Last week, a Cleveland Indians fan dressed as a the Chief Wahoo mascot spoke with a Native American activist at the baseball game to protest the team’s name.
Pedro Rodriguez, dressed in a feathered headdress with his face painted red, stopped to speak with Peter Pattakos, an activist who writes the blog “Cleveland Frowns.”
Pattakos introduced Rodriguez to Robert Roche, the executive director of the American Indian Education Center and a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe.
Roche told ESPN Cleveland that Rodriguez did not understand that dressing that way was “offensive,” and told Roche, “Well, I’m just honoring you.”
According to the New York Times, a blogger noted that the encounter between Roche and Rodriguez mirrored a political cartoon drawn by Mexican-American satirist Lalo Alcaraz.
this 2002 political cartoon become reality pic.twitter.com/HVLA4E8JES
— Ann Boobus (@a_girl_irl) April 5, 2014
