It's easier than learning the names of the tribes, I suppose.
Anyway, Chief Wahoo is the long-time logo of the Cleveland Indians and its about to go down the memory hole because the white people who run baseball and the white people with whom they go to cocktail parties need to display their virtue to one another over charcuterie. Pity, as Wahoo, along with the team name, celebrates the first Indian to play major league baseball. But history is hard and ego-reinforcement is easier.
There is no Indian in northeastern Ohio who cares about Chief Wahoo. I speak with some authority as I'm related to many, if not most, of them. There is a gaggle of "Native Americans" hired by whites to protest the logo, of course, but they're under indictment for the misuse of those funds, so never mind.
The people whom I do know who are or were upset about Wahoo are mostly white and woefully uninterested in baseball. Most of them are clergy, of course, who like to get upset about social non-issues to distract from the fact that they're a little weak in the devotional department.
Now that Wahoo is a non-issue, the virtuous need another victim and they have selected...Laura Ingalls Wilder? Really? The most popular books in the Ohio Indian Schools curriculum? Sure, why not? We must all appease the gods of white virtue.
Librarians Airbrush Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Name from Award
What all of these authors have in common is that their characters spoke and behaved as people really did during their time. Their books are witnesses to our history, which does indeed include examples of racist and bigoted stereotypes. But isn’t it better to have children confront such issues rather than treat them like snowflakes? At its best, literature forces us to wrestle with issues, even when they are not pretty....
I have always had a soft spot for librarians, people charged with introducing children to great literature and great ideas. I worked my way through college for two summers as a librarian. The people with whom I worked loved sharing books with children. They didn’t view their role as that of a censor or scold. Ironically, by unfairly slashing away at the reputation of Laura Ingalls Wilder they are resurrecting an old, discarded stereotype of librarians as prissy and pedantic. How ironic it would be if librarians — who should want children to be open and curious — once again develop a reputation of being close-minded.