CLEVELAND — The Baseball Heritage Museum is holding a virtual discussion about the history, impact and the Cleveland Indians name. The group will also talk about the 100th anniversary of the Negro National League.
The event will be held from 1-2 p.m. today and will be streamed on the museum's Facebook page.
The list of panelists include: Wayne Persall, Sarah Norman, Justice Hill, Bob Shepherd, Scott Longert, Bryan Fitz and Ken Krsolovie.
Early last month, the Indians said they were having discussions about the future of their nickname.
On July 3rd, the team released a statement on the topic of social justice and the important part that sports play in this landscape.
"We are committed to making a positive impact in our community and embrace our responsibility to advance social justice and equality. Our organization fully recognizes our team name is among the most visible ways in which we connect with the community," the team wrote in a statement posted to its social media platforms. "We have had ongoing discussions organizationally on these issues. The recent unrest in our community and our country has only underscored the need for us to keep improving as an organization on issues of social justice. With that in mind, we are committed to engaging our community and appropriate stakeholders to determine the best path forward with regard to our team name."
Since that time, many people in the Cleveland organization have voiced their opinion and supported a name change.
Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor said he would support such a move if it meant bringing "more love and more peace to society."
"I understand society shifting and it's changing," Lindor said. "We are due for some change. Along those guidelines, I'm open to listening to a change of names if it's going to bring more love, peace and happiness to the world."
If you want to weigh in on today's program, you can ask questions to the moderator on the museum's Facebook page.
The Baseball Heritage Museum is located at the site of League Park and is part of the renovated League Park complex at East 66th Street and Lexington Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio.