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Offended by 'Fighting Irish,' or just green with envy?

Sunday, August 14, 2005

By John O'Brien
Staff writerOn Aug. 5, the NCAA announced it is banning Native American
college mascots from postseason sports tournaments starting next year.

Odds are, within a few minutes of the announcement, some yahoo was calling
in to a sports radio talk show, ranting about how my alma mater, the
University of Notre Dame, should have to give up its mascot, too.

Every time the debate over team names such as "Braves," "Redskins" or
"Fighting Illini" takes center stage, someone claims Notre Dame is just as
guilty of insensitivity for its "Fighting Irish" nickname and leprechaun
mascot.

But that argument is nothing but malarkey. There is a fundamental
difference between how schools came to have Native American nicknames and
how Notre Dame teams became the "Fighting Irish."

By most accounts, the "Fighting Irish" nickname originated in the 19th
century as an insult against Notre Dame's athletic teams at a time when
anti-Catholic sentiment was rampant in our country.

According to the university, one reported use of the term came in 1899,
when Northwestern University students chanted "Kill the fighting Irish"
during a football game.

While Notre Dame actually was founded by a French order of Holy Cross
priests, "Irish" at that time was seen more as a synonym for "Catholics."
And the connotation there was anything but positive; Irish immigrants
frequently were the objects of discrimination in our WASP-dominated society
— in no small part because most were Catholic.

For many of my generation who grew up in the Southland, with its large
populations of Irish and Catholics, it might be hard to imagine such
sneering references as these to the "Irish," which were anything but
complimentary. (And even today if you venture outside the Southland to
other areas of the country — and even other areas of Illinois — you'll
still find that anti-Catholic sentiment, but that's another column
altogether.)

Well, a funny thing happened in the early part of the 20th century: The
sports teams from Notre Dame started winning. A lot. And those same bigoted
fans of the other schools, who previously had been ranting against the
"Irish," now had to do so with their heads down, in defeat.

Eventually, victorious Notre Dame players and fans took upon themselves the
"Fighting Irish" name, a sort of collective "up yours" to all the
detractors who had tried to use it to demean them.

With anti-Catholic — and anti-Irish — feelings still prevalent, many
Catholics and immigrants (Irish and non-Irish alike) took to cheering for
the school, and savored each win as a small victory against elements of
society that sought to put them down.

After years of being known by various names — Catholics, Ramblers and
Fighting Irish among them — the university in 1927 picked "Fighting Irish"
as the official nickname.

For supporters of the team — including many Irish Catholics such as myself
— the name remains a source of pride, an acknowledgment of all the battles
our ancestors had to fight to win respect in this country.

Most Indian nicknames, on the other hand, were taken on by schools
dominated by cultures other than Native Americans. Most were accompanied by
mascots who were caricatures of Native Americans, meant to entertain and
make us laugh, but at the same time demeaning the culture they were
"honoring."

The University of Illinois, for instance, didn't get the nickname "Fighting
Illini" as a way to combat negative images of Indians or as a symbol of the
struggle of Native Americans in a hostile culture.

I can't say why the school chose the name, but I saw last week — for the
first time in any of the reports on the controversy at the U of I — one
report suggesting that "Fighting Illini" wasn't meant to represent the
Illini Indian tribe at all, but to represent all of us residents of
Illinois. If that's the case, why have they had an Indian mascot for so
long?

But I can say to all defenders of the "Fighting Illini" nickname and all
supporters of the Chief Illiniwek mascot that likening your situation to
Notre Dame's is simply a ploy to distract attention from the real issue —
that Native American nicknames are offensive to many members of this
culture they're supposed to "honor."

And I also can say, to all the people who say, "Well, Notre Dame should get
rid of 'Fighting Irish' and the Leprechaun" — Go ahead.

Really.

If people really truly are offended by either, get rid of them.

My pride as a Notre Dame alum comes from the lessons of faith, service to
others, loyalty and friendship that I learned while there. It comes from
the caliber of academic courses I took. And, yes, it comes from the joy I
had partaking in many activities while there — including watching our
sports teams.

It doesn't come from some mascot who, thanks to constant exposure on
5-hour-long football games on NBC, has long worn out his welcome.

And it doesn't come from a nickname that, while a source of pride to me,
might really bother someone else.

So rename the teams the Ramblers. Call them the Golden Eagles. Honor "Our
Lady of the Lake" (as the university's full name translates) with the
Lakers.

True, as an Irish-American, I'd miss the symbolic value of "Fighting
Irish," but my pride in my heritage, my faith and my family can't be
contained to the front of a T-shirt.

John O'Brien is assistant managing editor for sports and features for the
Daily Southtown. You can e-mail him at jobrien@....