State legislators, school district representatives and Wisconsin citizens met in the state Capitol Thursday to discuss an assembly bill that hits a contentious area in state law: how the state should address controversy over the use of American Indian mascots in schools.
The public hearing in front of the state Assembly Committee on Government Operations and State Licensing was designed to discuss the protocol for filing complaints over a school’s American Indian mascot, but much of the testimony discussed race relations within the state.
The bill and substitute amendment would change current law by only allowing a complaint to be official if it receives support from 10 percent of the adults in the specific school district. Previously, any individual in a school district could file a complaint.
State representatives who testified in support of the bill said the bill is necessary because the previous law put the burden of proof on the school districts instead of the complainants. They also said the bill would encourage school districts to reach out to Wisconsin tribes to discuss the use of American Indian mascots.
“This is something that does a very good job of representing both sides and maintaining due process,” said state Rep. David Craig, R-West Bend.
Mike Mikalsen, a spokesperson for state Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, who engaged in several heated exchanges with Democratic members of the committee over the level of discrimination the bill imposes on American Indians, said the bill is “a positive for all parties.”
One such Democratic representative, Brett Hulsey, D-Madison, compared the use of American Indian mascots to sports teams using “Krauts” as a mascot to represent German citizens.
“You would never tolerate that for a second,” Hulsey said to Craig and Mikalsen.
Representatives from the Mukwonago School District, which uses the nickname “Indians” and has been at the center of much of the mascot debate, testified in favor of the bill, saying it would be a welcome change to shift the burden of proof from the school districts to the complainants.
“It was guilty until proven innocent,” said Shawn McNulty, the Mukwonago superintendent. “[It is] a legal standard that has not been used in our country since the Salem witch trials.
Arvina Martin, a member of the Ho Chunk tribe, and Brandon Stevens, an Oneida Nation council member, both testified near the end of the hearing and emphasized the fact that American Indian mascots are harmful and show a lack of respect.
“In no way ever will a race-based mascot ever honor the Oneida nation,” Stevens said. “A mascot will never do us justice.”
The committee has only held a public hearing on the issue and will take a vote in an upcoming executive session.
