Time to Say Farewell to Wahoo

It's funny how tradition has a way of sneaking up on society. One day, you're reducing entire cultures to caricatures with nary a dissenting voice; 100 years later, you wake up, and the stupidity of your forefathers is no longer acceptable. But why are we so slow to change?

Rambling aside, it's pretty clear that it's time to reconsider the way our white society subjugates Native Americans in our silly sports mascots. And Chief Wahoo, that grinning, red-faced cartoon on the Indians' hats, ought to be the first to go.

Don't just take my word for it; Joe Posnanski -- perhaps our country's finest baseball columnist, and an Indians fan -- writes the definitive take on Wahoo on his blog:

The only reason Chief Wahoo is around is because Native Americans don't have a strong enough voice in this country to put a stop to it. When Native Americans protested at the 1997 World Series, they were mostly laughed at. Three were arrested. Is this really the kind of country we want to be? And for what? To stand up for our inherent rights to enjoy a racist sports logo?

I love Cleveland. I love the Indians and I even love Wahoo in a weird way because it is such a part of my childhood. But it is not just time to get rid of Wahoo, it is way, way past time. I don't think this is the biggest problem facing the world, or even the 5,4993,287th biggest problem facing the world. I don't care about political correctness either. No. It's just wrong. Very wrong.Get rid of it. The fewer wrong things in the world, better.

What better situation, as Cleveland sits on the cusp of a World Series birth, to eradicate the Sambo-esque Wahoo from Cleveland's hats? What better time to redeem ourselves than now?