According to multiple reports, the Cleveland Indians have decided to change their longstanding team nickname.
The name ‘Indians’ has long been criticized as racially and culturally insensitive.
Cleveland could announce their plans as early as this week, per a report from the New York Times.
The decision isn’t all that surprising given that we’ve already seen the Washington Football Team drop the ‘Redskins’ nickname they carried for decades, and the Cleveland Baseball Team announcing earlier this year that they were considering a name change.
As a reminder, the team issued the following statement in early July amid growing social unrest across the country:
“We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality. Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.
“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent social unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice.
“With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.
While the focus of the baseball world shifts to the excitement of an unprecedented 2020 season, we recognize our unique place in the community and are committed to listening, learning and acting in the manner that can best unite and inspire our city and all those who support our team.”
Stay tuned for an official announcement from the Cleveland organization.
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