Notre Dame defends leprechaun mascot, ranked college football’s 4th-most offensive in survey
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Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish leprechaun is the fourth-most offensive college football mascot in the nation, according to a new survey. The top three most offensive mascots, the survey says, wear face paint, headdresses and are culturally insensitive to Native Americans.
The Fighting Irish mascot came under fire in 2018 when ESPN’s Max Kellerman called on Notre Dame to do away with the leprechaun as Cleveland’s major league baseball team did with its mascot, Chief Wahoo.
“Many Irish-Americans are not offended, but many are,” Kellerman said in a Wall Street Journal article. “Should that also change? The answer is yes. Unequivocally yes. Pernicious, negative stereotypes of marginalized people that offend, even some among them, should be changed.”
The mascot survey was conducted by Quality Logo Products, an Illinois company that prints logos on T-shirts, water bottles and other items.
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