"School team nicknames like the Chieftains and Braves may soon be a thing of the past in Wisconsin, where a new law allows the state to ban race-based mascots and logos. If a complaint is upheld, school districts face fines of up to $1,000 a day.

The day Wisconsin's new sports-mascot law took effect, Oneida tribal member Carol Gunderson and her husband, Harvey, drove three hours to the state capital, Madison, to file their complaint in person.

The reason, Carol Gunderson says, is "because it's the first law in the whole United States that addresses this issue. We didn't want it to get lost in the mail."

The Gundersons are targeting the Osseo-Fairchild School District's team name, the Chieftains. When they got to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Harvey Gunderson handed Patrick Gasper, the agency's communications director, an enormous blue binder of documents to back up their claim.

The evidence, Harvey Gunderson says, "not only shows that what Osseo-Fairchild has done, but what the other districts have done in the state also, that they really are promoting discrimination, pupil harassment and stereotyping.""

Get the Story:
Beware, Braves: Wis. Targets Race-Based Team Names (Wisconsin Public Radio 6/22)

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