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.
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.
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