@ Jack Mashall - It is hard for me to call people asking that racist images, such as Chief Wahoo or Sambo, “grievance bullies and political correctness fanatics” and that actions taken by organizations to remove such hurtful images as “incipient censorship”.  Also, equating your choice to have a silly caricature drawn by the mall artist with centuries of oppression is an apples and elephant comparison.  If you care to learn more about some of the negative effect of racist caricatures I have provided some links below as I think your perspective may be limited.

http://www.aics.org/NCRSM/index.htm

http://www.tolerance.org/news/article_tol.jsp?id=169

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/menu.htm

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0026

Moose: I stand by my comment, stop arguing with things I didn’t say, and spare me your more-sensitive-than-thou enlightenment. Cartoons don’t “oppress” anyone, especially cartoons that symbolize beloved sports franchises. I agree that Chief Wahoo is one of the genuinely offensive logos and I wouldn’t miss him, but people like you can’t tell the difference between offensive and inoffensive. Banning speech, offensive or not, is offensive to me, but be my guest: advocate it, Draw a picture, even.

I just realized that I’m offended by lots of stuff.  The Trojan guy from USC…ohhh it makes me so angry.  OH and the Popeye Spartan guy from Mich St.  How offensive.  And that completely offensive swinging Padre cartoon guy.  It makes me so mad.  Don’t get me started on the offense I take at the “fighting Irish”  the cartoon leprichan is reprehensible.  Ohhhh the humanity.

Pablo

@Jack - As an educator I greatly appreciate discussion and dialogue and use it as a common teaching practice and in that process want to have a wide diversity of views presented.  I am not advocating that an entity, such as MLB, force Cleveland to remove the logo however I do wish that the team would recognize that harmful impact of the logo. 

As for my ‘enlightment’, maybe I do view the world differently because I am married to a black woman who has African, Puerto Rican, Native American and Irish hertitage.  Maybe I view the world differently because I have listened to stories about how painful offensive speech can be.  Maybe I do struggle knowing my 3 yo daughter has been exposed to cartoons that portray caricature of people of color and plant insidious little seeds of being considered less than someone else.  Maybe I do take this a little more personal than others because I know that my little girl will someday be called the n-word or halfrican and that day is coming sooner than later.  But I’d rather be the enlighted person that I have become than the person that I was that did not understand just how painful and long-lasting the effect of hateful speech and images can have.

Kudos to the Indians organization for eliminating a beloved team symbol to enforce correct attitudes among an ignorant populace.  I was born with a large (size 8 1/2) head.  All my life, I have had to endure painful ridicule from insensitive people who complain that I block out the sun’s rays and that they can’t see the movie when seated behind me in a theatre.  For years, I have waged a campaign against Mr. Met, the bulbous-domed mascot of the Mets, and his cousin, the nefariously derivative Cincinnati Redleg.  Every time I see the supposedly comic images of these two corporate shills, I am reminded of my lifetime of pain and struggle, as well as the fact that I need to pick up a case of Prell on my way home.  please join our celebrity spokesperson, Minnie Driver, and thousands of grandly-pated individuals in standing up and saying “no” to bigheaded mascots.

Jack, one more thing:

“Offense is often in the mind of the beholder, and one individual’s perception of offense should not dictate conduct.”

This is exactly the kind of relativism you have criticized when applied to steroids.  Why is it acceptable now.  A racist caricature is either OK or not OK.  Which is it, Jack?

Wait a minute! “Racist” and “offensive” and “hateful” are simply not absolute terms, and I do NOT have to agree with the assessment of anyone or everyone, no matter how sincere. I don’t endorse relativism, but some things are indeed relative.

Moose, that’s swell with me, provided that “agree to disagree” doesn’t mean that you tell me what I have to be offended by to avoid being labeled as “racist” and “hateful.”

Common Man, you need to learn how to argue correctly. I disagree that Wahoo is racist. People disagree with me. That’s fine. That’s the debate. It isn’t “reality” that Wahoo is racist. Your whole argument is premised on your belief that Wahoo is a racist caricature. But you’re simply arguing that Wahoo is racist because its racist. That’s called circular reasoning. This a debate with more than one side.

Anyway, this debate is entirely about perception because, as I argued and you admit, no one is injured here. I don’t see Wahoo and think bad things about Native Americans. You do. The problem is with you and those like you. Not me. If people stop and think for a second about how Wahoo actually injures them, they would not care either way because it does not do anything. But some people are dying to be offended and will be offended no matter what. They won’t stop with Wahoo. They want the Redskins to change their name. they want the Braves to change their name. It will never stop. They destroy tradition and history and icons that don’t fit in with political correctness that stifles freedom and creativity and thought.

Oh Rich: Because it’s unacceptable to YOU, it’s unacceptable, right? I guess that makes you the Ultimate Arbiter of Acceptable Graphics and Communications. Glad to know that. Presumably, you mean logos AND mascots (there is no Chief Wahoo running around that I’ve ever seen), so the Quaker Oats Quaker, the Doublemint Twins, Mister Clean and Betty Crocker are also “unacceptable,” along with the Pittsburgh Pirate, the Twins, and the Padre. It’s OK, though, to have under-paid human beings sweating in furry costumes as mascots, or do you object to animal mascots too? Cartoons are obviously out, right? (Chief Wahoo isn’t a real person, you know)...really, I think we need a detailed memo from you and your ultra-pompous and doctrinaire fellow thought- and image police comrades to let us know exactly what is “acceptable” to look at, laugh at, smile at, roll our eyes at or just ignore.