CLEVELAND (AP) – Cleveland Indians are changing their name – they do not know what or when.
Owner Paul Dolan, who revealed that “this is the time”, said that after months of domestic discussions and meetings with groups, many American racists, including Native Americans, tried to stop the use of American League ownership since 1915.
In an exclusive interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Dolan said: “This name is no longer accepted in our world.”
Dolan said the team will continue to be called Indians until a new name is chosen. That “multi-stage” process is in its infancy and the team will play as Indians next season – to be branded.
“We will be Indians in 2021. After that, identifying a new name and doing everything you can to implement that name will be a difficult and complicated process,” Dolan said. “We’re going to work as fast as we can when we do it right.
“But we’m not going to do anything just to do it. We ‘re going to take the time to do it right.”
Dolan said the team will not accept the interim name until it chooses its new name.
“We don’t want to be the Cleveland baseball team or some other interim name,” he said. “We will continue to be Indians until we recognize the next name, which will carry us for centuries.”
Cleveland’s action follows a similar decision by the Washington football team in the NFL earlier this year, formerly known as the Redskins.
“It was a learning process for me, and I think when reasonable-minded, open-minded people really look at it, think about it, and spend a little time reading it, they will come to the same conclusion: it was a name that had its time, but it Now is not the time, of course, going forward, this name will no longer be accepted in our world, ”Dolan said.
Dolan said the team’s popular nickname, Tripe, has been rejected for decades because Cleveland is considering new names.
“We’re not going to go a half-foot away from the Indians,” Dolan said, agreeing that the tribe was an early choice. “The new name, I do not know what it is, is not a name with Native American themes or meanings.”
In the wake of widespread civil rights struggles last summer, the name change of Indians to an organization that reacted to a national movement that removed impartial names and symbols was recent.
In the south, civil war monuments were removed, and in some cases the names of buildings were removed.
Dolan said his “awakening or epiphany” came following the death of a black man named George Floyd, who died when he was arrested by white Minneapolis police officers this summer.
Washington NFL coach Ron Rivera praised Cleveland’s announcement, saying he had changed his perspective on the issue after reading “The Real All-Americans”, a novel about a Native American football team.
Rivera said he received angry letters from Washington fans who were upset by the name change.
“But I got some tips from Native Americans, thank you for doing that and respecting our preferences,” Rivera said. “I hope we will not forget them. We will not ignore them. We begin to focus on their plight and they will do the right thing. They are Americans who deserve to respect us.”
Dolan expects an equally strong reaction from Indian fans who do not accept the team’s decision.
“I consider myself a fifth generation Clevelander,” he said. “It’s in our blood and baseball, Indians are synonymous, it goes to the whole scope and vulnerability matter.
Washington dropped its name in July, under pressure from corporate sponsors.
It was only a few hours later that Dolan announced a full review of the team’s name. He promised to listen and learn, and in recent months has focused on Native American culture and issues during discussions with fans, business leaders, players, social activists and researchers.
Dolan called those conversations “enlightening and challenging.”
He said there is a subtle balance between moving forward and looking back.
“We are going to respect our past,” he said. “We have not moved away from our past. We will be the Cleveland Indians of 1915. We will eventually change any year. We will always celebrate it. I do not think we should ignore it.
“But from the day we made the change, the new history we create together as a community with our team will be under the banner of a different name.”
Cleveland’s name change comes in 2019 with the removal of the controversial chief Wahu logo from its hats and jerseys.
Dolan said the group has never stopped selling products that bear a smiling, cartoonish image, but that the profits from the sale of Wahoo products in the future will go to Native American organizations or support Native Americans.
Dolan’s family bought the Indians in 2000, after which he knew Chief Wahoo was “complicated”. He recognized the Indians in the same light after this summer of unrest and in training himself on Native American issues.
“It simply came to our notice then. It is the end of an era or the beginning of an era. But along with that recognition and enthusiasm we are also going to do better. It will be better for the community. This will be great for our team. This is the circle that unites everyone. We don’t consider it necessary to comment on such fabrications. “
“It takes a while for everyone to warm up, but when they do, I think we’ll all be better at it.”
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AP sports writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this report.
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