Berlin Indians Whats wrong with this picture?

(Hint: Its about Berlin High School sports!)

Research shows that all race-based high school sports team nicknames, logos and mascots:
are discriminatory and represent racial stereotypes that psychologically harm American Indian children
attending that school and competing schools;
also harm OTHER minority children attending that school and competing schools, so race-based sports team
identities are not only anti-American Indian but also anti-African American, anti-Asian American and anti-
Hispanic;
harm ALL children (including majority children) by teaching them that racial stereotyping is acceptable in
society.
The fact that minority and other students in OTHER school districts that compete against this school in conference,
nonconference or tournament play are harmed means that:
this harm crosses school boundaries, which makes this also the business of residents of other school districts;
any claim that this is exclusively a local control matter is invalid.
When school board members irresponsibly retain a race-based policy that harms ALL minority children in ALL OTHER
school districts (as well as their own minority and majority students), future controversy and pressure will increase as:
civil rights groups representing OTHER racial minority groups increasingly join the effort, and
students and parents in OTHER school districts increasingly are protesting other teams bringing race-based
stereotyping onto their school districts property.
This issue and controversy will go away only when the school board eliminates race from its high schools sports team
identity. This issue will be brought before EVERY school board EVERY year until ALL Wisconsin public schools have a
non-racial sports identity. Any school board failing to act now is simply:
needlessly perpetuating the controversy, and
passing the problem and controversy on to members of future School Boards, taking even more Board time and
attention, thereby detracting from other District educational matters.
Controversy is inevitable as long as the race-based team nickname remains. Change is inevitable. The only question
is not if, but when. Over half (i.e., 34 of 65) of the Wisconsin school districts that once had race-based sports
identities have moved on to a sports identity not involving race that everyone in the community can unite behind. The
experience of other school districts has been that:
theres no real benefit from delay;
delay harms students, the educational program, the sports program, and the communitys reputation;
most of the community eventually realizes that the typically small number of individuals who most actively
work to delay the change are actually hurting the community and students with their delays;
the community realizes the process of selecting a new sports identity can be an exciting and positive experience;
most school district residents appreciate that the controversys finally over so the school and community can
move on in a positive way.
Its a Discrimination Celebration!
People are already speculating about which of the remaining 31 Wisconsin high schools will become infamous
for being the last to actually join the 21st Century and end its discriminatory race-based sports policy. Will Berlin
become infamous for being the last community to end an archaic race-based practice that research shows promotes
stereotyping and discrimination?
A small group in Berlin have planned what some are calling a Discrimination Celebration. While organizers call it a
Berlin Indian Meet & Greet, some believe Discrimination Celebration is a more accurate description because the
August 13 event celebrates the temporary delay in eliminating the School Boards discriminatory race-based team
nickname.
Does it help a communitys reputation to actually hold a Discrimination Celebration to celebrate the School Boards
ability to continue a discriminatory practice based on race? Seriously? Actually celebrating the ability to continue
racial discrimination in the schools?
A Discrimination Celebration will only further tarnish the reputation of the Berlin community and its residents and
confirm the label in the minds of many outside Berlin that the Berlin community and its individual residents are a
bunch of racists. Even if an individual has good intentions, any individual who advocates the same harmful practices
that a true racist would advocate, shouldnt be surprised when they are also labeled as a racist.
This delay thats being celebrated is clearly only temporary because Berlins controversy regarding race will reoccur
every year until the Berlin Area School Board eliminates race from their sports policy. Based on the research, American
Indians, African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics and non-minorities of good will are joining together to eliminate
this harmful use of race in sports. This effort will continue until every child can attend any Wisconsin public school
without being exposed to race-based sports stereotypes, whether due to an uncaring school board in their own or a
competing school district.
Holding a Discrimination Celebration harms a communitys reputation! A similar Discrimination Celebration in
another Wisconsin community (Osseo-Fairchild) in 2005 resulted in negative news stories appearing in newspapers
from coast to coast about that communitys racism. Many district residents were embarrassed by the negative publicity
about their community. A Berlin Discrimination Celebration will cause even more people outside Berlin to think of
Berlin, Wisconsin as the Birmingham, Alabama of the North because, just as Birmingham is infamous for clinging to
a discriminatory race-based school policy, Berlin will become known for clinging to its own discriminatory race-based
school policy.
Not surprisingly, even residents who are not actually racists get labeled as racist because they support the same
harmful race-based policy that a true racist would support. No individual should be surprised that others view them
as being a racist when they support a race-based school policy that research shows harms ALL minority students.
Moreover, all Berlin residents automatically become labeled as racist just because they live in the Berlin School
District, so even residents who are silent and dont actively support keeping the race-based nickname become branded
as a racist.
It shouldnt take a rocket scientist to understand that people are going to assume youre a racist if you defend a policy
based on race that research shows harms racial minority students. Paraphrasing a statement made on the Wisconsin
Senate floor The more you try to defend keeping a race-based school sports policy, the stupider you sound.
There must be people of good will in Berlin who recognize that the elected leaders of all 11 Wisconsin tribes since
1991 have unanimously and consistently asked schools including Berlin to stop using Indian logos and nicknames.
These Berlin residents of good will must summon the courage to speak out from within the community for change.
Berlin residents of good will must help School Board members and others in the community to realize that the Berlin
communitys reputation is being harmed by clinging so desperately to a sports nickname thats based on race.
The longer this controversy goes on, the greater is the harm to the reputation of the Berlin community and its residents.
The longer this goes on, the greater is the damage to the sports program because of the distraction and controversy.
The longer this goes on, the greater is the waste of time and money to temporarily delay the inevitable.
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To read the research, go to indianmascots.com, look under Education, then under Research.
To request a copy of our Berlin Journal October 2011 educational advertisement about the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal
Council (GLITC) resolution, contact the authors at the contact info below.
From Carol S. Gunderson (Oneida), M.A., Senior Lecturer Emerita and Harvey S. Gunderson, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus,
Cofounders of Religious Americans Against Indian Nicknames & Logos (RAAINL), grass roots advocates for human
rights for American Indians. We welcome the opportunity to talk with YOU about why this is important to all children in
and out of the Berlin Area School District. Call us at (715) 597-6668 or (715) 797-9198 or P.O. Box 667, Osseo, WI 54758
or e-mail us at oneida@triwest.net

BALLWEGS BERLIN #BIGOTRYBASH from numerous sites on Facebook