Methodists Say Minor League Team's Moniker No Minor Matter
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
March 9, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The United Methodist Church (UMC) is boycotting the city of Richmond, Virginia, because the city's minor league baseball team is named the "Braves."In 1996 the UMC adopted a resolution stating that the "use of nicknames in not conducive to the development of a society committed to the common good of its citizenry." In May 2000, the UMC convened its General Conference in Cleveland, Ohio -- home to Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians. The United Methodist News Service reported at that time that delegates to the quadrennial gathering took issue with the team's name as well as its mascot, "Chief Wahoo." The name and mascot, said the denomination, were demeaning.
One month later, an official with the UMC wrote to NFL's Washington Redskins, asking that the football team change its name. In a letter to the president of the NFL franchise, the UMC spokesman wrote "the term 'Redskin' is an insult to Native Americans no matter the context in which it is used." Keeping the trend going, at its 2004 General Conference the UMC passed a resolution prohibiting the denomination from holding events in cities where professional sports teams use American Indian names or symbols.
Now, citing its belief that American Indian names and mascots are demeaning and offensive, the denomination has announced it will hold its 2012 convention in Tampa, Florida, instead of Richmond, Virginia. Why? Because the Virginia capital is home to the Richmond Braves, minor league affiliate of the MLB's Atlanta Braves.
John Emmett, a spokesman for the Richmond baseball team, says the organization felt blindsided by the Methodist boycott, but is not concerned about its potential impact.
"It's just something that's not on our radar," Emmett admits. "We've had this name for 41 years; our parent club has had it in three different cities for over 100 [years]. It is what it is. We're owned directly by Atlanta, so we don't have a lot of say-so anyway [about the team name]. It's just not on our radar."
Emmett also admits that his organization was not even aware the UMC planned to meet in their city.
"We respect their decision -- they're certainly free to establish whatever criteria they feel makes them comfortable," he says. "We didn't know anything about it. We didn't now they were coming [to Richmond, and] we didn't know they weren't going to come."
Emmett explains that the Braves' mascot is actually "Diamond Duck," which he describes as a "big, fluffy yellow duck" -- not an Indian.
The United Methodist Church, whose 2008 General Conference will meet in Ft. Worth, Texas, declined to comment for this story.
