The 2016 World Series saw the Chicago Cubs end their 108-year title drought against an upstart Cleveland team that made it within one swing of winning it all, despite missing two of their top three starting pitchers, their starting catcher and last but certainly not least, their MVP-caliber outfielder. The Series will be remembered for being one of the most competitive and memorable in recent years, perhaps the best since the 2001 Diamondbacks-Yankees Series. However, it will also be remembered for thrusting the controversy over the Cleveland Indians’ team name and logo back into the national spotlight.

In light of Cleveland’s ongoing promotion of a racist caricature, it is important to understand this moral shortcoming in the context of the team’s history. In 1942, Bill Veeck, then-owner of the Cleveland Indians, proposed integrating baseball and was rejected by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis (yes, that was his real name). Nevertheless, Veeck maintained his belief that baseball must be integrated despite the league’s resistance. Three months after the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby signed with Cleveland to become the second black player in Major League Baseball and the first in the American League. Before Doby’s first game, Cleveland player-manager Lou Boudreau introduced Doby to every member of the team. All but three players shook hands with Doby. All three of these players were promptly released or traded by the team. Later that year, Cleveland won the 1948 World Series due in large part to the efforts of Doby and Satchel Paige, another standout black player. Sixty-eight years later, Veeck’s successors, Larry and Paul Dolan, steadfastly defend the racism they perpetuate through their team’s name and logo. The lack of moral leadership demonstrated by the Dolans is a far cry from the standard set by their predecessor, a man who signed a black player despite the loud outcry of popular opinion. If Cleveland fails to address the blatant and damaging racism of maintaining the team name Indians and the “Chief Wahoo” logo, they would forever surrender the right to express pride in a history full of laudable decisions.

A popular refrain from “pro-Chief” Cleveland fans is that changing the team name or logo would erase or diminish the team’s history. This claim would be laughable if it wasn’t so utterly brainless. What about the history of a people murdered by the millions by white colonialists? The history of a people who even today, in places such as Standing Rock, N.D., are forced to fight in order to protect their homeland and well-being. Prioritizing the history of a team over the history of a people is the grossest and basest form of white privilege imaginable.

Furthermore, the name ‘“Indians” is not too special to be replaced, and changing team names or logos is not some sacrilegious act to be looked down upon. A racist caricature is not unique or original. We can and should do better. The fans who defend the racism of the Indians name and logo on grounds that it is the team’s history should look at their NBA team for an example of how a fan base can pick a nickname that isn’t blatantly damaging. When Nick Mileti purchased the rights to an NBA expansion team for Cleveland in 1970, “Cavaliers” was chosen as the team name through a fan competition, finishing ahead of “Jays,” “Foresters” and “Presidents.” As long as the options aren’t this dire, I think we’ll all be better off with a change in name.