Notre Dame Faces Criticism for Black Leprechaun Mascot

Black Leprechaun
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Warner Todd Huston

Notre Dame recently announced the three students who will serve as their team’s leprechaun mascot this season, but some social media users were not pleased with the choices.

During Monday’s season opener, the team tweeted out a photo of the three new leprechauns. The tweet reported that students Samuel Jackson, Lynnette Wukie, and Conal Fagan would don the green suit this season. With one woman and a black student, it is the most diverse crew of leprechauns yet, Sporting News wrote.

However, some criticized the choice of a black student for the team’s peppy mascot, even though it is not the first time there has been a black leprechaun.

One critic, in particular, was Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy who said today’s “outrage culture” might abhor his criticism of the choice.

“You know what is sad? Internet outrage culture has made me afraid to say that I think the ND mascot should always be a midget looking ginger. So, I’m just not gonna say it,” Portnoy tweeted on Monday.

There were other critics, too:

For his part, that new leprechaun, Samuel Jackson, took the criticism with grace.

On his Twitter feed, Jackson advised everyone to use their “negative energy” to bring Notre Dame fans together.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.

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