Reds minor league team pulls new t-shirt after fans say graphic draws close resemblance to racial slur
The stage as Sammy Stafura is announced as a second-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds during the MLB Draft presented by Nike at Lumen Field on Sunday, July 9, 2023, in Seattle, Washington. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
A minor league baseball team discontinued selling a t-shirt it was after fans criticized the graphic for looking like a racial slur.
The Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, tried to combine its "Nooga" nickname and its logo of two eyes, and it did not go well.
The team replaced the two O's with their eyes logo, and fans thought it closely resembled the n-word.
"Oh no, chattanooga this isn’t gonna work," a Twitter user named "Dre" wrote.
"Hilariously bad," added @GratefulKeg.
Another user said that the shirt "cannot be real."
The team pulled the shirt, but other sites were quick to copy the logo and sell it on their own.
Some users, though, defended the graphic, simply because it's the city's nickname combined with the team's logo.
The Lookouts were founded in 1885 and adopted the moniker after a fan vote in 1909.
A Cincinnati Reds cap and glove in the dugout during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park on July 3, 2021, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
They have used the same nickname since then, except for 1943, when they were known as the Montgomery Rebels while spending that year playing in Montgomery, Alabama.
Great American Ball Park during the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Yankees on May 20, 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio. New York defeated Cincinnati 7-4 in ten innings. (Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
This is the second stint being an affiliate of the Reds. They were a part of the club's farm system from 1988 to 2008, before time with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins up until 2018.