July 13, 2020 12:19 PM
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Atlanta Braves, We See You!

By  Politics  5 Comments

For the last couple of weeks the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians have discussed or decided to retire the “Redskin” and “Indian” mascots and logos. One of the many changes commercial and private entities are doing to show their support for the amplified movements against racism in the United States.

Dave Schiller the Braves President and CEO said “When we have to consider (the issue), we have a much wider group to sort of spread that consideration over. And it is taking a little longer. But be assured we are spending a lot of time thinking about it.” 

Which group is Dave bending to … people who enjoy denigrating an entire group of people? The people who still believe in the re-written history of Native Americans as savages who cut the scalps off of the innocent visitors from Spanish and England who “discovered” the land they were already living on?

Oh maybe he is bending to the people that somehow feel the NAME of the team is more important than the athleticism of the players on the field and skill of the coaching team. This is all sarcasm.

I’m disappointed in the Braves. They had it much easier than the Redskins or Chiefs. The name “Braves” could be kept with a clear change in the mascot, the tomahawk, and a public acknowledgement that they agree CULTURES ARE NOT MASCOTS. Change the mascot to a New England Patriots type of American Brave – a firefighter, a nurse, or any of our other BRAVE American symbols that don’t depict people who were raped, murdered, and abused as a part of the foundations of our Country.

Unfortunately, people are still choosing to be ignorant about our American history. People are choosing to depict America’s first people as savages. Companies are still choosing to side with the worst racist fans and consumers. And people of color are tired of having to choose racism or entertainment.

If there was anytime in our country where the Braves could confidentially make a change and avoid too much criticism – it is while everyone else is making this important change. But go ahead. Be the ONE racist team left. At least you will have a niche.

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LaDawn LBJ Jones

5 Comments
  1. chefdavid

    Are we talking about the Cherokee’s who owned slaves? https://www.wsj.com/articles/native-american-sovereignty-is-no-liberal-triumph-11594578446?st=85cej1qta5v930k&reflink=article_copyURL_share For one thing, the tribes that will ben­e­fit from Mc­Girt fought for the Con­fed­er­acy and en­slaved Africans. The Chero-kee owned slaves and de­nied mem­ber­ship to the de­scen-dants of slaves—the so-called Chero­kee freed­men—un­til forced to ac­cept them in 2017, un­der the or­der of a fed­eral dis­trict court.

    Tribes are also back­ward on val­ues sa­cred to De­moc­rats. The Creek don’t rec­og­nize gay mar­riage. A statute passed in 2001 pro­vides: “A mar­riage be­tween per­sons of the same gen­der per­formed in an­other In­dian Na­tion or state shall not be rec­og­nized as valid and bind­ing in the Musco­gee (Creek) Na­tion.” Al­though mem­bers of the tribe are U.S. cit­i­zens, the Supreme Court has held that the Con­sti­tu­tion does not ap­ply to them on is­sues of dis­crim­i­na­tion based on race, sex, sex­ual ori­en­ta­tion and other traits. That gay Creeks are treated worse than other Ok­la­homans is a strange thing for De­moc­rats to cel­e-brate.

    Or maybe this is the reason to change the name.

    • armanidog

      You do realize that there are 574 federally recognized tribes. The Cherokee tried their best to emulate white settlers but Andrew Jackson said they are still Indians and should be moved to Oklahoma.

      I think not disparaging the other 573 tribes is worth changing the “Braves” moniker. How about Atlanta Redtails, it would tie in nicely with the Falcons and Hawks.

      • bethebalance

        I like the idea of all birds…

        the (brown) thrasher is the official state bird…

        and it could revive all the heartbroken hockey fans…?

  2. bethebalance

    Disclaimer: I do not know how any Native Americans or their advocates feel about things, except for what I read about the tomahawk chop last year. But separated from all other context, the word “Braves” seems relatively innocuous, although alluding to the Native American culture. But it can find some common ground with the name “Warriors”, which maybe can also be presented innocuously. In fact, I thought the Redskins might change their name to the Warriors.

    The tomahawk, on the other hand…

    Perhaps there is a way forward that elevates Georgia’s connection to its original residents, even if the history has been troubled. Perhaps the feathers offer a way for the logo to maintain some continuity, or some other symbol of connection. Another suggestion- just a thought- is to connect it to Georgia’s agricultural history. Like a plow. Sure, plows take a while to yield winning results, but it’s a symbol of hard work and reaping what you sow….just thoughts.

  3. shaggy

    Ask the Braves and Falcons who their lobbyists are, LBJ

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