Hater Logo Club

A racist, insensitive, old image that has angered people for decades is leaving us. No, not Donald Trump.

The Cleveland Indians (that’s a baseball team, in case you didn’t know. Seriously. Someone once told me that I needed to include that Tom Brady is a quarterback when I drew a cartoon of him once), are retiring Chief Wahoo…sort of.

The Indians have been using Wahoo less and less over the past few seasons. They’re wearing a black cap with a big orange “C” for most of their games, which may anger people with calcium deficiency. They plan to retire him from their uniforms and stadium in 2019, not this season. Why wait a year? I don’t know. However, he won’t be gone for good. The team will still sell merchandise bearing his face.

If you think Trump sycophants are bad, go to talk to a sports fan. And, yeah. The Trump people are still worse, but sports fans can be pretty bad. They will argue against changing their team’s names as if it were their children.

White people always argue that something depicting another race isn’t offensive. They’ll even find a Native American who will agree with them. But, if you troll around long enough, you’ll find a black guy who will argue that slavery was great because there was zero black unemployment. In fact, I think that guy is currently the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Recently, I was talking to a friend, who is white, and he argued against changing the names of schools named after Civil War Generals. He pointed out that it never bothered him or all his white buddies while they were at school. He just couldn’t understand why a black person wouldn’t want Stonewall Jackson on their high school diploma. That’s an example of being ignorant and insensitive. That’s what these symbols are.

I think there’s misunderstanding on both sides because it’s not entirely (no pun intended because I hate puns) black and white. These mascot symbols are racist, but they’re not displayed to advance hatred and discrimination. The wearers and owners are obtuse to the feelings of others, and like Dan Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, they can be real assholes about it.

People who wave a Confederate flag in your face are doing it to advance an agenda of hatred. Someone wearing a Chief Wahoo cap isn’t. He’s merely insensitive, which is still racism, but more of the ignorant kind than the hateful type. Kinda like when you see an Asian person and ask where they’re really from, or that time I introduced a black woman to my mom who then asked her if she lived in the hood. It’s just ignorant, insensitive, and depending upon the circumstance, can keep your son from getting any.

I have mixed feelings about changing team names and mascots. But, I’m also a white guy who isn’t being insulted by a team name. And, no. The Fighting Irish is not on the same level as the Florida State Seminoles, the Chicago Blackhawks, or the Washington Redskins. While there was a time when Irish people were persecuted in this nation, it’s nowhere near the same level that Native Americans received. I haven’t heard of any massive white protests in front of wherever they make Lucky Charms, though I’d like to see that. And on that note, the leprechaun isn’t on the same offensive level as Aunt Jemima.

I think some names and mascots are offensive while others aren’t. I don’t think anyone should have a problem with Braves or Chiefs, as that’s more of a title than Indians or Redskins. Now, that tomahawk chop the fans do at Braves games is totally racist and stupid. Again, I am a white guy so my feelings and opinion shouldn’t be persuasive on this. I also happen to like Chief Wahoo. He’s a stupid looking cartoon face and I have an affinity for that sort of thing. Have you seen my caricature of Trump? But, I do see how Wahoo is racist.

People should get over name changes. It’s sports. It does not change your life. I’m a fan of the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Cubs. When they both finally won their championships, I was really happy. I shouted and jumped up and down and celebrated. But my life didn’t change. I didn’t win the Super Bowl or World Series. I don’t own those teams. If they both changed their names, nothing would change for me. If the Redskins change their name, nothing will change for you.

I can understand the economics of changing the name. But, doesn’t that just give you more merchandise to copyright and sell?

What teams need to be careful of is changing their name to something worse. The Washington Bullets changed their name because they didn’t want to reflect violence in D.C. So, in a city where the population is majority black, they changed it to the Wizards. This is one name where I don’t think anyone will give a flying fig if they changed it to something else. Anything else.

The Washington Sycophants is already taken.

Creative note: I planned to draw this cartoon a few days ago, but…Trump fuckery. I know I’m gonna have to do something on the FISA memo, but their delay in releasing it helped me yesterday. It allowed me to draw this cartoon and get away from Trump for at least one day. Now, I know that FISA shit is going to be released tomorrow night at 6:00 pm, so I can draw a cartoon on it then. But, watch for it. Six o’clock. Friday evening. That’s when they like to blow shit up.

I want to thank everyone who has donated in the past. Your support helps me continue creating cartoons and columns with a little less stress in my life. Between competing syndicates with much larger resources, timid editors, and Trump supporters who attempt to intimidate the editors who do publish anything that criticizes their idol, it’s a challenge to make a career out of this. So your support (if you can) is appreciated. Want to help me continue to create cartoons and keep doing what I’m doing (pissing off conservatives)? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through PayPal. Every $40 donation will receive a signed print (please specify which print you want or I won’t mail one). All donations will receive my eternal gratitude