By Ed Rice, Special to the Bangor Daily News Our campaign to end the use of Native American nicknames and mascots by Maine’s public schools has reached the last community, Skowhegan, still clinging to the tenets protected by acceptable institutional racism. But more formidable examples of mascot racism remain. One is the Cleveland Indians baseball team and its controversial, racist caricature, Chief Wahoo. In August 2014, I visited Cleveland and spoke in honor of Louis Sockalexis at a … [Read more...]
Mr. Smith Goes to Cleveland to Kill Chief Wahoo
Ed Rice 9/23/14 (Indian Country Today) As my plane winged its way to Cleveland last week, to give a library talk in praise of Maine Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis and against the Cleveland Indians’ continuing use of Chief Wahoo, I began imagining myself as being something like the Jimmy Stewart character in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” Upon my return trip to Bangor, after thinking about a solitary walk around Progressive Field that left me infuriated by the Cleveland Indians’s … [Read more...]
Recognize Sockalexis by ditching Wahoo and changing course on Ohio team names and mascots: Ed Rice
By Guest Columnist/cleveland.com on June 18, 2014 at 7:22 AM Some day, probably under an entirely new ownership and new organizational leadership, I believe Cleveland's baseball team will reverse course and demonstrate, like most of the rest of the country is currently doing with mascot and nickname changes, that there are far, far better ways to show respect to our Native Americans and their culture. At that time, Clevelanders may demand a more attractive portrait of Louis Sockalexis at … [Read more...]
Cleveland Indians must end offensive use of Chief Wahoo — or seek blessing of Penobscot Nation
By Ed Rice, Special to the Bangor Daily News While it’s admirable — and I’m completely sarcastic here — that the Cleveland Indians organization sought feedback from its fan base on the controversial issue of its racist mascot, Chief Wahoo, and has started 2014 by implementing a partial end to its use, wouldn’t it finally be considerate of the team to seek the blessing of the Penobscot Nation for even part-time use? This is comparable to a group deciding, “Hey, it’s OK to use the swastika … [Read more...]
Indians facing curse?
Perhaps the city of Cleveland and fans of the Indians should be asking the question: Are we in the presence of a baseball curse, one that may be beginning to approach the magnitude of the one that allegedly faced the Red Sox for 86 years and is steadily creeping toward the magnitude of the one that still, allegedly, plagues the Cubs for more than 100 years now? If there is a curse, it’s deserved. Already, around the country and here in Maine, people are beginning to talk about the “Curse … [Read more...]