Bay Area News Station Receives Backlash for Racist Headline After Braves' Loss

A Bay Area news station is under fire for using a racist headline in its coverage of the Atlanta Braves' loss to the Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS.

KTVU, the Bay Area's Fox affiliate, used the headline, "Braves Scalped" to recap the game's outcome.

The headline was especially condemned in light of recent criticism from Cardinals rookie Ryan Helsley's about the Braves' foam tomahawks and tomahawk chop. Helsley is a member of the Cherokee nation, per the Associated Press. He is a native of Tahlequah, Okla.

Helsley criticized the Braves on Oct. 4 before Game 2 of the NLDS. The Braves did not distribute the foam tomahawks prior to Game 5, which was the first game back in Atlanta following Helsley's comments.

"'I think it's a misrepresentation of the Cherokee people or Native Americans in general,'' Helsley said. "'Just depicts them in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren't intellectual. They are a lot more than that. It's not me being offended by the whole mascot thing. It's not. It's about the misconception of us, the Native Americans, and how we're perceived in that way, or used as mascots. The Redskins and stuff like that.''

According to Yahoo Sports, KTVU has not yet responded to the backlash.