shouldn't wait to find out ... The potential of losing money might do what years of protest couldn't. Last year, the team made $1.5 million from the sale of licensed merchandise and about $15 million in revenue from sales at its team shops. The Indians' success on the field should be enough to guarantee continued financial success from merchandise if Chief Wahoo was dropped, and a cool logo change could actually boost sales. If diehards stuck with the team through some 40 years of ineptitude, a new logo isn't going to faze them. That's especially so even if you suggest it might make them world champions. We Indians fans are a superstitious type, and some believe that the chief might have something to do with the team's continued inability to win the World Series. Forget the curse of Rocky Colavito — it might be the curse of Chief Wahoo that's holding us back, so drop him immediately.
- ^ a b c d e f g Greening, Bryant (November 11, 2006). "Filmmaker screens attack on Tribe's Chief Wahoo". The Athens News. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
Dennis Atkins, a native of Cleveland, screened his documentary, WaWHO? Nothing is Sacred, to a half-full Baker Center Ballroom audience. The film featured numerous American Indian and human-rights activists aiming to rid the baseball club of what they argued is a racist name and logo ... Ellen Baird, who was featured in the documentary, said the name and mascot promote an unfair stereotype. Pointing specifically to Chief Wahoo, she said the logo mocks Native American culture, as the mascot's red eagle feather is typically awarded to a person wounded in war. 'A baseball game is not a war,' she said. 'You don't hear this because of the institutional racism.' ... Means was the most radical advocate in the film and extremely critical of the Indians baseball club. 'You're never going to win a World Series, period. It's your karma,' he said. 'I've put a curse on you. I announced it with a lawsuit.'
- ^ "Cleveland uniforms in 1921". Exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ Recent depictions of the 1928 uniforms show an American Indian logo patch on the left breast. However, period photos appear to show the team in uniforms that do not match this depiction. See, for example, this photo of the 1928 team.
- ^ The online gallery of historical Cleveland uniforms does not accurately depict the evolution of the pre-Wahoo logo, an Indian drawn in profile. For example, see this 1936 photo of pitcher Bob Feller.
- ^ "Cleveland uniforms, 1901-1950". Exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ Okkonen, Mark (December 1993). Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century. Sterling Publishing Company. pp. 37, 190. ISBN 0-8069-8491-0.
- ^ "Cleveland uniforms, 1947-1985". Exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ A comprehensive gallery of Cleveland Indians logos can be seen here [1].
- ^ a b c Nevard, David. "Wahooism in the USA". Retrieved June 11, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "nevard" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Sangiacomo, Michael (April 1, 2012). "Native Americans to mark Cleveland Indians 1st games with annual protest of Chief Wahoo logo". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
The director of the Cleveland American Indian Movement, who goes only by the name 'Sundance,' said Native Americans have been protesting the ball club's name and mascot since the original AIM was formed in 1973. There have been several changes to the American Indian Movement in Cleveland since it began. 'This behavior is exploitative, bigoted, racist and shameful,' Sundance said. 'It makes fun of genocide and mocks mass murder. The logo is just the head of an Indian. That means he is an ex-Indian. This has been going on for more than 50 years. I hope it does not continue for another 50.'
- ^ a b c Barrientos, Tonya (March 16, 2002). "A chief beef: Some teams still seem insensitive to Indians". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 18, 2004. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
Bob DiBiasio, vice president for public relations, says the team has adopted an alternative cap that displays an 'I' instead of the chief on the front. 'That way, if fans want an authentic piece of team apparel without the logo, it gives them an option,' DiBiasio says ... DiBiasio reminds me that Chief Wahoo was never meant to be a racist logo and that 'if there is no intent to demean, how can something demean?'
- ^ a b c Hanson, Dan (2006). "Interview with Larry Dolan". Great Lakes Geek. pp. 7:22–9:15. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ Linda E. Swayne and Mark Dodds, ed. (2011). Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing, Volumes 1-4. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications, Inc. p. 223. ISBN 978-1-4129-7382-3. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ a b Jehl, Douglas (April 5, 1994). "Clinton's Doubleheader: Two Cities, Two Sports". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
Even if it was just a ball game, Mr. Clinton still took pains to remain politically correct. For his stride to the mound this afternoon, he chose a home-team cap and jacket of a style seldom seen after the Indians reinstituted a logo in the 1970's featuring Chief Wahoo, the grinning, befeathered caricature that has offended American Indians ever since. That made Mr. Clinton the only one on the field adorned in the old-fashioned block C, a step that a White House aide said he had taken 'in recognition of the sensitivities' aggravated by a team that still calls itself the Tribe.
- ^ a b Zografos, Daphne (2010). Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions. Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc. pp. 90–91.
National public debate on these issues intensified when on 4 April 1994, following intense protest over the Cleveland Indians' use of 'Chief Wahoo' as their mascot, declined to wear a cap featuring the controversial mascot, when invited to throw out the first pitch in the inaugural game at Jacob's Field. Instead, he wore an alternate cap embroidered with a large 'C' rather than the 'Chief Wahoo' emblem.
- ^ Kepner, Tyler (April 5, 2010). "From Taft to Obama, Ceremonial First Pitches". The New York Times. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
And, as always, politics is never far from the scene: when he opened Jacobs Field in 1994, President Clinton opted not to wear the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo cap, going for a block-letter "C" instead.
- ^ Rhode, John B. (1994). "The Mascot Name Change Controversy: A Lesson in Hypersensitivity". Marquette Sports Law Review. 5 (1): 141–160. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
For example, in an apparent attempt to appease his 'politically correct' constituency, President Bill Clinton donned the old style Cleveland Indians baseball cap with the letter 'C' for Cleveland on it when he threw out the first pitch on April 4, 1994, opening day at Cleveland's brand new Jacobs Field. Obviously, Clinton was afraid of the potential fall-out that might have followed if he wore the Indians' modem cap with the currently controversial, grinning Indian 'Chief Wahoo' mascot on it.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Bondy, Filip (8 Mrch 2007). "Selig's uncivil wrong". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c Bondy, Flip (March 8, 2007). "Selig's uncivil wrong: Bud sends Indians & insulting message to Rights Game". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
'It's disgusting,' said Alice Gwin Henry, president of the Faraway Cherokees in Memphis. 'It tells you where they're coming from. We try not to be overbearing when it comes to the use of names, but nobody has addressed the Trail of Tears as it's associated with an abuse of civil rights. My family was on the Trail of Tears. We feel offended that they would bring a team here called the Indians. It's racist. We aren't gone.' ... Chief Wahoo has long been given a tacit go-ahead from Bud Selig, the same commissioner who has done so much in recognizing the contributions of African-Americans and in confessing the past exclusionary policies of baseball. Selig has embraced the legacy of Jackie Robinson and other black pioneers. Unlike steroid testing or luxury taxes, Chief Wahoo is a very simple issue. Selig could snap his fingers, compensate the Cleveland franchise for lost licensing dollars, and make the logo go away. The lack of empathy on this issue is truly inexplicable. One race can't commit genocide against another, then turn that race into a mascot. A soccer team in Hamburg would never call itself the Jews and adorn its uniforms with caricatures. It certainly would never hold a celebratory civil rights game along the trail of a World War II death march.
- ^ a b c Allard, Sam (July 17, 2013). "There Were No Chief Wahoo Hats at All-Star Game FanFest". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
After the missteps and hullabaloo surrounding the Cleveland Indians' Fourth of July cap, it looks like Major League Baseball is taking a more cautious approach to depictions of Chief Wahoo everywhere.
Cite error: The named reference "allard-2013" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ a b Neyer, Rob (July 16, 2013). "FanFest and what it might say about Chief Wahoo". SB Nation. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
I'm not saying that Chief Wahoo's on the way out anytime soon. But it does seem that perhaps MLB is uncomfortable with the image. Not to the point of telling the Indians to stop using the damned thing. But it seems that someone in New York isn't thrilled with it.
- ^ Calcaterra, Craig (June 4, 2012). "The incremental marginalization of Chief Wahoo continues". NBC Sports Hardball Talk. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Block C. When Wahoo is, as far as I know, still the team's primary logo (The MLB Store calls Wahoo the 'primary logo' anyway). None of the other teams have secondary logos as their avatar. It's not like Wahoo wouldn't fit, either. No, someone had to make the conscious decision to go with Block C and to do it for aesthetic reasons. While it could simply be the work of a low-level web page designer with a conscience, I'm inclined to chalk this up to what I have chosen to believe is a subtle-as-all-hell, long-term move away from Chief Wahoo by the organization, designed to accomplish the bannination of his racist visage without ever triggering some sort of 'you guys are a bunch of P.C. pansies' backlash.
- ^ Liscio, Stephanie (May 13, 2011). "Cap week: Time to retire Chief Wahoo". ESPN Sweet Spot. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo logo left off team's ballpark, training complex in Goodyear, Ariz". Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 12, 2009.
- ^ a b Calcaterra, Tim (March 8, 2012). "Scenes from Spring Training: My annual Chief Wahoo observation". NBC Sports. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ Hoynes, Paul (May 18, 2013). "Will the AL and NL ever agree on the DH? Hey, Hoynsie!". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
I do know that over the years Chief Wahoo has become less and less a part of the team's image and uniform. In spring training, it's not used at all because of the heavy population of Native Americans in Arizona. The only place you see Chief Wahoo is in the gift shop at Goodyear Ballpark.
- ^ "American Fact Finder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians Spring Training". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ "MLB pulls Chief Wahoo off Cleveland's '09 Stars and Stripes cap". Yahoo!. May 20, 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ^ Gaines, Cork (June 4, 2013). "[UPDATE] Cleveland Indians Will Not Be Wearing Offensive Cap After All". Business Insider. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Axisa, Mike (June 6, 2013). "MLB smartens up, scraps offensive Chief Wahoo hat for Fourth of July". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ ICTMN Staff (June 6, 2013). "Cleveland Indians 'Chief Wahoo' Fourth of July Hat Replaced Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/06/cleveland-indians-chief-wahoo-fourth-july-hat-replaced-149739". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite news}}: External link in|title= - ^ Calcaterra, Craig (June 6, 2013). "MLB axes the Chief Wahoo July 4th cap design". NBC Sports Hardball Talk. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Lukas, Paul. ""C" No Evil". Uni-Watch. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Hill, Jill S. (2010). Sue, Derald Wing (ed.). The Context of Racial Microaggressions Against Indigenous Peoples: Same Old Racism or Something New? appearing in Microaggressions and Marginality: Manifestation, Dynamics, and Impact. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Statement of the United States Commission on Civil Rights on the use of Native American images and nicknames as sports symbols". 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
- ^ "1999 NAACP Resolution in Opposition to Native American Mascots". Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ http://www.theicea.com/page21.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Conference_on_Human_Rights.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "10 Sports Team Names That Caused Controversy". BET. 2013.
Perhaps one of the most infamous mascot controversies comes by way of "Chief Wahoo," mascot of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The cartoon character of a grinning Native American man has been the target of social groups such as the NAACP and Native American tribal organizations.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Weinmann, Karlee (September 8, 2011). "12 Uncomfortably Racist Vintage Brand Mascots". Business Insider. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b "Controversy 2 Looks at Stereotyping". Ohio Historical Society. 2012. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012.
What do Currier & Ives prints, a Nazi flag, toy bowling pins, a vintage Cleveland Indians jacket and a Paul Laurence Dunbar poem have in common? They're all among the 'difficult' objects from Ohio Historical Society collections featured in the new exhibit Controversy 2: Pieces We Don't Talk About at the Ohio History Center in Columbus through Dec. 30, 2012 ... On display in Controversy 2 are Currier & Ives prints from the 'Darktown' series stereotyping African Americans, described when they were published in the 19th century as 'pleasant and humorous designs;' a red Nazi flag with a black swastika; an early 20th-century toy bowling set with pins that caricature people of various ethnicities and nationalities; a vintage Cleveland Indians jacket depicting team mascot Chief Wahoo as he appeared from 1947-1950; and a draft poem written in the early 1900s by African American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar using a stereotypical African American dialect.
- ^ Loewen, James (2013). "New Opposition to Old Sports Mascots". George Mason University's History News Network. Archived from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
On February 7, 2013, the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) hosted a day-long seminar, "Racist Stereotypes in American Sports." The handout they used to promote the show paired two graphic images: a stereotypical black doll on a base saying 'Not. Cool.' paired with the stereotypical Cleveland Indian mascot on a base saying 'Go Tribe!' It made a stunning impact.
- ^ Allard, Sam (August 13, 2013). "What Can the Washington Redskins Debate Teach Us About Wahoo?". The Cleveland Scene. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
So what's the major difference between the Redskins' debate and the Wahoo debate? Bluntly, there's zero legitimate debate as far as Chief Wahoo is concerned. Zero. It's an aggressively racist symbol, and it's mortifying if you take thirty seconds to look at the image, or think about it in a human context, or any context other than, you know, a 'logo.' The arguments for keeping 'redskins' as a mascot, if not necessarily persuasive, at the very least exist.
- ^ "2008 All-Star Game Statues on Parade (warning: autoplay)". Major League Baseball. 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland American Indian Center". The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western University and the Western Reserve Historical Society. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ UPI. "Suit planned against Cleveland". Appearing in Star-News. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Oakley, Don (May 8, 1972). "Indian unit on warpath over Wahoo". The Prescott Courier. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
- ^ Associated Press (June 3, 1982). "Settlement Near in Long Dispute over Tribe's use of 'Chief Wahoo". Appearing in St. Petersbug Times. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Fletcher, David W. (2005). "Native American Mascots in Secondary Schools, Professional Sports, and Colleges and Universities" (PDF). Retrieved June 7, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Ohio lawmaker wants Chief Wahoo's scalp". Toledo Blade. July 6, 1993. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland objection". The Post and Courier. July 27, 1993. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ a b "September 2000 News Briefs". United Church of Christ. Retrieved June 6, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "ucc-briefs-2000" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Mark Vorsburgh; Christopher Quinn (August 18, 2000). "City ponders official Wahoo ban". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Sangiacomo, Michael (November 5, 1999). Cleveland Plain Dealer http://archive.uua.org/ga/ga01/vigil.html. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Guggenheim, Jack A. (1998). "The Indians' Chief Problem: Chief Wahoo as State Sponsored Discrimination and a Disparaging Mark". Cleveland State Law Review. 46: 211.
- ^ Tilove, Jonathon (April 3, 1999). "Activist on Mascot: 'It's About Racism'". Appearing in The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b "INDIANS COULD STRIKE OUT RULING THAT UNDERMINES NFL'S REDSKINS' NAME, LOGO MAY LEAD TO SAME FOR CLEVELAND BASEBALL CLUB". Akron Beacon Journal. April 6, 1999. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
Watch out, Wahoo. With the Washington Redskins' name and logo under attack by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, could the Cleveland's Indians' name and toothy Chief Wahoo mascot be far behind? On Friday, the government agency responsible for policing exclusive rights basically stripped the National Football League team of its exclusive right to use the name and logo because it is derogatory to Native Americans.
{{cite news}}:|archive-url=requires|archive-date=(help) - ^ a b c d Holyoke, John (December 8, 2000). "Penobscots Seeking Ban of Cleveland's Mascot: Chief Wahoo found as offensive, racist". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ a b Rice, Ed (December 25, 2009). "Indians facing curse?". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
Today, clearly, more and more Maine citizens are ready to stand with the tribe and express displeasure at the arrogant behavior of the Cleveland Indians baseball team in ignoring the Penobscot resolution, first sent in the Year 2000, to 'cease and desist' from using the caricature Chief Wahoo. My own involvement with the issue probably requires context: In 1999 I rewrote the Cleveland team's media guide biography of Sockalexis, then riddled with historical and factual errors. On a trip to Cleveland to promote my book 'Baseball's First Indian' in August of 2003, I hand-delivered a copy of the Penobscot resolution to the team's vice president of public relations, Bob DiBiasio, just to 'ensure' that the team had received it. It is now 2009 and the Cleveland franchise still has not acknowledged that tribal resolution. In the meantime, DiBiasio, in attempting to defend the team's use of Chief Wahoo, has uttered the mind-boggling logic that since the team uses the mascot with 'no intent to be demeaning' then the use of that symbol, thus, can't be 'considered demeaning.'
- ^ Addams, Glen (July 28, 2009). "Leaders want Sockalexis honored". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
Mitchell said the Penobscots first asked the Cleveland Indians in 2000 to stop using the Chief Wahoo image, 'a bucktoothed cartoon face Indian that they wear on their uniforms.' 'We felt then as we do now, that it was ignorant and disrespectful,' Mitchell said. 'But that franchise completely ignored our request … and showed their complete disregard for us, and their disrespect.' Messages left with Indians' spokesman Bob DiBiasio and were not immediately returned.
- ^ a b 124th Maine State Legislature (2009). "JOINT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING Certain National Private Entities to Honor Maine Baseball Great Louis Sockalexis and to Afford Appropriate Respect to Native American Athletes" (PDF). State of Maine. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Oakley, Don (August 21, 1971). "Dilemmas Dog Indians". Appearing in The Portsmouth Times. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c Siek, Stephanie (April 6, 2012). "New baseball season brings fresh protests against Cleveland Indians mascot". CNN. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ Schilling, Vincent (April 17, 2012). "Standing Up And Staying Put: Four Decades of Protesting the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/article/standing-up-and-staying-put%3A-four-decades-of-protesting-the-cleveland-indians%E2%80%99-chief-wahoo-108481". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
{{cite news}}: External link in|title= - ^ a b c d e f g h Jacobs, Michelle R. (2012). "Challenges of Multiracial Antiracist Activism: Racial Consciousness and Chief Wahoo" (PDF). Critical Sociology. 38 (5): 687–706. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Associated Press (July 2, 1993). "Indians to keep the 'Chief Wahoo' logo". Appearing in Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c Rogers, Phil (July 4, 1993). "Picking Teams Part of All-Star Fun". Dallas Morning News, appearing in Deseret News. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
The Indians announced last week they have elected to keep the name "Indians" and the accompanying logo despite charges that they are offensive to Native Americans. Jacobs cited a "Save the chief" petition drive. "Baseball belongs to the fans," he said, "and if they want us to keep it as our logo, we will."
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "Briefs Baseball". Deseret News. May 6, 1995. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
Opponents of the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo logo won the right in a negotiated agreement to protest at the Gateway sports complex Friday night ... The team's past home openers at city-owned Cleveland Stadium often have included such protests, but Gateway recently issued a prohibition.
- ^ a b Associated Press (May 6, 1995). "Native Americans Protest `Wahoo' Logo". Appearing in The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Vecsey, George (October 19, 1995). "Sports of The Times: This Series Could Prove Offensive". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
If you stop to think about it -- as I have been forced to do by writing this column -- it really is offensive to take a people whose religion, whose love of the land, whose suffering, is intrinsically mixed with race, and turn them into mascots. These conditions go back to earlier times, like the 1948 World Series, when white people didn't have to think about this stuff. But now we do.
- ^ a b c Rosenthal, Ken (October 24, 1995). "Chief Wahoo and his ilk have overstayed welcome". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
Take Chief Wahoo, the smiling, red-faced caricature beloved by Indians fans. He's Little Red Sambo, when you get right down to it. Larry Doby, the first black to play in the American League and now an assistant to AL president Gene Budig, cringes at his former team's insensitivity. 'I really don't want to call the Indians anything else, but I agree 100 percent that they should do away with Chief Wahoo,' he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer last week. 'It reminds me of the blackface minstrel shows.'
- ^ a b Staurowsky, Ellen (1998). "An Act of Honor or Exploitation? The Cleveland Indians' Use of the Louis Francis Sockalexis Story". Sociology of Sport Journal. 15: 299–316.
- ^ Marston, Ed (November 27, 1995). "Heard Around the West". High Country News. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
Indian protesters are gradually chipping away at baseball's use of symbols and slogans they find offensive, according to Indian Country Today. But some fans resented low-key demonstrations at a Cleveland Indian World Series games. (The club's logo is Chief Wahoo.) One furious fan told a protester at Cleveland's Jacobs Field that the Indians were fair-weather activists: 'You guys are only out here when we're winning,' he shouted. 'Where were you when we stunk? Why are you ruining this for us?'
- ^ Associated Press (July 9, 1997). "Chief protest". Appearing in The Albany Herald. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "Person of the Week: Charlene Teters". ABC News, appearing in Associated Press archives. October 4, 1997. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ Rosenstein, Jay (2001). C. Richard King (ed.). In Whose Honor?, Mascots, and the Media, appearing in Team Spirits: The Native American Mascot Controversy. University of Nebraska Press. p. 253. ISBN 0-8032-7798-9. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ "Indians Notebook". The Vindicator. April 3, 2001. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Wasserman, Harvey (July 9, 2010). "Has Chief Wahoo again cursed Cleveland?". The Free Press. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
Mark Welch, part Ho-de-no-sau-nee (Iroquois) and part Lakota (Sioux) might say so. Mark is a mainstay of the native community in Ohio's capital. For years he's joined other activists when the season opens in Cleveland. They picket in protest of a cartoon they find deeply offensive. In response, Cleveland Indian fans throw beer at them.
- ^ a b c Jackson, Bernice Powell (April 24, 2000). "Living in the New Millennium: Chief Wahoo Must Go". United Church of Christ. Retrieved June 6, 2013. Cite error: The named reference "ucc-2000" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Heron, Liz; Leung, Adrian (December 15, 2000). "Lovable or Horrifying? Wahoo According to Dolan". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^ Rickert, Levi (April 23, 2012). "AIM-West Leads Protests against "Chief Wahoo" at Oakland Coliseum". Indian News Network. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c Whitehouse, Ginny (2009). Lee Wilkins and Clifford G. Christians (ed.). Why Diversity is an Ethical Issue, appearing in 'The Handbook of Mass Media Ethics. New York, NY: Routledge. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-8058-6191-4.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Dave (2006). If You Don't Make Waves You'll Drown: 10 Hard-Charging Strategies for Leading in Politically Correct Times. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-471-72503-9.
- ^ a b Rutledge, Kathleen (2003). "Respectfully, we'll call that team 'Washington'". The Journal-Star. Archived from the original on February 2, 2003. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
We also have stopped printing logos for professional and college sports teams that use Native symbols -- ones that adopt imagery such as an arrowhead and ones that caricature Native culture. The Chief Wahoo logo of the Cleveland Indians, which we stopped using last summer, is an example of rank caricature. Instead, we'll use alternative logos that stay away from Native symbols ... The Minneapolis Star Tribune banned the use of all Native team names and mascots in 1994. The Oregonian, the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times, the Portland Press Herald and the Kansas City Star limit publication of Native mascots and images in varying ways.
- ^ a b c Rede, George (August 20, 2013). "Native mascots: When does change trump tradition?". The Oregonian. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
Exactly 20 years later, in 1992, I saluted Bill Hilliard, then editor of The Oregonian (and, incidentally, a 1952 graduate of Pacific University), for banning the use of team and mascot names considered offensive to members of racial, religious or ethnic groups. The ban continues today, which is why you won't see mention of the mascots associated with Washington's pro football team or the Atlanta and Cleveland major league baseball teams in the pages of Oregon's largest newspaper. Honestly, is there a more hideous image than Chief Wahoo, the bug-eyed, buck-toothed cartoon caricature that represents the Cleveland baseball team?
- ^ a b c d e f McGuire, Tim (November 20, 2001). "Transcript of Speech: Racism in Sports". Native American Journalists Association. Archived from the original on March 21, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Native American Journalists Association, with research from the News Watch project at San Francisco State University (2003). "Reading Red Report 2003: A Call for the News Media to Recognize Racism in Sports Team Nicknames and Mascots" (PDF). Native American Journalists Associatoin. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ a b Gyllenhaal, Anders (June 8, 2003). "From the editor: News staff will use judgment on team names". Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Archived from the original on June 11, 2003. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
We'll use city, state or school names in box scores and daily listings, the clearest way to serve up what are the most prevalent references to most of these teams. We'll run alternate logos for teams that have them. But all of these choices will be guided by a different principle from in the past: Instead of a ban, which newspapers rarely apply to any words, editors and reporters will use judgment and care to produce respectful coverage. That's the approach we take with other potentially offensive words, including most profanity.
- ^ Prince, Richard (June 11, 2003). "NAJA Sticks to Call to Ban Indian Sports Names". Maynard Institute. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Despite a decision by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis to reverse its nine-year-old ban on using Native American nicknames for sports teams, the Native American Journalists Association, disagreeing with the decision, plans to call on 'people of conscience everywhere to cease publishing and broadcasting sports teams' Indian mascot names and images,' according to a draft statement prepared for the NAJA conference in Green Bay, Wis., next week.
- ^ "Editorial: Indian nicknames / They're still offensive and needless". The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. June 9, 2003. Archived from the original on July 14, 2003. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
The Star Tribune newsroom will now call sports teams by their chosen names, including Indian nicknames, as editor Anders Gyllenhaal explained in a column published Sunday. That's best, for newsrooms should reflect reality as accurately as possible. But it's also reality that Indians do not like the use of "Braves" and "Redskins" and other nicknames that have been appropriated by sports groups. The teams themselves should drop them.
- ^ "Paper Censors Chief Wahoo". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. April 1, 1997. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Fancher, Michael (March 30, 1997). "Times Policy Against Use Of Racial Slur Brings Strong Reader Response". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b "NAJA Calls Upon News Media to Stop Using Mascots". Native American Journalists Association. 2002. Archived from the original on June 11, 2002. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Last year the Kansas City Star stopped printing the Cleveland Indians' baseball mascot, Chief Wahoo. Mark Zieman, Kansas City Star Vice President and Editor, said the paper's reasoning was fairly simple. 'Chief Wahoo is a ridiculous, offensive, racist caricature. We would be ashamed to run it as an editorial cartoon or comic strip, so why should we repeatedly publish it in the sports pages of our newspaper?'
- ^ "NAJA Affirms Newspaper's Decision to Drop Chief Wahoo". Native American Journalists Association. 2001. Archived from the original on June 15, 2002.
The Native American Journalists Association commends the Kansas City Star for its recent decision to stop using the Cleveland Indians' mascot image on its sports pages.
- ^ Gould, Jon B. (2007). "Beyond the Myths: A Closer Look at Hate Speech Regulation" (PDF). Focus on Law Studies. 23 (1). Division for Public Education of the American Bar Association: 4–5. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
For all the attention to college hate speech codes, critics threaten to miss the more significant fact that hate speech regulation is increasingly the norm among influential institutions of civil society, from higher education to the news media to Internet service providers. In this respect, it is interesting that many media outlets now restrict hate speech on their own. The most common examples are newspapers and broadcast media that no longer air racial epithets. Several papers have adopted policies to handle racial slurs, deciding 'to use them only in direct quotations if they are essential to the story.' Other papers have applied such logic in refusing to name sports mascots.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b Associated Press (July 20, 1991). "Baseball team's logo miffs UCC". Appearing in Dayton Daily News. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c d e Religion News Service (2000). "Religious Opposition to Chief Wahoo is Growing: UCC, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and black church officials have come out against the Cleveland Indians logo". Beliefnet. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Commission on Catholic Community Action to Promote Justice (August 17, 1993). "Resolution on Cleveland's Professional Baseball Team". Diocese of Cleveland.
- ^ "Coalition of Religious Investors Fight Baseball Team Logo". Catholic World News. Catholic Culture.org. July 10, 1997. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
- ^ Associated Press (May 9, 2000). "Methodists denounce Chief Wahoo". Appearing in CNN/Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Associated Press (May 10, 2000). "Methodists tear after Chief Wahoo logo". Appearing in The Nevada Daily Mail. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
The church's General Conference, which meets every four years, approved a resolution saying the mascot demeans American Indians by reducing them to a caricature.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c Furrin, Terrance L. (2009). Combating Hatred: Educators Leading the Way. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-57886-958-9.
- ^ Briggs, David (August 30, 2005). "Despite Religious Opposition, Chief Wahoo Remains". Religion News Service. Archived from the original on August 30, 2005.
It amazes me that a bizarre caricature of Native Americans, the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo, continues as an influential symbol in a civil society. What I see -- and what much of the world sees -- is a portrayal of an American Indian that is fire-engine red, bucktoothed and permanently wearing an idiotic grin. Look at the clothing and logos of any other professional sports team today, and no other major-league city has a logo with such an offensive stereotype. The United Church of Christ has been outspoken against Wahoo since the 1980s. The Catholic Diocese's Commission on Catholic Community Action called on the Indians in 1993 to drop the logo. Other religious groups have expressed their opposition. Still, Wahoo remains.
- ^ a b Hirt-Manheimer, Aron (2005). "We Can't Go It Alone: A Conversation with Mark Pelavin". Reform Judaism Online. Archived from the original on October 5, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
On many issues— economic justice, protecting the environment, civil rights — we come together very naturally. But sometimes we are asked to add something to our agenda. One example is joining the fight to change the names of certain American sports teams — the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Redskins, and the Cleveland Indians — which offend Native Americans. If most Jews gave the issue a moment's thought, they'd say, 'the Native Americans have a point,' and then move on. It's not an issue of particular concern to us as a community, but it's very important to the United Church of Christ, which is headquartered in Cleveland and has taken this on as a major issue. As part of their campaign to rename the Cleveland team, they asked us to sign letters to team owners and to join in some quiet meetings with team officials, and we were glad to do so.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help); no-break space character in|quote=at position 77 (help) - ^ a b c Jacoby, Jeff (March 27, 2001). "Is Chief Wahoo racist?". Jewish World Review. Archived from the original on April 13, 2001. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c "Opening Celebration and Plenary I". Cleveland, Ohio: Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. June 21, 2001. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ Reverend Amy Freedman (August 1, 2001). "From the Minister". The Catalyst: 1.
- ^ Buehrens, John (October 10, 2010). "Nehoiden's Bargain: A Sermon Delivered at First Parish in Needham, Unitarian Universalist" (PDF). Retrieved August 22, 2013.
I'm reminded of the UUA General Assembly ten years ago, when I was completing my eight year sentence as denominational president. We were meeting in Cleveland, in June, between the home of the baseball club, 'the Cleveland Indians' and the denominational headquarters of fellow descendents of Puritan Congregationalists, the United Church of Christ. The Cleveland Indians have a mascot, 'Chief Wahoo.' To this day; they refuse to give it up. So the UCC president and I were persuaded to lead a protest march around the stadium. There were well over a thousand of us: their multi-racial locals and our visiting UU delegates. We had no soon set out on our two mile route all around the ballpark at the start of a game when the heavens opened with rain. It came down in sheets. None of us had umbrellas. I ruined a fine suit, a lovely stole, and a good pair of shoes. UCC President John Thomas and I simply laughed.
- ^ "The Beacon: A monthly newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland" (PDF). Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland. 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Our group came up with a list of suggestions to implement over the next year to add our voices to the ongoing struggle for equality of indigenous peoples ... 7. Join the yearly protest of 'Chief Wahoo'.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c D'Orio, Amy (March 31, 1996). "Indian Chief Is Mascot No More". The New York Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b "Chief Wahoo gets schools' hatchet: District drops mascot caricature, sees it as offensive to Native Americans". Chicago Tribune. April 13, 2003. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ "Little `Indians' pick new face for Chief". Chicago Tribune. June 1, 2003. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d McCollum, Carmen (December 18, 2011). "Is using Native American images for mascots offensive?". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
- ^ a b c d McCollum, Carmen (December 26, 2011). "Native American images for mascots bring debate". Native American Times. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
- ^ Carroll, Jeff (April 20, 2001). "Land of the Indians". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Calumet athletic director Dennis Bunda said the general trend at his school has been away from use of the grinning red caricature, but no formal move toward retiring the logo has ever taken place. 'Our uniforms are getting more and more away from using that logo,' Bunda said. 'We use more of an Indian chief with a head dress. I know our baseball team does use the Cleveland Indian cap, but more and more they're getting toward the regular Indian and not the Chief Wahoo.' 'I imagine if I was an Indian, I wouldn't be too happy about it,' he added. '(But) it's our logo for now.'
- ^ Brady, Erik (May 14, 2013). "High school to get $10K from Oneidas for name change". USA Today, appearing in the Tucson Citizen. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "A history of W&M mascots and nicknames". College of William and Mary. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Mid-to-late-1960s to mid-1970s: A caricature similar to that used by the Cleveland Indians was used as a logo.
- ^ a b c "Special Collections Research Center Wiki: Mascot". College of William and Mary. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Wampi: A caricature similar to that of the mascot of the Cleveland Indians was also used from the mid- to late-1960s through approximately the mid-1970s. This image was certainly not used after 1978. An article in The Flat Hat raised the possibility that a new likeness would be needed after the American Indian Center in Cleveland filed a lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians charging that their Chief Wahoo was 'degrading, Demeaning, and racist.'
- ^ William and Mary Swem Library (2008). "William & Mary baseball cap - Acc. 1990.059". College of William and Mary. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Gup, Ron (February 4, 1972). "Indians Protest Caricature" (PDF). The Flat Hat. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Cuddy, Bob (February 18, 2013). "Local baseball team's mascot draws criticism from Chumash leaders". The Tribune. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Chumash leaders are asking a North County semi-pro baseball team to change its logo, which it says is demeaning to Native Americans. The mascot for the North County Indians is a grinning, bright-red, Native American caricature that is based on the Cleveland Indians mascot, Chief Wahoo ... Collins said his council will ask local political leaders to disallow the use of publicly owned facilities to the team. The owner of the Indians, Kevin Haughian, did not return repeated requests for comment. But the field manager, Dan Marple, said he was caught off-guard by the accusation. Marple said the Indians are the oldest semi-pro baseball franchise in the state, and, to his knowledge, nobody has complained before. He said he didn't see the logo as a problem and does not consider it offensive. He noted that such teams as college football's Florida Seminoles use similar names and mascots.
- ^ a b c Zabala, Liberty (February 21, 2013). "Chumash Tribe Leaders Want North County Baseball Mascot Changed". Central Coast News. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
The North County Indians Baseball team in Templeton is taking heat from the local Native American tribe ... Central Coast News called, emailed and went by the Templeton Indians main office to get their take on the Chumash request to change the logo. We have yet to reach anyone. The Tribal Council says it will ask city and county leaders to stop the team from being allowed to use any public fields to practice or play until it changes the logo.
- ^ "Indian Education for All: Evaluating American Indian Materials & Resources for the Classroom" (PDF). Montana Office of Public Instruction. 2009. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Castillo, Susan (March 8, 2012). "Schools' Use of Native American Mascots: Report to the State Board of Education" (PDF). State of Oregon. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
Both studies found that Native American youth exposed to stereotypical Native American images (e.g., Chief Wahoo) experienced decreased self-esteem compared to youth not exposed to these images.
- ^ "Chief Wahoo banned at Kent State". WKYC News. December 8, 2004. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
The school's faculty senate approved a resolution strongly objecting to the use of the Indian's mascot by members of the university community.
- ^ "Minutes of the Meeting: April 1, 2002". Kent State Faculty Senate. 2002.
A Resolution Concerning 'Chief Wahoo'
for Faculty Senate Consideration
March 5, 2002Whereas Kent State University is committed to fostering and celebrating the cultural and ethnic diversity found locally, nationally and globally, and the University seeks to provide opportunities for students to understand the strengths and challenges of diversity;
Whereas the presence on Kent State University campuses of the Cleveland baseball team's mascot, Chief Wahoo, frustrates the fostering and celebrating of diversity, since it is a symbol some American Indians regard as racist;
Whereas sports team mascots like Chief Wahoo are regarded by many American Indians as ridiculous, demeaning, and offensive caricatures of a kind long recognized as unacceptable in the case of other cultural and ethnic groups;
Whereas American Indian religions, languages, and ceremonies have been
violentlysuppressed, sometimes violently, over the past five centuries, so that now Indian children learn about themselves through distorted depictions in advertising, television and movies, and sports team mascots;Whereas many American Indian communities regard feathers as religious symbols,
just as surelydefiled by Chief Wahoo;as the Christian Holy Communion would be, should a priestly mascot toss communion wafers into the crowd;Whereas the use of American Indian sports team mascots reinforces harmful stereotypes of Indian people as either bloodthirsty animals or noble savagesCand the use of harmful stereotypes is wrong;
Whereas American Indian organizations, nations, and communities throughout the United States, as well as the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the American Jewish Committee, the National Education Association,and the United States Commission on Civil Rights,are calling for an end to the use of American Indian mascots like Chief Wahoo by sports teams;
Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate strongly objects to the use of Chief Wahoo as the mascot for the Cleveland baseball team, and the Senate discourages the display of Chief Wahoo as a mascot in any form, by any member of the university community, and on any Kent State University campus.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|quote=at position 45 (help) - ^ a b c d e f "Minutes of the Meeting: March 11, 2002". Kent State Faculty Senate. 2002. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Senator Norton Smith stated: The following analogy may help us understand the perspective Native people have on the use of negative stereotypes like wahoo. At almost every professional conference I attend someone will remark, 'Aah, Kent State isn't that where the students were shot?' I explain, as I'm sure we all do, that the shootings are a part of our history, but Kent State's identity is far richer and more positive than that. Kent is the premier public university in northeast Ohio. Kent is committed to diversity, liquid crystal research, exploration of new learning technologies, a vital regional campus system, an innovative graduate philosophy program, winning basketball teams, etc. Yet, more than 30 years after the event in the minds of many the shootings are the only identity Kent State has. But suppose that in an effort to honor the students killed on May 4th a professional baseball team in Phoenix decides to call itself the Phoenix Fallen Four, and it adopts a bright red target as a logo.I think we would reply that we very much appreciate the effort to commemorate that tragic event, but again, Kent State's identity is far more complex and positive.In fact, some might be a little offended because the ball team is perpetuating a dated and largely negative stereotype. And imagine how really angry we'd get if, after hearing our objections, Phoenix said, 'Well, using the name and logo really doesn't hurt Kent State.' Finally, suppose that the idea of commemorating May 4th catches on all across the country, so that in virtually every town some elementary, middle, or high school, some community college or university adopts an honorific name like the 'May Massacres' or the 'Kent Calamities.' If this happened, it would be impossible for Kent State's positive image to ever compete. We might even begin thinking about ourselves in only those terms.
Senator Norton Smith responded that it is a concern and that in conversations with the American Indian Society they think it is a concern.
Senator Frank Smith pointed out that those resolutions all concerned activities that had occurred on this campus and then yielded the floor to R. Thomas Myers, Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Past Chairman of the Faculty Senate. He added that he did not mean to endorse Prof Myers remarks. Prof. Myers statement is attached as Appendix D. Following Prof Myers remarks Senator Smith added that he did agree with the remarks and added he saw three alternatives to pursue. First to pass, second to defeat and third to table. He added that he thought the first would produce more ill will in the community than the second and that tabling would make us look indecisive in the eyes of the community and urged the Senate to defeat the resolution.
Senator Mikusa said the intent was fine but we don't change beliefs by proclamation.
- ^ "Minutes of the Meeting:
November 8, 2004". Kent State Faculty Senate. 2004. Archived from Minutes.doc the original (DOC) on February 14, 2005.
Senator Norton-Smith presented a proposed resolution concerning American Indians sports team mascots and logos. Senator Norton-Smith moved that the resolution be considered at the December Faculty Senate meeting. He provided copies of the resolution and summarized the key points. The resolution states that the Faculty Senate strongly objects to the use of American Indians sports team mascots and logos and the Senate discourages the display of such mascots and logos in any form by any member of the University community and on any Kent State Campus.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Minutes of the Meeting
: December 6, 2004". Kent State Faculty Senate. 2004. Archived from the original (DOC) on September 6, 2006.
Chair Dowd called for a hand vote. Seventeen voted in favor of the resolution; six voted against. The resolution was approved.
- ^ a b Cox, Tony. "Point/Counterpoint pt2". Kent Wired. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
It is foolish to suppose that anyone anywhere would wear an article of clothing with Chief Wahoo on it for the expressed purpose of offending Native American students. And yet the recent uproar from certain members of the Faculty Senate suggests that exactly such a thing is a daily occurrence at Kent State. It seems as though this is yet another instance of the radical left trying to make other people feel bad about not conforming to their perception of what constitutes offensive behavior. To them, pornographers and flag burners can gleefully dance around under the umbrella of the First Amendment, but wearing an Indians jacket ought to be a federal crime.
- ^ a b "Wahoo is Out of Style at Library: County system's staff can't sport Tribe logo". Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 20, 1999. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
The executive director of the library system has banned employees from wearing clothing with the grinning, red-skinned Indians baseball team mascot because he believes the symbol is insulting to American Indians ... Leaders of local American Indian groups said the library's decision is positive ... Lonsak said he had been "getting a lot of grief" from library employees about his decision, but plans to stick by it. He said he might bring in an American Indian to talk to the staff and explain why American Indians find the logo insulting.
- ^ a b "News in Brief". Christian Science Monitor. April 23, 1999. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
The red-faced, grinning, Chief Wahoo it features is not the image the system ought to project, a memo says ... At least one worker finds the ban unfair, complaining: 'The library prides itself on not censoring.'
- ^ a b "Library's Wahoo Ban Sparks Bar-Them-All Bill". American Libraries Magazine. May 31, 1999. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Trakas issued a prepared statement that condemned Lonsak's April 2 directive as 'political correctness at its extreme.' Meantime, the Wahoo ban continues at CCPL. An unidentified library spokesperson told the May 27 Cleveland Plain Dealer, 'The staff is accepting the directive, and they continue to serve our customers well.'
- ^ "Ohio Library Can't Ban Workers From Wearing Cleveland Indians Logo, ACLU Says Share". American Civil Liberties Union. April 22, 1999. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
County Library Executive Director John Lonsak, who announced the ban last week, said that library employees are now forbidden to wear the Wahoo image on casual days, when the library dress code is relaxed. Raymond Vasvari, Legal Director for the ACLU of Ohio, said that the ban violates the First Amendment rights of library workers, who as public employees have a limited but definite right to free expression in the workplace ... 'The issue is not racism: this is a case about free speech,' Vasvari said. 'Whatever you think of the use of Chief Wahoo as a mascot, no one has the right to tell public employees which logos are acceptable and which are offensive.'
- ^ Blade Columbus Bureau (June 17, 1999). "Bill aims to protect Chief Wahoo logo". Toledo Blade. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
Earlier this week, a house committee held its first hearing on a bill that Mr. Trakas introduced that would cut off public funding to any agency that bans a sports logo. That would apply to Chief Wahoo and other logos, such as the Washington Redskins.
- ^ Legislative Service Commission (2000). "Final Status Report of Legislation" (XLS). State of Ohio. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
- ^ Aronson, Rich (May 1, 1999). "Christians' Duty Clear on Wahoo Issue". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
If you work in the Cuyahoga Country Library system, you are no longer allowed to wear clothing with Indians team mascot Chief Wahoo. The edict came from executive director John Lonsak, who feels, 'Wahoo is a caricature that is demeaning to Indians and Americans interested in diversity.' As a result of Lonsak's effort to use his position to promote diversity, State Rep. James Trakas, an Independence Republican, has called for legislation that protects the constitutional rights of public servants to wear whatever they choose, regardless of whom it might offend. In responding to the position that some American Indians might feel denigrated by the logo, Trakas stated, 'America certainly has a scattered history when it comes to Indians, but we're talking about a sports team here. Get over it.'
- ^ a b c d e f Shaughnessy, Dan (October 12, 2007). "They've had some chief concerns". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ a b c Stillman, Nick (February 9, 2001). "Dolan Defends Logo That Students Call Racist". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ "Cleveland Indians Paul J. Dolan approved as team's MLB control person". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. January 10, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ Bastian, Jordan (January 10, 2013). "CEO Dolan approved as Indians' control person". Cleveland Indians website. Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ Associated Press (January 10, 2013). "Paul Dolan approved as Cleveland Indians' controlling owner Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130110/paul-dolan-cleveland-indians-owner.ap/#ixzz2VyHNZvfy". Appearing in Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
{{cite news}}: External link in|title=|newspaper=(help) - ^ Ferguson, Doug (October 19, 1995). "Series Will Be Offensive To Many -- Team Nicknames, Mascots Object Of Protests". Appearing in The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
'As long as Mr. Jacobs owns the team, Chief Wahoo will be our logo,' said Cleveland vice president Bob DiBiasio.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c "Mr. Jacobs has gone on record as saying as long as he owns the team, the nickname and the logo will remain,' said DiBiasio.[full citation needed] Cite error: The named reference "pluto-1998" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Crow, Kim (November 19, 2007). "Indians unveil new uniforms for 2008". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
'Chief Wahoo is a piece of who we are,' says Schloss firmly. 'It's not about representing a person or a group, it's about our history.'
- ^ "Cleveland Indians Front Office Directory". Cleveland Indians / Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ a b Cleveland Frowns (April 11, 2013). "Cleveland Indians President Mark Shapiro: "Chief Wahoo isn't going anywhere."". Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ a b "Colores: False Traditions, False Idols". KNME-TV. 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c Kirst, Sean Peter (Essay first published in 1993, and republished in book form in 2003). "Imagine Life as a Cartoon's Descendent", an essay appearing in The Ashes of Lou Gehrig and Other Baseball Essays. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 86. ISBN 0-7864-1578-9. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|year=(help)CS1 maint: year (link) - ^ a b Aull, Elbert (October 18, 2007). "Penobscots: Cleveland insults Sockalexis". Kennebec Journal. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ Associated Press (July 2, 1993). "Around The Majors -- Thrown Away: Canseco Admits His Season Is Over". Associated Press report, appearing in The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Munson, Christine (1999). "Freedom Fighter of the Month: December 1999". Rage Against the Machine. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
'Recently, the forty-two schools in Wisconsin that use American Indian logos were asked to find other symbols to promote school spirit. Almost all continue to use American Indian images in blatant disregard of the wishes of every major inter-tribal organization, the NAACP and a growing number of religious organizations. The use of these images has proven harmful to children and reduces hundreds of cultures to one-dimensional stereotypes used to entertain at high school events. How is it that our society can agree to get rid of the image of "Little Black Sambo", but allow our schools to continue to use caricatures like "Chief Wahoo" or the sacred symbolism of a chief's headdress? In an age when we are teaching our children to be morally responsible and racially sensitive, we cannot continue to let this form of institutional racism be a matter of choice.' — Youth 'Indian' Mascot and Logo Task Force
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Statement of Suzan Shown Harjo, President, The Morning Star Institute, for the oversight hearing on "Stolen Identities: The impact of racist stereotypes on indigenous people," before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2011". The Morning Star Institute. May 5, 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Berkow, Ira (January 31, 1972). "Chief Wahoo Attacked". Gadsden Times. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ United States Patents Quarterly 2d (50) http://www.willamette.edu/wucl/pdf/sportslaw/spring05/final_traditions.pdf. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Shakely, Jack (August 25, 2011). "Indian mascots — you're out". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Alexie, Sherman (August 6, 2013). ""The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" Turns Twenty". The New Yorker.
But place and class are only part of the story. Many people tell me that they had no picture of contemporary reservation life, or even urban Indian life, before reading "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven." To break Indians out of museums and movies and Chief Wahoo—that's a legacy for any book. "The Lone Ranger" and "Smoke Signals" gave many people their first picture of contemporary Native American life.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "10 Questions for Sherman Alexie". Time. October 18, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ a b c Martin, Michael (October 8, 2012). "Everything You Wanted To Know About 'Indians' (Interview)". NPR News, appearing on KUOW. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
MARTIN: So native people can be more readily imagined than known? TREUER: That's right. You know, and you see it in so many ways. It's on issues like, well, mascots for sports teams. You know, we've come a long way since, you know, Little Black Sambo, you know, effigies and things like that kind of dominated the cultural landscape in America, but for some reason Chief Wahoo has persisted.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "Steve Russell Biography and Bibliography". Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Russell, Steve (Spring 2003). "Ethics, Alterity, Incommensurability, Honor" (PDF). The Cream City Review. 27 (1).
- ^ "TCCR ARCHIVE ISSUE 27.1". University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Johansen, Bruce E. (2007). The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America: Linguistic, Ethnic, and Economic Revival, Volume 1 (Native America: Yesterday and Today). Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. p. 147. ISBN 0-275-99139-3.
- ^ John Hartwell Moore, ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, Volume 1. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 0-02-866021-8.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help);|format=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b c Adkins, Dennis K. (2006). "Wa-WHO? Nothing is Sacred".
- ^ Multicultura l Resource Center (2005). "Indigenous Women's Series 2004-2005 Events" (PDF). Oberlin College.
Ellen Baird is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at The University of Dayton. She is the Executive Director of The Little Moccasin Feat Project, serving American Indian children and families involved with Ohio social services and is a member of the Speakers Bureau for The Cleveland Indian Education Center. Dr. Baird lectures nationwide on American Indian social issues, cultural awareness, Federal American Indian Law and in South Dakota, and assists with state/tribal environmental issues.
- ^ Fulton, Ben (October 11, 1999). "Versatility and reservations aplenty: Sherman Alexie promotes his new book in Salt Lake City". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
ell me the difference between the image of the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo and Sambo. There is none. The feathers, paint and drums are part of our religion. More than just racist, those images are blasphemous. I would think a heavily religious state like Utah understands blasphemy. Also, you will never run out of Indians happy to subjugate themselves. That's a precondition of being colonized.
- ^ a b c Wieland, Phil (May 17, 2013). "Don't change team name, just show some respect". Northwest Indiana Times. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
As his name implies, Kenny Lone Eagle is a Native American. You know, the people we used to call Indians and whose butts John Wayne kicked in all those movies ... Lone Eagle, who said his heritage is Osage and Iroquois, is not bothered by the names or depictions like the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo logo ... What does get his teepee in a bunch is how schools and professional teams use the Native American references but don't really respect Native Americans.
- ^ ICTMN Staff (July 3, 2013). "Yank's Joba to Become First American Indian Braves Player Since 1974?". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
- ^ Jamieson, Russ (October 21, 1995). "Native Americans plan protests at World Series". CNN. Archived from the original on April 23, 2003. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ "recording of Charles Nagy speaking about Braves and Indians logos". CNN. 1995. Archived from the original on August 28, 2003.
- ^ Miller, Patrick C. (June 21, 2006). "Interview: UND President Continues Search For A Nickname Solution". US College Hockey Online. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Eberhart, John Mark (December 10, 2000). "Stereotypes put team spirit to the test". Knight-Ridder Newspapers, appearing in The Free-Lance Star. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
'Each situation is different,' said Chiefs spokesman Bob Moore. ... The Chiefs logo is an inanimate object, an arrowhead, while the Redskins and Cleveland Indians use baseball team feature actual caricatures, the former warlike and the latter grinning inanely. ... 'At any rate, we don't have what we consider to be Native American caricatures,' Moore says.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Bondy, Flip (March 2, 2013). "MLB players rarely take a stance on issues of importance, like eliminating Chief Wahoo, the logo of the Cleveland Indians". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
Native American activists continue to protest against Chief Wahoo, an unfortunate blind spot for Bud Selig. The commissioner has been at the forefront of Civil Rights issues regarding African-American pioneers like Jackie Robinson, yet he somehow doesn't comprehend that this caricature is a disgrace that will forever tarnish his legacy. As one high-ranking Yankee official said, way back during the 2007 playoff series in Cleveland, "I can't believe they still have that thing." Six years later, Chief Wahoo is still around.
- ^ a b "Chief Wahoo, Your Time to Go is Here". The Seattle Times. August 19, 1998. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ Posnanski, Joe (October 17, 2007). "Wahoo..." joeposnanski.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- ^ Saraceno, Joe (May 31, 2005). "Native Americans aren't fair game for nicknames". USA Today. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
Similarly, the Cleveland Indians have long resisted activists' attempts to have the franchise banish the Chief Wahoo logo, one that has generated untold millions. Chief Wahoo features a cartoonish, red-faced Indian with a toothy grin, black hair parted down the middle and feather protruding from his headband. It is probably the most outrageous, blatant symbol of racism in sports today.
- ^ Leavitt, Bud (October 22, 1991). "Russell Means messing with THE game". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
It's my guess Russell and his followers are working the wrong tribal territory. If he is mad at the Cleveland Indians, well, I can understand his anger. They do indeed engage in goofy, smiling, dumb, stereotypical baseball and they do it before the eyes of Chief Wahoo, whose infectious grin and mischievous eyes track you every time a man picks out any seat in the house, save when the Cleveland Browns are playing football.
- ^ Lukas, Paul (September 26, 2012). "Time to rethink Native American imagery". ESPN. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
- ^ a b Lukas, Paul. "Uni Watch Power Rankings: MLB". ESPN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Lukas, Paul (August 24, 2012). "Uni Watch Power Rankings (MLB)". ESPN.
The Indians can never seem to decide if their main color is red with blue trim or the other way around. That's not their only identity crisis these days, as they now have two jerseys with fancy scripts and two with super-plain lettering -- a major disconnect. But if they really want to address their identity issues, they should retire Chief Wahoo, a lightning rod of an ethnic caricature whose time has clearly passed.
{{cite web}}: Check|archiveurl=value (help) - ^ Caple, Jim (January 19, 2011). "What happened to cartoon logos?". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
And sometimes, even cartoons are just wildly inappropriate. People defend Chief Wahoo on the basis of tradition, but what kind of a defense is that? Yes, it's incredibly offensive, but we've been offending people with it for soooooo long we can't stop now. Do you think any responsible team or business would produce this logo today? Of course not. The only way a team could be more tone deaf to society values is if a franchise based in, say, the nation's capital used a racial slur for its team name.
- ^ Miller, Brad (April 16, 2011). "Chief Wahoo pays respect, doesn't demean". The Lantern.
It is no surprise that in today's ultra-sensitive culture people would take offense to a Native American logo, because frankly, some individuals take offense to everything. However, many of the people who argue this point, while doing a great job of calling Chief Wahoo offensive, fail miserably at explaining why ... Organizations do not choose their teams' names to express racist emotions toward a certain group of people. They choose their names to express strength, pride and, in the case of the Indians, respect. I am afraid that we are slowly becoming a society that bends after every word of complaint. There are serious efforts in place to sterilize our culture, even in sports. But before anyone finds fault with the Indians' name or logo, they should first learn the story behind it.
- ^ ESPN.com news services (August 12, 2005). "NCAA American Indian mascot ban will begin Feb. 1". ESPN. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Johnson, Roy S. "The nickname police: The NCAA shouldn't stop at Native American moniker". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
In the end, the NCAA probably got it right. I've long harbored a general disgust for the use (or is it abuse?) of American Indian mascots by sports teams. My stomach turns when fans in Atlanta start doing the "tomahawk" chop. And each time I see Chief Wahoo, the grinnin' caricature that represents the Cleveland Indians, my mind's eye sees big-lipped black-face images from the Steppin' Fetchit era.
- ^ Kravitz, Bob (August 10, 2005). "NCAA deserves applause for its ruling on nicknames". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
- ^ Aschroft, Jason (August 15, 2005). "NCAA joins political correctness nickname debate". The Ledger Independent. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
In some cases racial stereotypes become the symbol of a sports team, as is the case of the Cleveland Indians. Whenever I see Chief Wahoo, I think back to a conversation I had with a Native American friend of mine. Shauna, who is a student at Michigan State and a full-blooded Ojibway and Wyandot Indian, made a very poignant statement about racial mascots. 'I see the Cleveland (Indians) mascot and I get very upset,' said Shauna. 'That mascot is just like a black sambo cartoon or something that you'd see on a poster during Nazi Germany. He doesn't represent anything honorable or brave about native people; he's a caricature and it's wrong.'
- ^ "Just Leave It to the NCAA to Offend Everyone". Miami Herald. August 11, 2005. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
Nor can you lump the Chief Osceola mascot with the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo caricature, which is demeaning.
- ^ "Wait, It's Acceptable to Wear Red Face?". Deadspin. October 17, 2007. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
We don't want to sound like the PC police here, but seriously now: Is it really OK for Indians fans to be dressing up in red face? We're sure this is something they've been doing for a long time, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's OK.
- ^ a b Kaufman, King (October 18, 2007). "King Kaufman's Sports Daily: The Cleveland Indians minstrel show: Fans painted to resemble the outrageously racist mascot are shown without comment in the mainstream media. Enough". Salon. Archived from the original on February 27, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
I suppose reasonable people can disagree about whether the team name Indians is offensive, but there's just no arguing about Chief Wahoo. It's a Little Black Sambo-style caricature that should have been retired decades ago. If those fans in Cleveland had been in minstrel-show blackface, ESPN never would have run a photo of them without comment, as simply a depiction of happy fans in the stands. The picture only would have run as the centerpiece of a story about fan racism. And there is nothing about grinning-Indian redface that's even a little bit less racist than minstrel-show blackface.
- ^ Felling, Matthew (October 18, 2007). "Off-Day Filler?". CBS News. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012.
This is off-day filler, but it's also a point that pops up repeatedly in the sporting world. For every proud Fighting Irish fan over the years – and there have been a lot of them – there are people peeved at the Hoftra Flying Dutchmen (now the Pride) or the St. John's Redmen (now the Red Storm) ... But the Indians logo truly does call to mind Black Sambo or a similarly belittling depiction.
- ^ a b c Clark, Roy Peter. "The Curse of Chief Wahoo: Enabling Racist Imagery". The Poynter Institute. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ^ a b Hill, Justice B. (May 20, 2009). "Indians' Chief Wahoo a remnant of racism: City of Cleveland stubbornly clings to embarrassing, abasing stereotype". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
The country has tried to discard its racist symbols. It has rightly shoved most of them into its past; America has tried, as best as it can, to forget what racism has produced. It has succeeded, mostly. Except in Cleveland. ...Yet the city and its people refuse to abandon Chief Wahoo, now more than a half-century old. But they can find no spiritual salvation till they rid themselves of an image as racist as 'Little Black Sambo.' For no real reason, they hold firmly to this toothy caricature as if it were a badge of honor.
- ^ Joseph, Hayes (February 12, 2013). "End the disrespect of Native American". The Times Herald. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
In this case, there is nothing to be gained by demoralizing a culture. Just take a look at the mascot for the Cleveland Indians - Chief Wahoo. It presents a stereotypical caricature of American Indians that have taught an entire generation of fans what a American Indian supposedly looks like.
- ^ Smith, Robert L. (June 13, 2010). "A man for his times: Mansfield Frazier wants to change his city like he changed his life". Cleveland Post Dispatch. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
In 1995, Frazier came home to a city that had never seen anything like him. He edited and wrote for weekly black newspapers like the Call & Post and City News before diving deeper into community activism.
- ^ "Rust Belt Hero Mansfield Frazier Talks Cleveland, Race Relations and the New Welcome Center". Rustwire. June 7, 2011.
We've got the Welcoming Center coming to Cleveland. So you got someone from India or China, then you've got this big red Chief Wahoo. And you say, 'Welcome.' So why don't you get rid of Wahoo? And we say we're a welcoming people? We're disrespecting a whole nation of people.
- ^ a b Page 2 (2009). "These Curses Live On". ESPN. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Sure, Indians fans refer to the Curse of Rocky Colavito; but seriously -- get rid of the logo and join the 21st century. Their choke in the '97 Series is underrated.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Rielly, Edward J. (2000). Baseball: An Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (First Nebraska paperback printing, 2005 ed.). p. 216.
- ^ Fingers, Rollie (2010). The Rollie Fingers Baseball Bible: Lists and Lore, Stories and Stats (First edition, first printing ed.). Covington, KY: Clerisy Press. p. 110.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Powers-Beck, Jeffrey P. (2004). The American Indian Integration of Baseball. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 0-8032-3745-6.
- ^ "Chief Wahoo Smiles". Assocated Press report, appearing in The Hour. May 5, 1986. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ Green, Bill (March 10, 2007). "'People Would Think Chief Wahoo Was Smoking Too Much Peace Pipe'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^ a b Associated Press (May 7, 2006). "Girl Scouts Earn 'Cultural Sensitivity' Patch". Appearing in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b Chacon, Daniel J. (October 20, 2007). "Cleveland's nickname a continual sore spot". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
'We understand that there is a percentage of Native Americans who dislike our logo, as there is a percentage of non-Native Americans who dislike our logo,' said Bob DiBiasio, the team's vice president of public relations. 'But there is also a large percentage, a vast majority of people, who do not feel it's offensive and think of it strictly as a logo for a baseball team,' he said. Dr. Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, is among the group that loathes the logo. 'It's the most blatantly offensive of all the symbols I've seen of Native Americans, and I've been involved in this issue for 40 years,' he said.
- ^ Dominguez, Susan (March 9, 2001). "Dominguez Says Dolan Meeting Just a First Step". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
Hopefully, the packet presented to Dolan by senior AIC President Amber Schulz containing historical, scholarly and position papers about American Indian team mascots, has caused him to rethink his remarks about Chief Wahoo not being racist.
- ^ Stillman, Nick; Heron, Liz (December 15, 2000). "Trustee Dolan Will Listen to Dissension on Wahoo". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
The discussion will take place Tuesday at noon. Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said, "Larry Dolan has asked us to provide him with an opportunity to meet with a group of students who can help him to understand the depth and complexity of the Chief Wahoo symbol controversy. Although he has not yet specified a number, we expect that he will want to meet in an informal and fairly intimate setting with a modest number of students."
- ^ Dame, Alyson (December 15, 2000). "Open Forum Dominated by Wahoo". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
Senior Amber Schulz, co-chair of the American Indian Council on campus, read a prepared statement. "I am here representing the American Indian Council here at Oberlin College. I would like to express our concerns with the appointment of Larry Dolan as one of the newest Trustees of the College, he also being the new owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team," she said.
- ^ a b c Leung, Adrain (December 15, 2000). "Wahoo Owner Now Trustee". The Oberlin Review. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
- ^ a b Briggs, David (April 5, 2008). "Chief Wahoo should go". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
The persistence of Chief Wahoo 'really speaks to how invisible native people are in this country,' said Teters, a member of the Spokane Nation. Stanley Miller, executive director of the NAACP's Cleveland branch, understands. As he listened to the discussion about the Vogue cover, Miller also found himself considering the community's response -- or lack of it -- to Chief Wahoo. 'It makes me feel bad,' he said. If a similar image was used to portray black Americans, 'the NAACP would be up in arms about it. The Urban League would be up in arms about it.'
- ^ Jonathan Zimmerman (October 15, 2007). "The Cleveland Indians' mascot must go". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Suttell, Scott (October 15, 2007). "Time for a respectful burial". Crain's Cleveland Business. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ "Two Baseball Teams Share Baltimore". Christian Science Monitor. August 3, 1993. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
The Cleveland Indians baseball team will move into a new downtown stadium next season, affording a fresh start to a franchise in need of one. This would seem an ideal time to change the team's mascot: Critics believe that the cartoonish Indian logo used since the early 1950s is an insensitive depiction of native Americans. (See illustration, above.) Early last month, however, the club said it would stand by Chief Wahoo. Certainly, dumping him would disgruntle many traditionalists, but it would also sen d an important message that a more dignified mascot is consistent with efforts to modernize and upgrade elsewhere.
- ^ Looney, Douglas S. (April 14, 2000). "If team names offend, must they change?". Christian Science Monitor.
Indeed, it may be that social pressure will force the Redskins and others — including two other prominent professional teams, the Cleveland Indians (with the Chief Wahoo logo) and the Atlanta Braves (with the tomahawk chop) — to bow down.
- ^ a b c Bill Livingston and Greg Binda (2008). My Top Ten Cleveland Sports Memories: Drew Carey, appearing in The Great Book of Cleveland Sports Lists. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press Book Publishers. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-7624-3416-9.
- ^ Hoffarth, Tom (March 30, 2013). "Q and A: Drew Carey won't get carried away with high-priced predictions, right or wrong, about the Cleveland Indians for 2013". Farther Off the Wall with Tom Hoffarth. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ Harjo, Suzan Shown (December 8, 2006). "Stop giving Indian money to anti-Indians and their backers". Indian Country Today. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
The Disney/ABC comedians seem to be the worst, or at least the most consistently insensitive. One of them, Drew Carey, is the foremost spokes-comic for the disgraceful symbol of the Cleveland baseball team and he puts down Native people who don't share his love of 'Chief Wahoo.' Carey's punch lines portray actual Indian people as a notch below fictional 'Indian' logos and as dumb, easily duped and deservedly caricatured.
- ^ Hoffarth, Tom (March 30, 2013). "TOM HOFFARTH Q&A: Drew Carey still believes Cleveland rocks, for the right price". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
- ^ Raab, Scott (2013). "The ESQ&A: John Oliver". Esquire.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b Raab, Scott (October 18, 2007). "http://www.esquire.com/the-side/blog/baseballblog101807". Esquire.
{{cite journal}}: External link in|title= - ^ a b ICTMN Staff (November 2, 2012). "Cleveland-Born Hip Hop Star Kid Cudi Would 'Revamp' Chief Wahoo". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ Phillips, Aron (August 13, 2013). "Interview: Stalley Breaks Down His Cleveland Indians Fitted Obsession". Complex. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
I have over 100 caps, and I would say 90 percent of those, maybe 85 percent, are Indians caps. (laughs) And they're all different—Chief Wahoo, Crooked C, Block C, different colorways. I usually try and wear all the on-field caps the players wear, the 59Fiftys. I have some 9FIFTYs too. All the Indians caps I have are fitted.
- ^ Stalley. "Stalley – Go On Lyrics". Rap Genius. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Throw on my cons and my fresh fabrics / Wahoo fitted, pick my beard in case it's matted
- ^ Eszterhas, Joe (2004). Hollywood Animal: A Memoir (First Vintage Books paperback edition, March 2005 ed.). Vintage Books. p. 233. ISBN 0-375-71895-8.
- ^ a b c d Fryberg, S. A. (2008). "Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian Princesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots" (PDF). Basic and Applied Social Psychology. 30 (3): 208–218. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Sommers, Sam (May 25, 2012). "The Native American Mascot: Tribute or Stereotype?". Psychology Today. Retrieved August 21, 2013.
In follow-up studies, the same researchers again presented high school respondents with various passages and images related to Native Americans. After reading about mascots (and seeing Chief Wahoo), Native American respondents scored lower on an individual self-esteem questionnaire, as well as a measure of their sense of community worth (i.e., feelings of respect and a sense of value towards Native Americans). In fact, scores for self- and community-worth were even lower among students who had seen Chief Wahoo than they were among those who read about the common depiction of Native American communities as suffering from high rates of alcoholism, suicide, and teen pregnancy.
- ^ a b Fryberg, Stephanie A. "Prepared testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs". Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
The research findings on the use of American Indian mascots are proving to be remarkably consistent across studies and in terms of how the studies align with past research on stereotyping and prejudice. The research empirically demonstrates, for the first time, that the negative stereotypes promoted by American Indian mascots reveal negative consequences for the targeted minority group and positive consequences for the mainstream majority group. Hence, the use of American Indian mascots not only promotes the development, endorsement, and activation of negative attitudes and behaviors toward contemporary American Indians, but they reinforce inequality and, in so doing, undermine race relations in this country.
- ^ Freng, S. (2011). "A question of honor: Chief Wahoo and American Indian stereotype activation among a university based sample". Journal of Social Psychology. 151 (5): 577–591. PMID 22017074.
The purpose of this investigation was to examine if exposure to an American Indian mascot activated American Indian stereotypes in a predominately European American sample. In addition, we explored the role of personal motivation, prejudice level, and experience on stereotype activation. We found that the Chief Wahoo image (i.e., Cleveland Indian's logo) compared to other images activated negative, but not positive, American Indian stereotypes. Participants' motivation to control prejudice, prejudice level, and experience did not predict negative stereotype activation. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Kim-Prieto, Chu (2010). "Effect of Exposure to an American Indian Mascot on the Tendency to Stereotype a Different Minority Group" (PDF). Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 40 (3): 534–553. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Numerous findings have documented the adverse effects of stereotypes on those negatively portrayed by the stereotypes. Less is known about the ramifications of stereotype exposure on those who are not the objects of the stereotypic depictions. Two studies examined the effect of exposure to an American Indian sports mascot on the stereotype endorsement of a different minority group. Study 1 used an unobtrusive prime, while Study 2 used a more engaged prime. Study 2 also investigated the effect among those unfamiliar with the controversy regarding American Indian sports mascots. Results from both studies show that participants primed with an American Indian sports mascot increased their stereotyping of a different ethnic minority group.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Grzegorek, Vince (April 26, 2010). "Scientific Study: Looking at Chief Wahoo Will Make You Hate Asians". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Yes, even if you've never had any negative thoughts or feelings about Asians before in your life, looking at Chief Wahoo, the mere existence of Chief Wahoo, can change your opinions of a whole separate ethnicity. That according to a new study in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, which probably confirms that Clevelanders and Indians fans are inclined to stereotype and hate just about every group in the world.
- ^ Jacobs, Tom (April 22, 2010). "Chief Wahoo's Revenge: One Stereotype Begets Another". The Pacific Standard. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
- ^ American Psychological Association (2005). "Justification Statement: Resolution Recommending the Immediate Retirement of American Indian Mascots, Symbols, Images, and Personalities by Schools, Colleges, Universities, Athletic Teams, and Organizations" (PDF). American Psychological Association. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ American Psychological Association (2005). "Summary of the APA Resolution Recommending Retirement of American Indian Mascots". American Psychological Association. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
- ^ Staurowsky, Ellen J. (2000). "Articles The Cleveland "Indians": A Case Study in American Indian Cultural Dispossession". Sociology of Sport Journal. 17 (4): 307–330. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
The purpose of this paper is to trace the tangled web of relationships between and among European-American notions of property, individual and group possessory rights, and the role societal institutions play in promoting the exploitation of American Indian culture and people through the misappropriation of 'Indianness' by sport teams. The analysis progresses from a discussion about the racial 'invisibilities' of 'Indianness' and 'Whiteness' that are infused in these images and ultimately how these images are expressions of a 'possessive investment in Whiteness' to a discussion delineating the property dimensions of this imagery and concludes with an examination of the mechanisms in place that teach children to become misappropriators.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ ASA (March 6, 2007). American Sociological Association http://web.archive.org/web/20080724154545/http://www.asanet.org/cs/root/leftnav/governance/issue_statements/mascot_bibliography. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008.
The bibliography cites: Staurowsky, Ellen J. 2000. 'The "Cleveland Indians": A Case Study of American Indian Cultural Dispossession." Sociology of Sport Journal 17(4):307-330.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ ASA (March 6, 2007). "Statement by the Council of the American Sociological Association on Discontinuing the Use of Native American Nicknames, Logos and Mascots in Sport". American Sociological Association. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
WHEREAS social science scholarship has demonstrated that the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport reflect and reinforce misleading stereotypes of Native Americans in both past and contemporary times ... WHEREAS social science scholarship has demonstrated that the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport harm Native American people in psychological, educational, and social ways ... NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION calls for discontinuing the use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport.
- ^ a b c Associated Press (December 12, 1996). "Chief Wahoo billboard gets art school's funding". Archived from the original on December 20, 1996. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Associated Press (December 10, 1996). "Chief Wahoo billboard dropped from art school opening". Archived from the original on December 21, 1996. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ Blomley, Nick (2004). "Artistic displacements: An interview with Edgar Heap of Birds" (PDF). Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 22: 799–807. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
- ^ American Indian Studies Program. "Beyond Ohio State". Ohio State University.
1998 Hachivi IV Edgar Heap of Birds (Cheyenne) installs public art "American Leagues, Smile for Racism" near the approach to the Cleveland Indians baseball park at Jacobs Field.
- ^ Deborah Wood, quoting Edgar Heap of Birds (1998). "Art and Transformation" (PDF). Issues in Integrative Studies. 16: 57–71.
Over the past 500 years, the dominant culture has attempted to crush the lives of Indian people, rendering many entire tribes extinct, through brutal wars and government policies. Today, Indian people must still struggle in order to survive in America. We must battle against forces that have dealt us among the lowest educational opportunities, lowest income levels, lowest standards of health, lowest housing conditions, lowest political representation and highest mortality rates in America. Even as these grave hardships exist for the living Indian people, a mockery is made of us by reducing our tribal names and images to the level of insulting sports team mascots, brand name automobiles, camping equipment, city and state names, and various other commercial products produced by the dominate culture. This strange and insensitive custom is particularly insulting when one considers the great lack of attention that is given to real Indian concerns. It must be understood that no human being should be identified as subservient to another culture. To be overpowered and manipulated in such a way as to thought to become a team mascot is totally unthinkable. --Quoted from Phelan, Andrew and Carol Beesley, eds. (1997). 25th Anniversary: School of Art Faculty Exhibition. Norman: University of Oklahoma.
- ^ a b c "Colores: False Traditions, False Idols". KNME-TV. 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Spindel, Carol (2002). Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy Over American Indian Mascots (First paperback ed.). New York and London: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-8127-6.
- ^ Suttel, Scott (July 29, 2011). "Talk about a long road trip -- Chief Wahoo's in Berlin". Crain's Cleveland Business. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Marcus, J.S. (July 29, 2011). "Contemporary Art and Economics in Berlin". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
His latest project, unveiled a few weeks ago, is right here in Berlin-Mitte. On a derelict East German office building, ominously called the "House of Statistics," he has mounted a 12-meter neon replica of the logo of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. Only visible at night, the logo, depicting a Native American with a hard-edged grin, floats eerily above the city. The project, which combines a symbol of the American Rust Belt with a souvenir of Communist town planning, is meant to reflect on the broader subject of urban decline. And it would only be possible in Berlin, says the artist. 'You would never find an abandoned building in the middle of Paris.'
- ^ a b "Exhibition and Karl Ströher Prize for French Artist Cyprien Gaillard". Art Daily. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
- ^ ICTMN Staff (August 3, 2011). "Why Is this Indian Smiling—in Berlin?". Indian Country Today Media Network. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
Of course, artists, bloggers, and curators can say all they want about what a work does or means—that doesn't mean they're right. It's up to the viewer to decide what he or she is seeing; whether the work succeeds or fails; whether it is a clever re-imagining of a controversial symbol or merely a callous and harmful repetition.
- ^ a b "In the Matter of JANE A. PASTVA and U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, POST OFFICE, Warren, OH; Docket No. 02-1141; Submitted on the Record; Issued December 11, 2002". US Department of Labor. December 11, 2002. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
At this meeting appellant also disclosed that she had made over 3,000 Chief Wahoo yard decorations in her first year of business and many fourth of July ornaments in 1996 ... On cross examination appellant acknowledged that she had painted up to 12 hours per day, that in the last 5 years she had made approximately 1,000 yard decorations and 50 ceramic items, that she personally had painted only 300 yard decorations during that time and that many of the wooden items were burned because she did not have space to store them. She admitted that the photo album was an accurate depiction of the items that she made, that she told postal inspectors that she had been able to pay for her son's tuition with the proceeds from her business, that she was exaggerating when she told inspectors that she had filled an order for 300 Chief Wahoo ornaments and that in all she had made over 3,000 of those decorations.
- ^ Dillaway, Warren (August 4, 2006). "Families unite in competition to see who can create the best sculpture". The Star Beacon. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
Chuck Graham and his family worked on a unique sculpture. 'This artistic creation is a gentleman in a swimming pool,' he said with a laugh. Susie Burdine said the heat drove her family to the contest. 'It's too hot to be inside,' she said while creating a Chief Wahoo replica. The Graham family won first place because of the originality of the idea, Nesbitt said. Stephanie Gildone, Vicky Barker, Stacie Ingro, Brian Gildone and Ryan Oatman finished in second place with their version of King Neptune. Scott, Susie and Brandon Burdine finished third place with Chief Wahoo that was made in memory of Brandon's grandfather who was an avid Indians fan.
- ^ WKYC-TV (March 31, 2008). "Ugly tree stump turned into Wahoo shrine for Tribe fan". WKYC News. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
This seven foot tall Chief Wahoo used to be a rotting tree stump until a local chainsaw artist, Brian Sprague, was hired to transform the old dying tree into something special. When you meet the statue's owner, Mary Ann Allen, you quickly understand why this huge Wahoo is so perfect ... pite needing some assistance for mobility, Mary Ann says that if she saw somebody tampering with her special statutue, 'Oh my God, my legs would get better in a hurry and I'd beat them with my cane. You don't mess with Wahoo as long as I'm around'. So if you come to Mary Ann Allen's neighborhood, you'll understand why there really is joy in Meadville. It's all about a very special fan of the Cleveland Indians.
- ^ Turrisi, T.J. (August 13, 2007). "Indians fan gets permanent visit from mascot". Meadville Tribune. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
- ^ Roca, John (1992). "Bill Wambsganns in the Land of Wahoo". Tribe Tract & Testimonial. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
- ^ Nevard, David. "Book Review: Time Stops". Retrieved August 22, 2013.
In Toledo, John Roca was turning out Tribe Tract and Testimonial, a brilliant and totally indescribable collection of writings and graphic collages about the Cleveland Indians.
- ^ "Worldcat listing for Tribe Tract & Testimonial". Worldcat.
- ^ Livingston, Tom (August 9, 2013). "Etch-A-Sketch artwork leads to GV Art + Design retail store in Lakewood". WEWS-TV News Channel 5. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
Greg has more of an interest in sports leading him into designing Cleveland sports clothing. The newest Cleveland sports T-shirt has the Cleveland Browns brownie with the Cleveland Cavalier sword and the Cleveland Indians' Chief Wahoo feather. 'We started up originally just giving something people to be proud of to wear in Cleveland and something to represent, I think walking through here, that's definitely showing,' Greg said.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Girl Scouts troop ponders Cleveland Indians' logo". Associated Press report, appearing on the website of 19 Action News. 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
Troop 165 recently held a public screening in suburban Garfield Heights of "WaWHO? Nothing is Sacred," a documentary produced by the Cleveland branch of the American Indian Movement. During the event, youngsters took part in an American Indian art project and scouts who attended were able to earn a "Cultural Sensitivity" patch. The patch features a red, white and blue heart and was designed for the troop by J.F. Novak Co., which manufactured the original Chief Wahoo logo in 1948.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "Film: "Wa-Who? Nothing is Sacred" in Athens". Eventful. October 31, 2006.
- ^ a b c d "Girl Scouts Troop objects to Tribe mascot". Associated Press report, appearing on the website of The Youngstown Vindicator. May 6, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ a b c d "Girl Scout Troop Pondering Logo of Cleveland Indians". Associated Press report, appearing on the website of The Daily & Sunday Jeffersonian. May 7, 2006. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|newspaper=(help) - ^ "About the Center". Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
- ^ Felling, Matthew (October 18, 2007). "Off-Day Filler?". CBS News. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
I was wondering if there was similar information on the Cleveland mascot, so I called up the Annenberg press office, and they informed me they did not have data on the American-Indian reaction to the Cleveland Indian Chief Wahoo mascot.
- ^ King, C. Richard (2004). R.A. Lind (ed.). Arguing over images: Native American mascots and race. An essay in Race/gender/media: Considering diversity across audiences, content, and producers (PDF). Boston: AB-Longman.
- ^ "National Spectators Association: Poll of the Day Results". National Spectators Association. Archived from the original on June 21, 2001. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
- ^ "Big-league baseball mascots deliver a barrel of laughs". Christian Science Monitor. February 10, 2008. June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Jacobs, Michelle R. (2012). "Negotiating American Indian Identity in the Land of Wahoo" (PDF): 6–7, 177–212. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Fenelon, James V. (1997). "Wahoo: Window into the world of racism". Presented at American Sociological Association annual meeting.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ S.L. Price & Andrea Woo, "The Indian Wars," Sports Illustrated, March 4, 2002, pp 66-71.
- ^ King, Staurowsky, Baca, Davis & Cornel, C. R.; Staurowsky, E. J.; Baca, L.; Davis, L. R.; Pewewardy, C. (November 2002). "Of Polls and Race Prejudice: Sports Illustrated's Errant "Indian Wars"". Journal of Sport & Social Issues. 26 (4): 381–402. doi:10.1177/0193732502238255. Retrieved August 10, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b "Most Indians Say Name of Washington "Redskins" Is Acceptable While 9 Percent Call It Offensive, Annenberg Data Show" (PDF). National Annenberg Election Survey. September 24, 2004. Retrieved August 11, 2008.
- ^ a b Springwood, Charles (02/2004). ""I'm Indian Too!": Claiming Native American Identity, Crafting Authority in Mascot Debates". 28. Journal of sport and social issues: 56.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Some collected materials about the NCAA's decision to ban Indian sports mascots from the Indianapolis area". Retrieved January 27, 2013.
- ^ "Court TV Verdicts: Ohio v. Bellecourt". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ "Workers World Nov. 6, 1997: Native leaders arrested during World Series". Workers.org. November 6, 1997. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ Bellecourt v. Cleveland, 104 Ohio St, 3d. 439 (Ohio State Supreme Court 2004).
- ^ "Supreme Court of Ohio Case Summaries". Supremecourt.ohio.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
- ^ UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST v. GATEWAY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF GREATER CLEVELAND INC (6th Circuit Court of Appeals 2004) ("Because the Gateway Sidewalk is a public forum, Gateway may saddle it only with content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions that are narrowly tailored to further a significant governmental interest and reserve sufficient alternative avenues of communication. See Chabad, 363 F.3d at 434."), Text.
- ^ Associated Press (September 1, 2004). "Appeals court orders reconsideration in Chief Wahoo protest case". Appearing in The Mercury-News. Archived from the original on September 17, 2004. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday reversed a lower court's ruling that protesters were not allowed to picket on a sidewalk outside a Cleveland sports complex ... The protesters moved their demonstration to a nearby public area and other protesters have done the same since then, Greenwood said.
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