Cleveland Indians name change: MLB team plan to retire "Indians" as team nickname 

Following years of protests from fans and Native American groups, MLB's Cleveland Indians have decided to change their team name. The Cleveland Indians will soon announce plans to change the name "Indians" in its nickname, with the term being considered a racial slur. The move follows a decision by the Washington Football Team of the NFL in July to prevent using a name that has long been considered a racial slur. 

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Cleveland Indians name change: MLB team to abandon "Indians" nickname and native American imagery on logo?

Earlier this week, reports from the New York Times claimed that the Cleveland Indians plan to change their team name in the near future. The name change for the MLB side comes after years of protests from native Americans and fans over the term "Indians" which has been considered a racial slur. The Cleveland Indians are also considering dropping any Native American imagery from their logo's. 

Three sources from the team have revealed that the Cleveland Indians' name change is likely to follow suit of the NFL's Washington Football Team. The Washington Football team had undergone a change in its name after protest from fans over a term that was considered racist and offensive to Native Americans. 

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Reports claim that the MLB team could announce its name change as soon as this week as plans for a name change have been taking place since 2019. Plans for a temporary name will be arranged before consulting with fans over a permanent replacement. However, it is likely that Cleveland plan to keep the Indians name and uniforms for the 2021 season while working to shift as early as 2022.

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US President Donald Trump slams Cleveland Indians name change

Soon after reports of Cleveland Indians new name emerged, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter to react to the news. The 74-year old tweeted that the Cleveland Indians name change wasn't good news whilst still referring to the Native Americans as "Indians", "Oh no! What is going on? This isn't good news even for the "Indians". Cancel culture at work".

Trump had previously criticized the Washington Football Team name change as well. At the time, in July, he tweeted, “They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct.

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Image Credits - Indians Instagram