The US-based Cleveland Indians baseball team announced on Monday that they intend to change their name, outlining that the team will determine "a new, non-Native American based name" for the franchise, confirming earlier reports that suggested an upcoming re-brand.
"Hearing firsthand the stories and experiences of Native American people, we gained a deep understanding of how tribal communities feel about the team name and the detrimental effects it has on them", said Paul Dolan, team owner and chairman. "While Indians will always be a part of our history, it is time to move forward and work to unify our stakeholders and fans through a new name".
According to Dolan, the decision stems from a process that began in June, after the team's "public commitment to take a leadership role" in addressing "social challenges affecting our community". In July, the organization announced a process of "listening, learning and then acting on the best path forward relative to our team name".
"After reflecting upon those discussions, we believe our organization is at its best when we can unify our community and bring people together – and we believe a new name will allow us to do this more fully", according to the team statement.
Statement from the organization.https://t.co/IHa68yEQGA pic.twitter.com/gGS6xutSOy
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) December 14, 2020
Dolan also pointed out that any future decision connected to the new name and the team's brand development will be "complex" and "take time", as the team will continue to use the "Indians" brand for an undefined period of time following the announcement of the intention to change it.
The Cleveland Indigenous Coalition welcomed the move, saying that by changing its name, the team "is helping to create a place where Native American children and their families feel valued and fully seen".
Many fans of the team, however, were not happy with the announced changes, taking to Twitter to express outrage and suggest that the name "Indians" "does no damage to anyone".
One of those who vehemently opposed the team's decision was incumbent US President Donald Trump, who said the news was "not good", declaring that the name-change process is a result of "cancel culture at work".
Oh no! What is going on? This is not good news, even for “Indians”. Cancel culture at work! https://t.co/d1l0C9g6Pd
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2020
Back in July, when the team teased its initiative to rebrand, Trump took to Twitter to lambast the team owners for changing names "in order to be politically correct".
The Cleveland Indians are to change their name, alongside the Washington Redskins, a football team that moved to drop "Redskins" as its name after pressure from Native American activists, who noted that the name was "offensive" and "racist". The organisation announced its new team name to be Washington Football Team.
Many other American brands have faced strong criticism over racism after the Black Lives Matter protests intensified in the US following the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, in the custody of white police in late May.
Amid calls to drop controversial names, so-called 'cancel culture' bloomed, with brands, people and cultural or media products receiving boycotts or facing condemnation for being "offensive" and acting in a racist manner. Particularly, an episode of "Golden Girls" in which the characters wore mud masks on their faces, along with several "Scrubs" episodes, was removed from Hulu streaming service for the use of "blackface".
