Cleveland Guardians changing name

CLEVELAND — Former President Donald Trump faulted the Cleveland Indians baseball team for changing its name to the Cleveland Guardians. The Indians had previously announced they were changing their name — a move that came after the Washington Redskins ditched their nickname to become the Washington Football Team. Critics contend the names — especially the Redskins and the Indians former "Wahoo" logo — are offensive to Native Americans. A number of colleges, universities and high schools have also changed some nicknames related to indigenous persons, ethnicities and past stereotypes and in recognition of historical mistreatments of Native Americans.

Change nominations for new nicknames are due to the Federal association for nonprofit organizations and the National Congress of American Indians. Trump chimed in on Twitter, saying the team should stay the Redskins. The Redskins have faced serious backlash for 39 years over the team’s name. Trump is not a fan of the move. On Thursday night, he said the move against the team was short-sighted. “Hope the Indians (and owner Paul Dolan) do not end up like @KansasCity_17! Just a thought. Great fans though!” he tweeted. Indians announced their new name earlier this month. Members of the team and team owner Paul Dolan have publicly stated they are open to terms with Native Americans. Paola said in a statement that the team has “resolved to honor and respect our Native American community.” Veteran Washington MLB commentator Jim Palmer predicted the Cleveland team’s name would be accepted, even though fans and many sports pundits oppose it. He told Carlos Monarrez of Latino USA that he would have a user go through the team’s social media to see what people say about it, and there wasn’t a “battle between the Tribe and the critics.” Team owner Paul Dolan, on the other hand, seems confident the team’s name will stick. “It will not be anything other than a success because our primary focus has been and will continue to be on winning baseball games, and on being a great fans, and I think that’s the story that the American people want to know,” Dolan said on MLB Network Radio on Thursday. He also said he didn’t think the controversy over the team's name created any division between Indians jersey and road uniforms, arguing “the meaning of the team’s name is ultimately what we’re trying to convey to the public.” Dolan recently met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or on Facebook.

According to the Guardian: “Donald Trump, who is now moving into the White House as president of the US, said Cleveland’s move was a mistake made by the team owners and he called for a boycott of the baseball team, saying they should not be in ‘imbecility.’ The team lost 60% of its fans and now play in a retractable-roof stadium whose estimated cost is $450m.” Returning to Twitter, President Trump claimed the name change was “insulting to our great Indian nation.” This Twitter thread, which has since been deleted, also criticized the team for mismanaging their season, with a link to a Washington Post article on the team’s struggles. The president has reportedly sent and received 75 death threats this year. The Guardian reports the National Congress of American Indians called on Indians owner Paul Dolan and team executives for a public apology and the team to change its name. In 1995, a ballot measure to rename a Washington Redskins’ football team in accordance with the tribe’s wishes passed with more than 57% of the vote in North American Indian communities. In 2019, however, a federal judge ruled that the name was indeed offensive Native American slang, denying the team its attempt to change its name. An earlier effort in 1999 to propose a rebrand was defeated 98% to 1%. Hopes that the American public’s opinion of the name would ever change were raised in 2013 when then-television host Bob Costas, a Native American, hosted a live discussion on the Washington Football Team with then-Washington Governor Chris Gregoire and then-Indigenous Affairs Minister John Duncan, in order to promote better understanding between the team and their fans. For almost 40 years, the Cleveland Americans were the Cleveland Indians. During the summer of 1904, three members of the 203rd infantry regiment of the US Army arrived in Cleveland, Ohio. Soon, they realized their rudimentary American-made tents and rickety wooden travel trailers soon overpowered the vastness of their new home. They abandoned their new homestead and the rest of their belongings a few days later in hopes of finding a better life without having to return to their war-ravaged homeland. In 1920, one of them, John Lawrence, loaned $500 to purchase two cows and build a few cabins on an uninhabited piece of land he had purchased. There was not much else in the area at the time, and they settled in a few miles down the road. Much of their time was spent collecting tools, prospecting for minerals, hunting and fishing — activities the National Parks Service later classified as ‘sporting activities.

“Why has the Cleveland Indians team name changed from the Cleveland Flamingos to the Cleveland Guardians? It will royally suck. Just like when Harvard switched from the football team to the Crimson Knights,” Trump tweeted on Sunday. Keep in mind — Trump was President at the time of the team’s name change. The team’s new mascot is Dave Winfield, an African American former NBA player. The Cleveland Citizens’ Sports Authority and Citizens Hearing Aid Society have donated $250,000 to fund a majority of the initial cost of the team’s new name and logo. The civic groups already gave $100,000 for the arena that will host the team. If a deal is reached for the naming rights and related costs, the Citizens Hearing Aid Society says it would be the first such public partnership between a nonprofit and professional sports team in Ohio. Customers have the option to retain the old name if they choose, but they will no longer be considered Cleveland’s team. “Cleveland is 100% behind their decision,” said Kristen Hayashi, a Cleveland-based spokesperson for the team, in an interview with the Associated Press. “We’re also going to explore other possibilities, but we have not narrowed those down yet.” Wade Foster Jr., senior VP of media and community ventures for American Airlines, and Bob Jordan, GMC Sportstrust Chairman and CEO, also issued statements in support of the name change on Sunday. Foster took to Twitter to express his support, and Jordan says he continues to live in Cleveland and still has a strong amount of “love” for the team. “Change is hard. It takes time for our society to understand and accept change, especially in cultural areas,” he said in a statement, outlined in a press release from the zoo. “It took me 38 years to learn that although no one in my family had ever heard of the Cleveland Indians team until being brought up on their history dating back to 1883, they became an important part of my identity and upbringing here in Cleveland.” I’m proud of @clevelandiz to have an Indian in City Hall! Here in Cleveland, 147 years ago, a 5 y/o girl named ‘Little Thunder’ was the mascot. Today we have two teams with Native American names & mascots. Go Indians!https://t.co/yxNOfHWzgA — Wade Foster Jr. (@officialwadef) October 26, 2020 The team’s new name may not sit well with all Indians fans. Fans on Twitter also expressed concern over the team’s slogan — Blue Lives Matter RIGHTS. An earlier version of this article was published to cleveland.com. For more great   visit Insider’s homepage.