NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks stands ground, will not change name and logo that honor Native American history

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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The Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League apparently aren’t giving in to political correctness and cancel culture and instead will keep the team name and logo as is.

In a statement, the team asserted that its name (and, by extension, the logo that appears on the front of player jerseys) honors an inspirational Native American leader and is in no way disrespectful.

“The Chicago Blackhawks’ name and logo symbolizes an important and historic person, Black Hawk of Illinois’ Sac & Fox Nation, whose leadership and life has inspired generations of Native Americans, veterans and the public.

“We celebrate Black Hawk’s legacy by offering ongoing reverent examples of Native American culture, traditions and contributions, providing a platform for genuine dialogue with local and national Native American groups. We recognize there is a fine line between respect and disrespect, and we commend other teams for their willingness to engage in that conversation. Moving forward, we are committed to raising the bar even higher to expand awareness of Black Hawk and the important contributions of all Native American people.”

The mention of other teams likely is a reference to the Washington Redskins of the National Football League and the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball, both of which are under a lot of political pressure to make a change to their nomenclature. The momentum seems to be going in that direction.

President Donald Trump, however, seems to think that would be a bad idea.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1280203174008303616

“In a sane world, the Blackhawks’ response would probably serve as the turning point at which businesses realize they do not need to submit to the increasingly unreasonable demands of the increasingly deranged ‘woke’ mob,” the Washington Examiner observed.

Founded in 1926, the Blackhawks team is one of the original six members of the NHL.

The NHL suspended its season because of the coronavirus, but teams will take the ice starting on August 1 in the restart that was tentatively agreed to by the league and the players union this week. Teams will head directly into the playoffs under the plan. In their history, the Blackhawks have won six Stanley Cups, the championship trophy awarded to the winner of the playoffs.

The team got its name from its original owner Frederic McLaughlin who served in the 86th Infantry Division, nicknamed the BlackHawk Division after Chief Black Hawk, in World War I.

Blue-check Twitter had an icy, as it were, response, predictably denouncing the Blackhawks’ decision to hold firm as racist and exploitative. Others — among them non-hockey fans — claimed, however, that they would go out and buy team gear and start watching NHL featuring the Chicago team games as a show of support. Here’s a brief sample of those reactions.

 

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