Cleveland baseball to drop 'Indians' name - NYT

Cleveland baseball to drop 'Indians' name - NYT

Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians will change their team nickname amid criticism that the moniker, which has been in place since 1915, is racist, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

Ryan Brooks reports.

The Cleveland Indians baseball team will change their team name amid criticism it is racist, according to the New York Times late Sunday.

Cleveland has carried the "Indians" nickname for 105 years, though in 2018 they said they would phase out their "Chief Wahoo" logo after it came under heavy fire itself by Native American groups, who called it a racist caricature.

This year has seen a wider push to eliminate racially insensitive material from sports following the high-profile death of George Floyd in police custody and other similar cases.

Several U.S. athletes have campaigned to bring attention to racial inequality across the country.

The Times said an announcement from the team could come as soon as this week.

The report added that Cleveland would keep its "Indians" nickname for the 2021 season, working to phase it out the following year.

Cleveland did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The report comes after the National Football League's Washington team retired its "Redskins" name and logo, used since 1933 but long criticized as racist.

It now goes by "Washington Football Team."