No state has yet passed legislation preventing public schools from having Indian nicknames or mascots. Wisconsin should not become the first.
Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay, has proposed a bill that could result in schools facing daily fines for not dropping their nickname or mascot based on Native Americans. Wisconsin lawmakers have tried, and failed, since 1997 to get such legislation passed. Other states also have tried unsuccessfully.
Only one school in the Times' circulation area would be affected by Soletski's legislation. The Black Hawk school district's nickname is the Warriors. It's one of 38 Wisconsin schools to have Indian mascots.
If the early response from Times readers is any indication, people with ties to the Black Hawk district are not pleased by the prospect of having to change their nickname. As one reader pointed out in response to a Times news story on Wednesday, "I'm guessing that, if this legislation would pass, the state would not reimburse school districts for the enormous costs incurred by changing a name and/or mascot, including signage, letterhead, athletic uniforms and more. ..."
Which indirectly gets to the reason why Soletski's legislation should not be passed - decisions like these that can have significant emotional and financial impacts within a district should be made by local school boards and administrators, not the state government.
Soletski's bill would have the state's Department of Public Instruction making rulings on complaints about school mascots and monikers. Those complaints would have to be made by someone living within the district.
If the DPI decides a nickname or mascot is offensive, the school district would have one year to make a change or face daily fines of $100 to $1,000. For districts like Black Hawk and others throughout Wisconsin, even the lower end of the range of fines is significant.
Clearly, there are some Native-American nicknames, mascots and logos that are offensive. As an online commenter said, "Redskins" is offensive. Warriors, however, is not. But the Black Hawk school district could, for instance, consider whether some of the forms of its logos or drawings related to the Warrior moniker could be offensive. However, those discussions and decisions should be made by people in the Black Hawk school district, not in the Madison DPI office.
There's nothing wrong with lawmakers or the DPI suggesting that districts be mindful of the impacts of their nicknames and logos. It even could be helpful for the DPI to develop guidelines of taste as suggestions for Wisconsin's public schools.
But to suggest that a state panel should be imposing its tastes on individual school districts, and fine them if the schools don't agree or comply, is not a doctrine Wisconsin lawmakers should adopt.
Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay, has proposed a bill that could result in schools facing daily fines for not dropping their nickname or mascot based on Native Americans. Wisconsin lawmakers have tried, and failed, since 1997 to get such legislation passed. Other states also have tried unsuccessfully.
Only one school in the Times' circulation area would be affected by Soletski's legislation. The Black Hawk school district's nickname is the Warriors. It's one of 38 Wisconsin schools to have Indian mascots.
If the early response from Times readers is any indication, people with ties to the Black Hawk district are not pleased by the prospect of having to change their nickname. As one reader pointed out in response to a Times news story on Wednesday, "I'm guessing that, if this legislation would pass, the state would not reimburse school districts for the enormous costs incurred by changing a name and/or mascot, including signage, letterhead, athletic uniforms and more. ..."
Which indirectly gets to the reason why Soletski's legislation should not be passed - decisions like these that can have significant emotional and financial impacts within a district should be made by local school boards and administrators, not the state government.
Soletski's bill would have the state's Department of Public Instruction making rulings on complaints about school mascots and monikers. Those complaints would have to be made by someone living within the district.
If the DPI decides a nickname or mascot is offensive, the school district would have one year to make a change or face daily fines of $100 to $1,000. For districts like Black Hawk and others throughout Wisconsin, even the lower end of the range of fines is significant.
Clearly, there are some Native-American nicknames, mascots and logos that are offensive. As an online commenter said, "Redskins" is offensive. Warriors, however, is not. But the Black Hawk school district could, for instance, consider whether some of the forms of its logos or drawings related to the Warrior moniker could be offensive. However, those discussions and decisions should be made by people in the Black Hawk school district, not in the Madison DPI office.
There's nothing wrong with lawmakers or the DPI suggesting that districts be mindful of the impacts of their nicknames and logos. It even could be helpful for the DPI to develop guidelines of taste as suggestions for Wisconsin's public schools.
But to suggest that a state panel should be imposing its tastes on individual school districts, and fine them if the schools don't agree or comply, is not a doctrine Wisconsin lawmakers should adopt.
