The Cleveland Indians wore their away jerseys in support of a name change

The Cleveland Indians wore their away jerseys for their home opener to acknowledge the team name’s disrespect for Native American communities.

The Washington NFL Team has officially gotten rid of its offensive nickname, and the Cleveland Indians are next in line to get rid of their problematic title. The players have been largely on board with plans to change the franchise’s name, and they demonstrated their support by wearing their away uniforms in their home opener today against the Kansas City Royals.

The team’s home uniforms are white and feature the Indians nickname across the chest, but the blue away uniforms instead bear the name Cleveland. ESPN reported yesterday that the team will be meeting with Native American groups to discuss a name change. They phased out their offensive caricature mascot in 2018, so this would be a meaningful next step towards supporting the Native American community across the country.

According to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who told Cleveland.com that the team would wear the away jerseys, the gesture is only for today’s opener, but the hope is that it won’t be necessary with a name change. The MLB has specific rules about what uniforms teams can wear, so there could be repercussions for the team if they were to continue using their away uniforms at home.

Lindor and the Indians have been advocates for racial justice movements beyond the Native American community. A powerful video of athletes discussing the killing of George Floyd and racism throughout the United States was played before the start of the game, and several players took a knee in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement.

It’s important that when teams like Cleveland choose to advocate for racial justice, they include Native Americans in the conversation and acknowledge the problems within their own organization. If their name is harmful, it needs to change, and it’s good to see the players and front office alike are taking the necessary steps towards action.