A proposed state bill could make Freeburg High School change its controversial mascot, the 鈥淢idgets,鈥� a term many people with dwarfism .
State Rep. , filed a bill on Friday that would ban public schools from using .
The was written by West鈥檚 staff and a from across the country who have been asking Freeburg High School District 77 officials to consider changing their mascot since October. If signed into law, it would give Freeburg High School until 2028 to phase out old logos, uniforms and other materials.
District 77 Superintendent Sarah Gass could not immediately be reached for comment about the bill.
The activist group, Mascots Matter, has also lodged complaints with the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights and other oversight agencies accusing . Group members say the mascot creates a hostile environment for people with disabilities.
Rachel Wherley, one of the leaders of the group, said people regularly use the term to mock her because she has achondroplasia dwarfism.
鈥淭his is an issue for our disability community that we take very seriously,鈥� Wherley said in an interview.
She and other Mascots Matter leaders Shelby Holloway and Erin Elswood reached out to West鈥檚 office in January because of his previous efforts to pass legislation banning school mascots depicting Native American people, including derogatory terms like 鈥淩edskins.鈥�
鈥淔rom my background, the N-word is something I don鈥檛 look upon favorably. 鈥� I need to empathize with communities that have similar words,鈥� said West, who is Black.
Wherley described West鈥檚 willingness to draft similar mascot legislation for people with disabilities as validating. But so far, none of West鈥檚 efforts around school mascots have been adopted.
West noted that negotiations on his mascots legislation paused when people from Native American tribes asked him to instead focus on a bill requiring , which was signed into law in 2023.
Wherley said Mascots Matter members plan to travel to Illinois to help West push for the Prohibition of Discriminatory Disability Mascots Act鈥檚 passage. They want to voice their support for the bill when it comes to committees for discussion.
Freeburg High School has in the past. The Little People of America organization told the school board 10 years ago that it found 鈥淢idgets鈥� to be .
At the time, hundreds of supporters of the mascot from the community attended a school board meeting wearing shirts and holding signs urging 鈥渟ave the Midget.鈥�
Mascots Matter is also advocating for four other Midwestern high schools to change their mascots from the 鈥淢idgets.鈥�
Editor's note: This story was originally published by the . Lexi Cortes is a reporter for the , a news partner of 漏 2024 外网天堂.
