Thread by @FrancesMFDanger

That Time Natives Gave @MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred An Award: A Thread

Last week MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred decided that racial justice for Natives is over by announcing he was cool with the @braves racist name, chop, and chant.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Apparently Rob Manfred solved racism against Natives when he got Cleveland to stop wearing chief wahoo on the field in 2018.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Rob Manfred knows he's the best ever at solving all of the Native baseball racism because he has one Native friend, the National Congress of American Indians @NCAI1944, who gave him an award for it in 2019.

ncai.org/news/articles/…

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

So why *exactly* did @NCAI1944 award Rob Manfred?

For being so good at not doing racism that he made sure that no Natives had to see that horrible chief wahoo when they turned on the TV or opened a magazine.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Rob Manfred made sure that wouldn't happen by allowing chief wahoo to continue to be sold so we'd only be subjected to it *in person*.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Natives are lucky Rob Manfred is around to let us know that what we thought was a gross stereotype that harms children due to negative representation of Natives isn't that at all. Turns out it's only racist if it doesn't make money.

#thetimeisnow

Rob Manfred led by example by never taking a clear stance on chief wahoo, letting his actions (retiring the logo for on field use but still making money off of it) speak because those are much louder than words. Rob Manfred is an ally.

#TheTimelsNow

This year Rob Manfred once again reminded us of his superbest Native allyship when he courageously stood up for correct Native representation and meekly suggested that Cleveland change their name in 2018.

AND THEY DID IT.
#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Changing the name was definitely not a PR move made to protect the MLB brand due to a much needed and long overdue social justice reckoning but because Rob Manfred mentioned it in passing 4 years ago. I mean, that's why he wins awards.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

So the @braves. There are two schools of thought on this. One is when you see the name "hey..." then hear the opening strains of the chop music "wow that's really not ok..." and then when you see the tomahawk chop "OMG WHAT IS GOING ON I THOUGHT ROB MANFRED SOLVED RACISM".

The second isn't so much a school of thought as it is a state of being, one that is so integral to who you are that you're not certain who you are unless you can be it: A @braves fan.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

So who's right?

Let's see what history has taught us. Rob Manfred is cool with it and he's the best at all the baseball racisms and not doing them because that's what his award says probably. Check.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

The @braves, who are currently playing the World Series, don't just make money they make LOTS of money. Check.

So I guess that must mean the braves aren't racist because otherwise Rob Manfred would be wrong.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

I mean, he said Natives in that region are "wholly supportive of the Braves program, including the chop" and nothing will change because

"way before this became an issue, Atlanta cultivated a relationship with the Native American community which was very helpful in terms of making decisions like the two that have been raised."

espn.com/mlb/story/_/id…

Yes, ok, the braves and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are bffs who paint each others nails when they have sleepovers and that's been going on, according to the braves, for almost two decades and
mlb.com/braves/communi…

they, like Rob Manfred, are cool with all of it so issue resolved. Not racist. Rob Manfred is still the most correct of everyone ever when we talk about baseball racism. Gotcha.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Except...
Here's some Natives protesting in Atlanta. The braves are in Atlanta. According to the sign one of them is holding they want the braves to #stopthechop.

According to the caption they are protesting the use of the Native term for warrior (brave) as the team name. According to the title this happened in 1993.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

According to math and how time works this picture of Natives not supporting the name, chop, and chant was 28 years ago which is longer than the almost two decades long friendship between the team and EBCI,

dlg.usg.edu/record/gsu_ajc…

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

a friendship that Rob Manfred assures us is proof that all Natives in that area are completely and totally supportive of the not racism of the braves.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Could Rob Manfred be... wrong?

No. Nope. No way. Rob Manfred is a man of the highest moral character who stands for what's right no matter what the consequences.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

He fights tirelessly against doers of racism. He gave us the rules to know if something is baseball racist or not (is Rob Manfred cool with it and does it make money=keep on movin' no racism to see here).

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

He'd never pay lip service to racial justice by making a series of calculated moves designed to pacify Natives, like, say a gesture of a name change that in actuality is doing as little as possible to the point that it rings hollow.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

Except...
Two weeks after he got his Supreme Not Having Any Racisms Near Him Ever Award in 2019 he said, “The Braves have taken steps to take out the tomahawk chop. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that.” So yes it's racist.
mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/02/25/ado…

#TheTimelsNow

But then Sooper sekrit Rob Manfred sources said in maybe these exact words, "whoops Rob Manfred got his racisms confused. He meant to say no more chief noc a homa because that's definitely a racism but the chop is cool and definitely not a racism have you seen my award."

To be fair he'd only had it for two weeks so we should give Rob Manfred the benefit of the doubt when it comes to this racism mistake because we know Rob Manfred always has the best interests of Natives in mind and in his heart.

#thetimeisnow #changethename #notyourmascot

Except...
The @ncai1944, who gave him his Magnificent Decider Of Baseball Racisms Award, which conferred upon him that gilded "I did the right thing I'm a Native Ally" golden glow said that yes indeedy Rob Manfred got his racisms wrong again

and that yes the braves name, chop, and chant are 100% racist.

They said that they'd been telling Rob Manfred this since before he sold Natives out

by letting Cleveland continue to make money off racist chief wahoo as everyone yelled about the retirement of the gross mascot while whispering that it was only retired for on field use,

giving the appearance of having taken decisive and swift moral action against baseball racisms when in reality he'd done the exact opposite. Suddenly his award is a Not As Great Sounding Now That We Know Rob Manfred Didn't Actually Earn It award.

ncai.org/news/articles/…

To sum up, Rob Manfred, The Most Perfect Person To Be Handling Baseball Racisms It Says So on His Award Sorta, mistook a racist mascot for a not a racist according to his own rules hand gesture made by fans of the braves,

a team who have had the support of the entire Native community in that region for longer than anyone's raised any concerns except for those two protesters and also a lot of others who specifically wanted the name changed and the chop stopped in 1993 which was 28 years ago,

before the braves and the EBCI had a playdate set up with each other by their parents almost 20 years ago.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

I'm starting to think that "is Rob Manfred cool with it" and "does it make money" aren't the questions we should be asking to determine if something is racist in baseball. We should ask "Is Rob Manfred cool with it *because* it makes money?"

#TheTimelsNow #ChangeTheName

If the answer is yes (SPOILER ALERT: The answer will always be yes. See: continued sales of chief wahoo) then that's your answer for if it's just plain racist or not.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName

I'd ask Rob Manfred if I left anything out but his phone is probably busy what with the @NCAI1944 calling to get their award back.

#TheTimelsNow #NotYourMascot #ChangeTheName