Major League Baseball announced that the Cleveland Indians will stop using the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms in 2019.
The cartoonish character has been on the Indians’ uniforms since 1948. More recently, it has come under scrutiny for its offensive connotations toward Native Americans.
Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan said in a statement:
We have consistently maintained that we are cognizant and sensitive to both sides of the discussion. While we recognize many of our fans have a longstanding attachment to Chief Wahoo, I’m ultimately in agreement with Commissioner [Rob] Manfred’s desire to remove the logo from our uniforms in 2019.
Though the logo will be removed from their uniforms by 2019, the Indians retain the trademark and will still be able to sell merchandise with the Chief Wahoo emblem.
While we agreed with MLB to remove the logo from our on-field uniforms, we understand the connection many in the Cleveland community have with Chief Wahoo, and we will support that relationship by continuing its presence on merchandise in in our market. This will maintain the Indians’ ownership of the trademark as well, which we would risk losing to another organization if we ceased all use.
Some people on social media don’t agree with the team still being able to profit off of the controversial logo.
Here is how social media reacted:
Translated. Cleveland Indians are going to sell an unprecedented amount of Chief Wahoo merchandise in 2018 https://t.co/7Ph0WJrOmK
— 🍹Drunk@Disney🍍🧉 (@DrunkAtdisney) January 29, 2018
Somewhere, someone is snatching up all "Chief Wahoo" gear and putting it in a time capsule to sell as Vintage items in about 150 years.
— Cornelius Moore (He/His/Him) (@CMooreHere) January 29, 2018
They just need to sell a single t-shirt design that says "I'm an idiot. I love Chief Wahoo" with that dumb logo on it.
— R⚾️SS (@Design_On_Deck) January 29, 2018
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