The moral outrage of Native Americans hasn’t been enough to persuade the Cleveland Indians from dropping Chief Wahoo as its mascot. Now that the almighty dollar is at stake, maybe it’s finally time the Tribe will retire the glaringly racist symbol.A ruling last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office stripped the NFL’s Washington Redskins of the exclusive right to use its name and logo because it’s derogatory to Native Americans. That allows anyone to use the name and logo at no cost, a major blow to merchandise licensing that might prod the team to change them both.It’s unclear whether the ruling will be applied to the Indians, but the team shouldn’t wait to find out. They should make up for years of injustice by dropping its mascot now.Let’s hope the name survives, as it has always been intended to be a tribute to America’s indigenous peoples. The name is meant to honor Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American major leaguer who played for the then-Cleveland Spiders in the 1890s.But the caricature depiction of Chief Wahoo disgraces Sockalexis and is an affront to all Native Americans. With his toothy grin, exaggerated features and red skin, the chief is an ethnic stereotype at its worst.The Cleveland Jews with a large-nosed, yalmalke-wearing emblem on its hat wouldn’t last two seconds before protests forced a change. The Cleveland Blacks with a big-lipped, watermelon-eating mascot would face a similar fate.Because Native Americans don’t have the numbers or political power of other ethnics groups, Chief Wahoo has survived. Activist groups have been successful in persuading other sports teams – the Miami University Redskins becoming the RedHawks being a close-to-home example – but the Indians organizations refuses to change with the times, hanging on to a racist legacy.The potential of losing money might do what years of protest couldn’t. Last year, the team made $1.5 million from the sale of licensed merchandise and about $15 million in revenue from sales at its team shops.The Indians’ success on the field should be enough to guarantee continued financial success from merchandise if Chief Wahoo was dropped, and a cool logo change could actually boost sales. If diehards stuck with the team through some 40 years of ineptitude, a new logo isn’t going to faze them.That’s especially so even if you suggest it might make them world champions. We Indians fans are a superstitious type, and some believe that the chief might have something to do with the team’s continued inability to win the World Series. Forget the curse of Rocky Colavito – it might be the curse of Chief Wahoo that’s holding us back, so drop him immediately.And sign a quality number one starter, but that’s another editorial entirely.Those who bemoan dropping the chief as succumbing to the pressures of political correctness miss the point: An ugly stereotype isn’t something fans should want representing the team they love. The Indians have given us plenty of on-the-field reasons to root for them, and now it’s time for a giant off-the-field decision to make us proud.