Google Doodle Spawns Easter Anger as Some Critics Confuse Cesar Chavez and Hugo Chavez

No, it's not an April Fool's joke; there's actually vocal anger at Google for the content of its doodle on its search page yesterday.

Sunday was Easter, so many people expected to see eggs or a bunny, or perhaps some kind of religious imagery replacing the stock Google logo. Instead, the company replaced one of the "o"s with a picture of deceased Latino labor rights activist Cesar Chavez, who would have turned 86 yesterday.

The outcry was fairly quick from conservative pundits, who decried what they saw as the usurpation of their holy day for a cause that has become associated with progressive politics over the last few decades.

But the move wasn't out of the ordinary for Google. In fact, they hadn't spotlighted Easter on the home page since 2000. "We enjoy celebrating holidays at Google but, as you may imagine, it's difficult for us to choose which events to highlight on our site. Sometimes for a given date, we feature an historical event or influential figure that we haven't in the past," a Google spokesperson told the Washington Post.

This was the first time Chavez had appeared in a Google doodle.

Some pundits defended the decision, noting that Chavez was a Christian who often incorporated spiritual and religious imagery into his speeches and writings. "Google's odd choice should remind us that whatever one thinks of Chavez's politics, they are impossible to understand apart from his belief in the resurrected Christ," First Things, a Catholic journal, wrote.

Burt some of the opposition to the doodle is due to confusion, with some internet and media denizens confusing the labor leader with former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died last month after a bout with cancer. Hugo Chavez was known for his bombastic anti-American rhetoric and socialist policies.

"Since many of the hateful tweets attacked 'strongman Cesar Chavez,' I soon realized many of these genius zealots were slightly confused and had misdirected their religious hatred towards the wrong brown man - recently deceased and not yet risen Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez," wrote cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz.

"So far, no one is upset that the boxer Julio Cesar Chavez was honored."