Kelly Loeffler, David Perdue 'Adamantly Oppose' Changing Atlanta Braves' Name

Georgia s Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, issued a joint statement Monday saying they were adamantly opposed to changing the name of the Atlanta Braves baseball team, which has been described as racist by Native Americans and allies.

The statement was issued a day after Loeffler became embroiled in controversy for posing with a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan in a photograph.

Loeffler and Perdue said the name of the baseball franchise honors our nations Native American heritage:

Statement from @Perduesenate and me on our steadfast opposition to renaming the Atlanta @Braves. #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/L3axKziBri

Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) December 14, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Kelly Loeffler","author_url":"https://twitter.com/KLoeffler","cache_age":86400,"description":"Statement from @Perduesenate and me on our steadfast opposition to renaming the Atlanta @Braves. #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/L3axKziBri Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) December 14, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":187,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpPBEJ3W8AAIP8h.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":582,"title":"Kelly Loeffler on 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Statement from @Perduesenate and me on our steadfast opposition to renaming the Atlanta @Braves . #gapol #gasen pic.twitter.com/L3axKziBri
Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) December 14, 2020

The senators, both facing runoff elections on Jan. 6 that will determine which party controls the Senate, issued the statement as the Cleveland Indians baseball team reportedly was preparing to change its name .

The Braves told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in July that the team was standing by the name. Still, team officials said they were discussing the controversial tomahawk chop chant that fans repeat at the start of games and as a rallying cry.

Far from honoring Native Americans, such names, mascots and chants demean them, indigenous leaders say.

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Ryan Helsley, a member of the Cherokee Nation, complained last year after a game against the Braves that the teams tomahawk chop chant depicts Native Americans as caveman-type people.

They are a lot more than that, Helsley told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Appropriating Native American names for something unconnected to their culture devalues us and how were perceived in that way, or used as mascots, he said.

In July, Washingtons National Football League team announced it would no longer be called the Redskins , a derogatory and racist name that has drawn intense criticism from fans and Native American activists. The franchise is currently known as the Washington Football Team.

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Last weekend, the Jewish activist organization Bend the Arc retweeted a photo of Loeffler posing with Chester Doles , a former KKK leader who served time in prison for almost beating a Black man to death. Loefflers campaign claimed she had no idea who Doles was.

But in September, Doles was ejected from a campaign rally featuring Loeffler and Rep.-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the Journal-Constitution reported. Loeffler said then that she was unaware of any controversy linked to Doles.

ALERT: Kelly Loeffler just posed for a photo with Chester Doles, a former KKK leader who runs the white supremacist American Patriots USA.

In 1993, Doles nearly beat a Black man to death.

In 2017, he marched in Charlottesville.

This is who @KLoeffler is proudly appealing to. pic.twitter.com/4YZcvL05rf

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) December 13, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Bend the Arc: Jewish Action","author_url":"https://twitter.com/jewishaction","cache_age":86400,"description":"ALERT: Kelly Loeffler just posed for a photo with Chester Doles, a former KKK leader who runs the white supremacist American Patriots USA.In 1993, Doles nearly beat a Black man to death.In 2017, he marched in Charlottesville.This is who @KLoeffler is proudly appealing to. pic.twitter.com/4YZcvL05rf Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) December 13, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":709,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EpFgF6hXcAM06n-.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":498,"title":"Bend the Arc: Jewish Action on 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ALERT: Kelly Loeffler just posed for a photo with Chester Doles, a former KKK leader who runs the white supremacist American Patriots USA.

In 1993, Doles nearly beat a Black man to death.

In 2017, he marched in Charlottesville.

This is who @KLoeffler is proudly appealing to. pic.twitter.com/4YZcvL05rf
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) December 13, 2020