indians

It's a relic of the past, which in my opinion, doesn't have to change. Some organizations liked the Redskins, in which "redskin" was used a derogatory, a slur should be re-branded. The fact that their ownership has refused to acknowledge that "redskin" has gained a far more negative connotation over the years, and their insistence, their denial has invited more criticism then the original symbols itself. It's the cultural insensitivity against present living Native Americans that causes protest, not claims that the symbology represents outright racism.

Despite that, the lexicology of "indians" is different. "Indians" today, has changed from broadly referring to all Native Americans to actual Indians from the subcontinent. We've gotten more multi-cultural since the 1930's. We've learned where India is on a map. The name in another 100 years will fade to obscurity that those without context of a logo will have a hard time understanding why there are Indians in Cleveland. Indians by no means carries the same weight as the physical description, or a derogatory of a RedSkin. "Indians" as a word has become obscure, even irrelevant. This explains why some of the community can not feel offense to why the Cleveland has retained the Indians. If not for the vestige of the caricature, the very use of "Indians" to refer to Native Amerians would have falled out of use.

But again, it's the heritage, which counts. There was a time when people branded their athletic clubs with symbols they believed to be strong, fierce, and honorable. If the choice was between the "savages" as Thomas Jefferson described them, or "the Braves", "the Warriors", that 1920's America chose the latter. And I don't believe they back then openly despised natives. They were in many ways thought as an equal adversary of our Americans. The game Cowboys vs Indians, not a game oh how the cowboys would conquer all. When the Western genre of Cinema gained popularity back then, the images were not of the savage Indians skinning for scalps. Westerns of the 1920's, like High Noon, more often portrayed adversaries as fellow outlaws gangs, vilgilantes, or even the harsh desert environment. The iconic, Lone Ranger which ran for decades had a hero whose sidewick was a friendly native.