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Chief Wahoo logo featured on Jackie Robinson day on new Cleveland Indians hat

By Kyle Hartwick

Jun 25, 2014: (shown left to right) Native Americans, Lita and Kristy Blackhorse, Marcus (no last name given), Amanda Blackhorse and Tawnya Brown protest the use of the Chief Wahoo mascot by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team outside a regular season game between the Cleveland Indians and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Doug James/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images)
Jun 25, 2014: (shown left to right) Native Americans, Lita and Kristy Blackhorse, Marcus (no last name given), Amanda Blackhorse and Tawnya Brown protest the use of the Chief Wahoo mascot by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team outside a regular season game between the Cleveland Indians and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Doug James/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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The Chief Wahoo logo, already a topic of controversy, is featured on Jackie Robinson day via a new Cleveland Indians hat. You cannot make this stuff up.

The Cleveland Indians decided to phase the Chief Wahoo logo out of their jersey at the start of next season but raised controversy with their Jackie Robinson day hats this year featuring the racist mascot.

I have voiced my opinion on the Chief Wahoo logo in the past, but I feel the need to clarify my stance on this matter even further, after today’s events.

The Chief Wahoo logo is completely unacceptable for the team to use, not only now, but always has been. It is extremely offensive to Native Americans, as is the team name Indians, which is a racial slur that Christopher Columbus started when he thought he had landed in the West Indies.

To me, the most disappointing aspect of the use of the logo on the hat wasn’t the logo itself. The mascot is very offensive, but the fact that it was used on a day that is meant to celebrate racial diversity in baseball is extremely short-sighted on the part of Major League Baseball. They were clearly just trying to sell merchandise by any means possible and did not think about the negative connotation the hats were representing.

Chief Wahoo
Jun 25, 2014: Amanda Bloackhorse, a Native American protests the use of the Chief Wahoo mascot by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team outside a regular season game between the Cleveland Indians and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. (Photo by Doug James/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images) /

The Chief Wahoo logo goes against everything that Jackie Robinson stands for, and using the logo on hats, celebrating him is wrong. People like to believe that racism in baseball went away with Jackie Robinson, but that is far from the truth — with today a prime example of such truth.

Next: Indians fans embrace inner Wahoo mocking Native Americans

As long as the Indians still have their name and are using Chief Wahoo, there will always be racism in baseball.

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