Cleveland Indians Release Statement on Twitter Regarding Social Justice and Equality

Following in the footsteps of a number of sports teams across the country, the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday released a statement regarding social justice and equality.

Here’s the full statement from the franchise:

"We are distraught over the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others, and we send our deepest sympathies to their families and all who are mourning their deaths.

The Cleveland Indians organization stands united with African Americans and all those who seek social justice and equality. We share in our community’s anger, and in this moment we will not remain silent. We stand together against racial profiling and incidents of police brutality that unfortunately continue in our society, despite the genuine efforts of so many to address these community issues.

Inherent in our role as a civic institution, we strive to unite and inspire our city with the power of team. We have a long, yet imperfect history of doing this as an organization, but we are committed to making a difference. We know that sports can be a powerful agent of change in our society.

As Larry Doby once said: “Kids are our future, and we hope baseball has given them some idea of what it is to live together and how we can get along, whether black or white.” In the spirit of Doby, we commit to doing our part to end the systemic racism that persists in our society and to call for empathy and understanding for all communities.

We recognize that posting a statement and talking about our beliefs is not enough. We don’t pretend to have answers, but we commit to being part of helping our community find them. We have already started conversations with our players and staff to make this an ongoing priority in our organization, and we will work to partner with civic and community leaders to listen, learn, and then act.

It is our hope that we can build on this moment to be a part of the positive change we need in our country.”

All but two Major League Baseball teams have released statements, 14 of which put out statements Tuesday.

The Indians, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, St.Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals all released statements Tuesday.

As reported by Yahoo, 11 teams that put out statements mentioned George Floyd by name, while three, including the Indians, mentioned the word “police.”

As of Wednesday afternoon only two teams failed to put out any type of statement – the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds.

There is no word on if those two teams may put out a statement regarding the incidents from last week.