Matthew Roberson: MLB commish Rob Manfred continues to swing and miss with his defense of racist ‘Tomahawk Chop’

If baseball is the national pastime then the Tomahawk Chop fits right in with another classic slice of America: racism.

If baseball is serious about its efforts to expand its viewership beyond the older demographics clinging to the way things used to be — and more importantly, if they have any interest in doing the right thing — the Chop should have ended long ago.

Indicated by his recent comments on the matter, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is 10 toes down in the “way things used to be” camp. The Chop has been around, and has been condemned by the Native American community, for 30 years now. Braves fans have, quite unfortunately and oftentimes unthinkingly, latched onto it as a part of the team’s history on par with Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz. That seems to be why Manfred is too afraid to do anything about it. His recent diatribe on the situation boiled down to, “The people love their blatant display of insensitivity and I for one am not going to tell them differently because I enjoy the money they give my company.”

Here’s part of what he actually told reporters in Houston on Tuesday.

“It’s important to understand that we have 30 markets around the country. They aren’t all the same.”

So, because there is enough of the specific type of fan who still does a full-throated Chop every chance they get, that means it’s all well and good? Strength in numbers equals an impossibility to change? It only requires some elementary dot-connecting to realize the bit about the 30 MLB markets not being the same translates to “The Chop is more important to Braves fans than not being racist is.”

The baseball team in Cleveland adopted their old name in 1915. The Braves nickname — and the shockingly racist iconography that has since been relegated to the dustbin of history — only got to Atlanta in 1966. Playing the rich and storied history card doesn’t really work here anymore, especially now that Cleveland has completely moved on.

In addition to the “People love racism, what am I supposed to do?” defense, Manfred also grossly claimed that Native Americans themselves have no problem with the pervasive Chop that becomes an inescapable part of the gameday experience at Truist Park, even for people watching through a television set.

“The Native American community in that region is wholly supportive of the Braves program, including the Chop,” the commissioner said. “For me, that’s kind of the end of the story. In that market, we’re taking into account the Native American community. In Atlanta, they’ve done a great job with the Native Americans. The Native American community is the most important group to decide whether it’s appropriate or not.”

Oh, Rob.

It took all of two days for Manfred’s obvious face-saving excuse to be debunked, although roughly 15 seconds of critical thinking could have done so as well. Manfred saying that the whole community is wholly supportive is yet another example of the white man blabbering on behalf of a community that they do not belong to and one thousand percent should not speak for.

On Thursday morning, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) responded.

“Yesterday, Commissioner Manfred stated that the question of whether the ‘Braves’ mascot and ‘tomahawk chop’ fan ritual are offensive to Native people is only a local issue,” their statement began. “He similarly asserted the league does ‘not market our game on a nationwide basis.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“Meanwhile, the name ‘Braves,’ the tomahawk adorning the team’s uniform, and the ‘Tomahawk Chop’ that the team exhorts its fans to perform at home games are meant to depict and caricature not just one tribal community but all Native people, and that is certainly how baseball fans and Native people everywhere interpret them,” said NCAI president Fawn Sharp. “Consequently, the league and team have an obligation to genuinely listen to Tribal Nations and leaders across the United States about how the team’s mascot impacts them.”

One would imagine that a single ounce of genuine listening would lead Manfred to institute changes surrounding the Braves’ name, tomahawk imagery, and especially the chant that is literally encouraged in the stadium.

It’s legitimately difficult to think of a tangibly positive thing Manfred has done for the game outside of dollars and cents. With an impending work stoppage creeping over his shoulder, he’s probably headed for an even lower approval rating.

While it wouldn’t magically save his tenure and would undoubtedly upset fans on the wrong side of history, Manfred would be wise to step in and order the Chop to go the same way as Cleveland’s retired name. If he wants to go a step further, one fan has already mocked up jerseys for the Atlanta Hammers, a potential name change that would honor the late Henry Aaron while not departing too much from their current on-field look.

No matter what he does, Manfred has to do something. One year after the summer of upheaval that supposedly opened so many white Americans’ eyes to the racial injustices baked into this country, it seems like Manfred is reversing his stance in favor of the status quo and almighty profits.

“I join our 30 club baseball operations officials as they recognize, on behalf of our entire industry, that systemic racism and inequality are devastating problems, that we can each do more to help, that baseball can do more as an institution,” Manfred said in June 2020.

It’s October 2021 and he’s in an 0-2 count on this particular instance of systemic racism and inequality.