Go ahead and call me an Impi. I’d be honored…
I’ll cut to the chase — why in the world would ANY sporting organization dub themselves with a derogatory title? Seriously… it simply defies common sense.
Who of you would purchase season tickets to see the Genericton Slack-Asses or the Brokeburg Don’t Waste Your Moneys or even the somewhat ethnically specific Scotsman City Tightwads or the Dégoûtanteville Smelly Gauls?
Of course, no one would.
That’s why I would have to question the wisdom of the Cleveland franchise honchos in changing the name of the team from the Indians to the Guardians. Especially in light that the “Indians” moniker was to honor Louis Sockalexis, one of the first American Indians to play Major League Baseball.
Turns out I’m in good company. I see that I’m not the only one slamming the gutless wonders in Cleveland.
As reported by Jeremy Beaman of the Washington Examiner;
Former President and “former baseball fan” Donald Trump slammed the Cleveland Indians franchise for changing its team name, blaming “absolutely crazy ideas and policies” for the decision.
The Major League Baseball team will become the Cleveland Guardians, it announced on Friday, after complaints that its current name is racist, though it did not specify when the name change would take place.
“Can anybody believe that the Cleveland Indians, a storied and cherished baseball franchise since taking the name in 1915, are changing their name to the Guardians? Such a disgrace, and I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country,” Trump said in a statement Friday.
But back to outfielder Sockalexis for a moment. As fate may have it, during his collegiate years he attended both Holy Cross as well as Notre Dame. Of course, the team names of both schools are not only culturally insensitive, but also racist in their own ways;
- College of the Holy Cross Crusaders
- University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish
One other question I’d like to pose: If any given team adopted the name, the Impis, would that be considered racially offensive or derogatory?
For what it’s worth, the Impis were the warriors of the Zulu nation.
Undoubtedly, some snowflake (regardless of skin color) would find a reason to bitch about it.