“I decided that it was about time somebody around here stood up for the little fellow,” Diadiun wrote of the red faced caricature.
That’s entirely his right to do. It is an editorial after all. And he does so in full knowledge of the army of locals who agree with him — “Let the Wahoo opponents be offended on their own time and leave the rest of us alone,” his headline whines — but Diadiun must fathom the direction of the tide.
Even owner Paul Dolan has a hard time making massive profits on Wahoo merchandise these days without pangs of guilt. He acknowledged to Terry Pluto that the logo was an important part of the team’s legacy, but that it was indeed offensive to some. He had empathy for those groups, Dolan said, and the team would continue to “do what they think is appropriate,”
That seems to signify Chief Wahoo playing second banana to the Block C on the field, but still getting ample run in the Team Shop. Wahoo ball caps ranked #1 and #3 in total sales last season.
But Diadiun espies a darker thread in the Chief Wahoo opposition, a species of radical thought that tramples upon his (and our) God-given right to be as self-righteously offensive as we wish, and without the burden of being embarrassed by our actions, thank you very much. He cites groups across the country, including the locally based United Church of Christ, who have opposed Native American mascots in recent years.
“You might argue that all those groups constitute a wave of popular sentiment,” Diadiun writes, “but consider the common thread that runs through all those campaigns: Liberal zealots who are pleased to decide what’s good for the rest of us … who want to tell us all what we are allowed to call our sports teams and what we are allowed to use to represent them.” (Italics added).
He concludes with the admission that he doesn’t have the first idea whether or not the protesters on opening day devote themselves to real Native American issues: things like health and finance and crime. But that’s “grubby work,” he writes, the stuff that makes an impact beyond the cheap publicity of the six o’clock news.
It certainly doesn’t occur to Diadiun that for many of the protesters — certainly many of the Native Americans among them, who’ve devoted much of their lives to the causes Diadiun has determined are worthwhile — Chief Wahoo’s continued existence is a real issue.
And the “liberal zealots” whom Diadiun accuses of assorted political-correctness violations may in many cases be referred to by another name: “decent human beings.”
This article appears in Apr 6-12, 2016.
I love it that he’s so opposed to “Liberal Zealots” deciding what’s good for the rest of us, yet he takes no issue with a business owner taking a controversial and at the very least “arguably” offensive image (assuming one party to that argument is a complete idiot) and scrawling the name “Cleveland” under it. I guess it’s ok for that business owner to decide for all of Cleveland that the image is actually innocuous.
Thank you to Sam Allard for putting us in our place.
Special Ted continues to audition for a possible national TV gig – as one of those pesky “contributors” – just in time for the RNC “Fracas in The Q”……but fails to realize he is just a schmuck stuck in a dead-end job — at a newspaper he helped slam into the toilet.
Thanks for taking these assholes to task.
This editorial almost makes me wish I subscribed to the Pee Dee, just so I could use it as a reason to indignantly cancel my subscription. Unfortunately it’s a pice of shit rag that I gave up on years ago LOL
Ted Diadiun/Kevin O’Brien, separated at birth and reunited at the PD?
It’s unfortunate we smart people have to deal with below average IQ fussys on a day to say basis. From my logical thinking to how sports teams choose their name is from what best stands out in that particular city, state or area. San Fancisco 49ers: gold rush in California, New York Yankees: you don’t want to know “@D HA, Akron Rubber Duckies: Akron is the rubber capital of America and might even be “of the world”. The list goes on and on. And unfortunately, so does low IQ folks. I’m like over 30% Native American and I love seeing rivers, lakes, street signs, cities and towns named after a piece of North American history, because it makes me want to go into an old book and read up on the past. Imagine what their kids are going to think of next; scary.
It’s unfortunate we smart people have to deal with below average IQ fussys on a day to say basis. From my logical thinking to how sports teams choose their name is from what best stands out in that particular city, state or area. San Fancisco 49ers: gold rush in California, New York Yankees: you don’t want to know “@D HA, Akron Rubber Duckies: Akron is the rubber capital of America and might even be “of the world”. The list goes on and on. And unfortunately, so do low IQ folks. I’m like over 30% Native American and I love seeing rivers, lakes, street signs, cities and towns named after a piece of North American history, because it makes me want to go into an old book and read up on the past. Imagine what their kids are going to think of next; scary
I’d say Paul Dolan deserves more heat here. He’s saying he knows Chief Wahoo is offensive but he cares more about the money he makes off it. What , are they incapable of coming up with a better logo?
It’s a shame the Jacobs brothers didn’t think about this issue. The perfect time to have changed not just the logo but the team’s name was when Jacobs Field opened. The Indians hadn’t won in ages but there was a new beginning taking place. Today, the Indians struggle to stay out of last place in attendance, so the current ownership must be scared of doing anything that might further tick off their hardcore fans.
I get really tired of social justice warriors myself, but with the Cleveland Indians I think they have a point. The team is supposed to represent the whole community. Why have a name and logo that alienates and offends people? It’s not like those offended don’t have a legitimate basis for taking offense. And, anyway, the Cleveland Spider is a much cooler name.
Diadiun is wrong in claiming this is a liberal zealot issue. I don’t know any native american liberals. It’s all about the money for the Dolans. Too bad they were too stupid to come up with a real mascot image.
Your point about a better logo, Pip, is spot on. I refuse to wear the Block C because it’s dull, generic and just lazy design. I’ll wear my 1921 C every day before that one.
Seriously, a better logo.
someday within the next 10-15 years the Indians will change their name probably after or before the redskins are forced to whether they move or not so get ready because change is coming 1 way or another the name Cleveland Indians will be history
Ive come to learn that it’s a small minority of Native Americans who are against Chief Wahoo. Since Paul Dolan sees the “relatively few” who are against..he assumes demoting the chief will make all native americans happy..on the CONTRARY! The native americans out west all wear the wahoo with pride! They “get it”. They know he’s not something made up by baseball fans, decades ago, to offend or poke fun..and certainly not racist! It’s a freakin caricature! Quit catering to those few who have chosen to take offense because they want to see it some way it is not..and cater to the tens of thousands of PAYING fans who write their paychecks! PETITION for our chief! Click, sign, share! https://www.change.org/p/mlb-we-want-our-chief-wahoo-back?recruiter=59765514&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink
The current depictions and caricatures are actually a fairer and more complimentary representation of Native American Indians, compared to the pre-historic savages found here in Pilgrim times. We have borrowed the best attributes, but the real Indians were beastly (not that the European settlers were much better).
When the economy collapses, as it soon will, due to the incessant gluttony and greed of the banksters and their minions, the ever lying politicians, one of the hardest hit ‘industries’ will be sports. The million dollar salaries will be unpayable, as people focus on their needs: food, clothing and shelter.
When the dust settles, maybe then, we’ll be more inclined to participate, rather than watch. Subsidizing multi millionaires to allow them to rake in millions, with very little personal risk financially, is not something the government should be involved in.
Enough is enough already. Leave Chief Wahoo alone and get rid of Block “C”