Cleveland wore the Chief Wahoo logo on Indigenous Peoples’ Day and got blown out
By Josh Hill
The Cleveland Indians wore their racist Chief Wahoo hats on Indigenous Peoples Day and proceeded to get blown out of the postseason.
On Monday, Cleveland wore its navy blue with a splash of racism uniform combo during a 11-3 season-ending blowout loss to the Houston Astros. It was the end of Cleveland’s season and hopefully the last we’ll ever see of Chief Wahoo.
That’s right, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Cleveland Indians thought it would be a swell idea to wear one of the most racists logos still somehow allowed to exist in 2018. Maybe it was an inability to read the room, maybe it was something more. Either way, it was unbelievably stupid and tone-deaf.
For those who don’t know, Chief Wahoo is the grinning red-faced Indian caricature that Cleveland has displayed for years as its primary logo. It’s a classic case of something old white people came up with decades ago that is now exclusively defended by old white people (or misguided people trying to impress them). Needless to say, the Chief Wahoo logo has grown increasingly unpopular over the years as the social conscience has grown stronger and louder. The logo has always been insultingly racist, we (and by this, I mean white folks) have only recently become unafraid to state it as a group.
Not everyone is in agreement that the logo needs to go, and most of those people are in charge of the Cleveland Indians. Don’t let any franchise decision makers fool you with saying they didn’t like the logo either. Chief Wahoo wasn’t worn prominently for during the 2016 season until Cleveland was in the World Series, and the logo is mostly only going away because of a bribe involving hosting an All-Star Game at Progressive Field.
Also, the logo isn’t going away entirely. Cleveland will be retiring Chief Wahoo on the field, but he will still be displayed on merchandise sold by the team.
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All of this is to say, Cleveland wore this gross excuse for a logo in Game 3 of the ALDS and proceeded to get fired into the sun by Houston. The game was a two-run contest until the Astros blew the doors off and scored 9-runs in two innings to finish off Cleveland’s season.
The Indians season is over, Chief Wahoo will never be seen on the diamond again, and a little bit a cathartic justice was served.