The President of the American Sociological Association (ASA), Dr. Michelle Lamont, sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred this week, urging him to “use his power to rid Major League Baseball of all Native American team nicknames and other such symbols.”

The letter was sent to Manfred on the assumption that he’ll be meeting with the Cleveland Indians’ ownership soon to discuss Chief Wahoo. Manfred suggested that he and Larry Dolan had agreed to have a conversation after the World Series when he appeared on the Mike & Mike radio show.

In the letter, dated Tuesday, Lamont said she represented her organization of 13,000 members and that she wrote in the spirit of serving the public good.

“Stereotypical representations of Native Americans, and an absence of realistic contemporary representations of Native Americans, are not the only cause of [suffering], but they do play a role,” Lamont wrote. “Retaining stereotypical sport nicknames/logos because they represent tradition, or because there is no intent to harm (or that there is an intent to “honor”) Native Americans, is unacceptable given the harm to which these representations contribute.”

Lamont cited the opinions and studies of academics on the issue, mentioning several reasons why Native American nicknames and logos are harmful. Among them: they reinforce cultural stereotypes, they undermine accurate representations of indigenous peoples and they create a hostile environment for Native Americans.

Stereotypes and hostility were on display in Cleveland throughout the October playoffs. The national media covered the Wahoo controversy in detail, flooding the internet with images of local fans in headdresses and redface, and noting, among other things, that the Indians players wore Chief Wahoo caps (as opposed to caps featuring the primary Block C logo) every game.

We’ve covered the controversy as well. (And we have for years.) We even opened up a design competition this week for name/logo alternatives, many of which the American Sociological Association would no doubt champion.

This article appears in Nov 16-22, 2016.

Sam Allard is a former senior writer at Scene.

3 replies on “Sociologists Urge MLB Commish to Rid Baseball of Native Nicknames, Logos”

  1. Rob Manfred will probably talk to Roger Goodell before any meeting with Paul Dolan……America’s Game (NFL) and Dan Snyder hold the cards in this rebranding game — and MLB is not emerging from underneath the gridiron shadow to take a stand on this issue.

  2. Protesting logos is how white people can feel good about themselves. Want to ACTUALLY help the American Indian? DONATE to the organizations that help, send supply packages to churches and community centers, write and call Congress(wo)men and Senators, pick up a shovel and go out to a reservation (if you can).
    Considering how few American Indians care about the logos and team names (it seems to be 1/10 regarding the Washington team name), protesting logos does nothing except make you yourself feel good about you yourself…use the energy, and time, and be productive!

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