Indianapolis Baseball Team Plans Committee To Evaluate Its Name

Indianapolis's Triple-A baseball team announced Tuesday that it will form a committee to consider the appropriateness of its nickname.

Earlier this month, the American Indian Center of Indiana hosted virtual discussions about team names and imagery as it worked to draft a resolution calling for the removal of the team’s name and imagery using offensive or false characterizations of Native Americans.

The group has also worked with Manual High School in Indianapolis to change its nickname and mascot from a term defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as offensive. The NFL's Washington franchise eliminated use of the same nickname and imagery this month. 

The Indianapolis baseball team has periodically faced criticism for its use of the nickname and imagery. It made changes through the years -- including its logo in the mid 1990s -- in efforts to avoid offensive characterizations, but the name has remained constant since the team first took the field in 1902. The renewed push to stop using the nickname and imagery comes as protests across the country this summer called for racial justice and an end to racism.

pic.twitter.com/hrr1xNW2fm

— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) July 28, 2020

The Associated Press contributed to this report.