The Cleveland Indians are considering a name change.
The club, with the NFL’s Washington Redskins launching an internal review of their team nickname this week, issued a statement Friday night expressing a willingness to have internal discussions about the “best path forward with regard to our team name.”
“We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality,” the team said in the statement. “Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community.
“We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice.
“With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name.
“While the focus of the baseball world shifts to the excitement of an unprecedented 2020 season, we recognize our unique place in the community and are committed to listening, learning and acting in the manner that can best unite and inspire our city and all those who support our team.”
According to The Athletic, Cleveland plans to consult with the Native American community, fans, players, alumni and staff before coming to a decision. The consideration of a new name comes at a time when the country is calling for social change and taking a second look at history after the death of George Floyd in May.
Cleveland’s baseball team, which was previously the Bluebirds, Broncos and Naps became the Indians in 1915. In recent years, the franchise has made efforts to change, starting with ditching its Chief Wahoo logo in 2019 and elusively using a block C instead.