BERLIN, WI (WTAQ) – The Berlin School District in east central Wisconsin will keep its Indian mascot and nickname.
The School Board voted this week to calling its teams the Berlin Indians, after 92 percent of 1,300 people in a community survey favored keeping the moniker.
One resident said the name honors a tribe that no longer exists. An opponent said the mascot exploits Native American culture, and teaches kids that it’s okay to stereotype.
Berlin’s debate began in 2011, when a graduate complained about the nickname to the state Department of Public Instruction under a complaint system that Democrats created in ’09.
Republicans virtually gutted that system in 2013, two years after the GOP took control of state government.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
