Notre Dame

For this portfolio entry I chose to analyze the former logo of the University of Notre Dame.

The logo is of a Leprechaun with his fists up. He is wearing a green jacket with a yellow undershirt, green tie, and a hat with a yellow band across the front. The hat also has a green shamrock on the yellow band. The face features a foul grimace and a beard that wraps his face from the sideburns to the chin. The shoes the Leprechaun are also of an exaggerated depiction.

The logo differs significantly from the Cleveland Indians logo discussed in class. It is racist in both image and title. The image is a derogatory depiction of the Irish and implies that all Irish are leprechauns. This is similar to the red faced logo of the Cleveland Indians Chief Wahoo, but the Notre Dame logo goes one step beyond. The title Fighting Irish perpetuates the stereotype that people of Irish dissent are prone to fist fighting and are generally disagreeable. It also perpetuates the stereotype the further implies that the proneness to fighting is a result of drinking and thusly that all Irish are drunks. As if that wasn’t enough stereotyping and bigotry, there is also an additional religious dimension. Since the university is a Catholic school, one can easily make the link that all Irish are Catholics, and thusly all Catholics are violent drunkards.

I have to ask the question, why did Irish people tolerate this logo for so long? Are modern universities not supposed to be institutions of racial harmony, and dedicated to the eradication of intolerance? In this case the University of Notre Dame fell short of these lofty ambitions. The university has since changed the logo used. It is now a stately N and D overlay. The move was clearly the proper thing to do.

Welcome to Cleveland, Home of the …

Oscar Arredondo is a Native American who takes issue with the logos of sports teams who use cartoon depictions of his people. “Welcome to Cleveland, Home of the …” takes the image of the Cleveland Indians’, Chief Wahoo and puts it next to a series of what he would consider equally offensive characterizations of other races, nationalities, and ethnic groups. All of the characterizations take the general shape of Chief Wahoo including the oversized smile and add hats and other adornments to depict the groups. Some of the examples are of Jews, Negros, Skinheads, and French.

The link between the reading and Arredondo is found in Privilege, Power, and Difference chapter 6. The point that Arredondo is trying to make is that racism is still racism even if you call it something else. By calling the Cleveland Indians logo simply a logo, we are ignoring what should be a blatant unfavorable representation of Native Americans. Johnson gives concurrent arguments in the section of chapter 6 entitled “Calling It Something Else.”

I can see the artistic statement that Arredondo is making. By putting the Chief Wahoo logo next to the other fictional logos, he makes a real statement about the absurdity of the Indians logo. I got a little offended when I viewed the characterizations that represented my race, religion, and ethnicity, and that really gives one a look into the heart of what some Native Americans must feel when they see the icon. The “shocking” aspects of the piece make it a true piece of art. However I think that this is a cheap and rather brutish way of delivering a message. I wish Arredondo would have taken the moral high road and not resorted to bashing the other groups to make his point.