Cleveland Indians are Dropping Team Nickname Following Social Pressures.

December 16, 2020

The writing was on the wall when Washington ditched their insensitive nickname; now the Cleveland MLB team have announced that they are ditching their team name.

 

It comes as the Cleveland Indians moniker continued to receive negative feedback criticizing the name for being insensitive and racist towards Native Americans.

 

While the name change is ideal, it won’t be so quick. Team owner Paul Dolan confirmed to the Associated Press that they’re dropping ‘Indians’ but not until 2022.

 

The team will play the 2021 MLB season with the current name and branding as they look to find a new identity. Dolan noted that the team would not be opting for an interim name in the meantime - as we saw with the Washington NFL team.

 

One certainty is that the team will be finding a ‘non-Native American based name’.

 

This closes the door on a long standing history, whether seen as positive or negative - the franchise name dates back to 1915.