American Indians Weigh In On Cleveland Guardians Name Change

A few weeks ago, we learned that Cleveland's baseball team would be officially changing its name from the Indians to the Guardians, which was inspired by the Guardians of Traffic statues on Hope Memorial Bridge. 

For decades, the franchise resisted calls and protests from American Indian groups to change the name, which was called disparaging, and logo of Chief Wahoo, which depicted a racist characture of a Native American. In 2018, the team had decided to drop the logo, but keep the name. Two years later, in July 2020, in part prompted by the killing of  George Floyd, owner Paul Dolan said they would consider changing the name. And last month, the team announced the Guardians would be the new name starting in the 2022 season. 

This hour, we'll start by digging into the process of the name change by talking to a sports business reporter, and we'll talk to two American Indians about this victory, but also the fight that remains with other major sports teams, such as the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Blackhawks. Not to mention the almost 1,900 high schools in the country that have team names based on representations of Native Americans. 

-Kevin Kleps, Assistant Editor, Sports Business Reporter, Crain's Cleveland Business
-Cheryl Crazy Bull, President and CEO, American Indian College Fund
-Sundance, Executive Director, Cleveland American Indian Movement

-Rob Frost, Partner, Capitol Partners 

-Dr. Goutham Rao, MD, Chair, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University Hospitals & Case Western Reserve University & Author, Rainy Day Comrades