Special News Series: Rising Up For Justice! – Indians nickname decision came from ‘awakening’ after George Floyd’s death

Introduction To This Series:

This post is one installment in an ongoing news series: a “living history” of the current national and international uprising for justice.

Today’s movement descends directly from the many earlier civil rights struggles against repeated injustices and race-based violence, including the killing of unarmed Black people. The posts in this series serve as a timeline of the uprising that began on May 26, 2020, the day after a Minneapolis police officer killed an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by kneeling on his neck. The viral video of Floyd’s torturous suffocation brought unprecedented national awareness to the ongoing demand to truly make Black Lives Matter in this country.

The posts in this series focus on stories of the particular killings that have spurred the current uprising and on the protests taking place around the USA and across the globe. Sadly, thousands of people have lost their lives to systemic racial, gender, sexuality, judicial, and economic injustice. The few whose names are listed here represent the countless others lost before and since. Likewise, we can report but a few of the countless demonstrations for justice now taking place in our major cities, small towns, and suburbs.

Indians nickname decision came from ‘awakening or epiphany’ after George Floyd death, team owner says

Indians are one of the last teams with Native American monikers

By Ryan Gaydos, Fox

December 13, 2020

Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan said Monday an “awakening or epiphany” after the death of George Floyd was a part of the reason why the team name will eventually change.

Dolan and the organization announced it officially started the process of changing the team’s name but it will likely stay as the Indians through the 2021 season. Dolan told the Associated Press in an interview that he “empathizes” with fans who don’t want the name altered. Cleveland has been known as the Indians since 1915…

In a statement attributed to Dolan, he said that he talked to Native American and local leaders about the name.

“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. We also spoke to local civic leaders who represent diverse populations in our city and who highlighted the negative impact our team name has had on our broader population and on under-represented groups across our community,” Dolan said.

Dolan’s family bought the Indians in 2000 and said he acknowledged that the Chief Wahoo logo was “problematic.” He said he educated himself after a 2020 summer of racial unrest.

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