Google Doodle Honoring Cesar Chavez is Not a Big Shift for Google
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Google(NEW YORK) — Google chose to honor legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez with one of their Google Doodles – the temporary homepage logos used to commemorate certain days — because it’s his birthday on Sunday.
On most days, the move wouldn’t stir up much controversy. But this time, some conservative sites are questioning the tech giant’s decision to recognize the labor leader and not the Easter holiday, which falls on the same day.
Twitchy, a site owned by conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, curated a number of tweets from people who felt insulted by the doodle.
“Better a dead lefty, them a risen Lord,” wrote one man sarcastically.
“Yep. While two billion Christians around the world celebrate Easter Sunday on this 31st day of March, Google is using its famous “Doodle” search logo art to mark the birth of left-wing labor leader Cesar Chavez,” reads a post on the site.
But First Things, a conservative-leaning Catholic journal, argued that it is fitting to remember Chavez on Easter Sunday. So many of his actions, the site said, were driven by his religious convictions.
“For Chavez, social reform was never merely external,” reads a post on the site. “Without peace of spirit and purity of heart, there was little point in pursuing justice. Collective bargaining, just wages, shorter workdays: for Chavez none of these made sense outside the fact of his risen Lord.”
While Google Doodles have recognized other religious holidays before Google hasn’t produced an Easter doodle since 2000. In other words, this move is not exactly a departure.
And, as Google’s site points out, the Doodles often honor well-known and not-so-well-known historical figures, from Dr. Seuss to Frank Zamboni, creator of the ice rink resurfacing machine.
Still, that hasn’t kept people on Twitter from threatening to leave Google for Bing, which has Easter Eggs on its homepage.
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