CLEVELAND — According to a Sunday evening report from the New York Times, the Cleveland Indians will officially go by a new name in the near future.
The Indians' team name has been around for more than a century, but as times have changed, so has support for the name.
For more than 20 years, Native Americans and other activists have protested outside of Progressive Field on opening day in an effort to get the team to change their name and mascot to something more "culturally sensitive."
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The buck-toothed, red-faced Chief Wahoo-- viewed as wildly racist-- made his final appearance in 2018, but protests against the team's name have persisted.
Over the summer, national protests over racial injustice sparked a renewed interest in seriously considering a name change, especially following the Washington Football Team's decision to retire the "Redskins" name they had so-long used.
"People are becoming hyper-aware of racism toward the black community and now thankfully as it applies to Native Americans," said activist Josh Hunt.
The Indians face a tough decision ahead, however, considering the history associated with their long-used name.
"Indians" goes back more than 100-years and is believed to have been a nod to legendary Cleveland Spiders player of Native American descent, Louis Sockalexis.
Despite the name's history, a groundswell of support for a change has recently come in from within the Northeast Ohio community.
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