Midget mascot in Freeburg: Tradition or time to change?

FREEBURG �� A David-and-Goliath tale is printed inside the handbook that every Freeburg Community High School student receives at the start of each term.

It goes like this: In the mid-1930s, Freeburg�셲 undersized basketball team was up against an undefeated squad of relative giants from Dupo. Somehow, Freeburg prevailed. The scrappy crew earned a moniker that has stuck for almost a century: the Midgets.

�쏧t is now held as an affectionate and respectful label,�� .

But not everyone sees it that way. A symbol of pride to many in this St. Clair County village of 4,500 lands as a slur to others �� one that dehumanizes people with dwarfism and is well past its expiration date, they argue.

The debate, which has ebbed and flowed over the years, has ignited again.

�쏷his is a disability-rights issue,�� said Rachel Wherley, an activist from Nevada. �쏷here�셲 no other disability-based mascot.��

Wherley is a co-founder of , a grassroots organization that recently launched a challenge to the symbol, including filing complaints with the federal government and enlisting the help of state legislators, who have introduced bills to phase out the mascot.

In all levels of sport, team names �� especially ones that reference race or ethnicity �� have fallen under scrutiny amid shifting social mores. In the early 1980s, a high school in Pekin, Illinois, dropped its mascot, a derogatory term for Chinese people. More recently, the NFL team in Washington, D.C., relinquished the Redskins. Three years ago, Cleveland�셲 baseball club transitioned from the Indians to the Guardians.

But many Freeburg students, parents and alums say the Midget mascot �� a mustachioed man punching a boxing glove skyward �� is entwined with their identity.

�쏞hanging the mascot would be like changing the school,�� said Freeburg senior Lizzie Stoops, 17. �쏻e�셱e all so used to it.��

Ten years ago, the , a national support and advocacy nonprofit for people with dwarfism, held its annual conference in 51붚죕. Members of the LPA spoke with Freeburg staff and delivered a petition requesting the removal of the mascot.

Hundreds attended the Freeburg School Board meeting that July, showing their support for the Midget with shirts, signs and songs. When board member Dean Gauch, who is still on the board, announced there was no intention of messing with the mascot, the crowd cheered.

�쏰nce a Midget, always a Midget,�� Kim Trowers, then the board secretary, told the Post-Dispatch at the time.

Behind the scenes, the answer didn�셳 seem so clear-cut.

Andrew Lehman, who was the district superintendent, submitted a memo to the board after the meeting. He reported that comments he had received about the mascot prior to the LPA petition had been in favor of removal �� by a 4-to-1 ratio.

�쏧t remains to be seen whether or not keeping the mascot is the right thing to do,�� wrote Lehman.

Lehman said he believed that, though the mascot was held �쐇n high regard�� by the community, �쐗ords used to name minority groups of people are defined by the members of that group.��

The district, he wrote, could eventually be forced to use its resources �쐍avigating through the minefield created by using a word that much of the USA�셲 population considers offensive.��

�쁈t�셲 different��

Inside the Freeburg High gym, a blue banner reading �쏦ome of the Midgets�� hangs over the doorway. The Midget is painted on the wood floor at center court. On a recent Friday night, his namesake players squared off against their Breese Central rivals in their final home basketball game of the season.

Spectators seemed weary when a reporter asked about the mascot. Most remained tight-lipped.

�쏧 have opinions, but I don�셳 want to share them,�� said a woman selling popcorn at the concession stand.

A man who said he was a teacher just shook his head.

Students picking up snacks or waiting for friends in the lobby were more forthcoming. It�셲 about tradition, many said.

�쏧 understand that it�셲 different,�� said 14-year-old Henry Peterson, a freshman. �쏧 think it would be offensive to some people, but it�셲 been our mascot for so long.��

Outsiders might not realize that no harm is meant, a couple of junior varsity basketball players explained.

Thomas Birchenough, a sophomore on the bowling team, thinks the Midget is unconventional but fun.

�쏯o one at the school thinks it should change,�� the 16-year-old said.

But another Freeburg student disputed that. The student, a junior who asked not to be identified, said people who want the Midget gone are nervous about speaking up.

�쏧t�셲 absolutely embarrassing,�� she said. �쏻hen you look up Freeburg High School, you don�셳 see news about our excellent teachers, sports and clubs. Instead, you see article after article about our mascot.��

Conversations flow more freely �� and tempers flare �� on social media. Becca Rae, a 2004 graduate of the high school, is the administrator of a Facebook group called �쏷he Real Freeburg.��

Rae thinks it�셲 time to show the Midget the door. She likens it to outdated language for those with intellectual disabilities or people who are gay.

But others bristle at that argument.

�쏣verything now days is offensive and derogatory. Just saying hi to someone people take offense to it. I just think its crazy,�� one woman posted in �쏷he Real Freeburg.��

Rae brushes off the heated exchanges.

�쏷hey want to call you a snowflake,�� Rae said. �쏧�셫 not being quiet about it, and they�셱e not, either.��

Freeburg administrators and school board members are keeping mum. No one on the board responded to a request for comment. Sarah Gass, who became superintendent last summer, turned down an interview request.

Principal Jill Jung also declined to speak. She has been through this before. In 2015, when the LPA representatives visited the school, she was an assistant principal.

In an email to Lehman, the superintendent at the time, Jung asked about how the community�셲 viewpoint could be changed when there were �쐖ocal die hard �쁌idgets�� on the board.��

�쏧 wish there was a legal mandate that would take this decision out of our hands,�� she wrote to Lehman. �쏧 like tradition, but not at the expense of others.��

A rare diagnosis

In the 19th century, the showman P.T. Barnum featured little people in his circuses. Traveling �쐄reak shows�� advertised little people as curiosities. Later, in films and on television, they often held roles as mythical creatures, like elves or leprechauns.

Those stereotypes have improved but are still prevalent, said Jennifer Crumly, with the Little People of America.

�쏻e�셱e a rare condition. We�셱e a rare disorder,�� said Crumly. �쏷here�셲 not a lot of positive representations, so perspectives don�셳 really change.��

According to her organization, about 30,000 people in the United States have a form of dwarfism. Preferences on nomenclature differ but commonly accepted terms are little people, dwarfs or people of short stature.

The word midget derives from the midge, a small insect.

The popularity of �쐌idget�� as a descriptor �� used on everything from candy to go-kart racing �� is waning. It�셲 been scrubbed from pickle jars, Disney attractions and Hockey Canada, which has shifted to age-based designations for its league divisions.

Dwarfism is an umbrella diagnosis that encompasses about 400 disorders. The shared trait is height; the average little person stands just over 4 feet tall. Dwarfism can involve medical complications, such as bow-leggedness, arthritis, sleep apnea, heart conditions and hydrocephalus, or fluid on the brain. Students typically have individualized education program or 504 plans that outline the services they need in a classroom.

While Wherley, the Mascots Matter co-founder, was traveling abroad last year, she had a fuzzy memory that there were still schools in the U.S. using the midget name.

Freeburg is one of at least five schools, including Putnam County High in Unionville, Missouri, that share the emblem.

They became her focus. After she posted about it on social media, other little people and their family members picked up the torch. Mascots Matter was formed.

�쏻e did research,�� said Wherley. �쏻e realized this was a legal issue.��

Disability-rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and provide civil rights protections. A midget mascot precludes an inclusive learning environment for people with disabilities, Mascots Matter contends.

They contacted the schools in the fall, hoping a conversation would facilitate the process.

�쏻e�셱e not coming in to erase history and tradition,�� said Shelby Holloway, who lives in California and co-founded the group with Wherley.

Four of the schools, including Freeburg, have been resistant to the message, Holloway said. Dickinson High School in North Dakota is the exception.

When talks fizzled, Mascots Matter filed complaints with the Department of Education�셲 Office for Civil Rights and contacted lawmakers. In Illinois, they connected with Democratic Rep. Maurice West of the 67th District. West has drafted legislation in the past to retire mascots with Native American references.

This year, West is sponsoring the , which is similar to bills introduced this session in Missouri and Iowa.

If passed, West�셲 measure would give Freeburg until 2028 to phase out Midget logos and uniforms. West, who is Black, said he sees �쐌idget�� with the same lens he does the N-word.

�쏷his is not an attack on the high school,�� said West. �쏷his is a �쁤o ahead and move forward.�쇺��

The moral of the underdog story printed in the student handbook can stay. The long-debated question, recently resurrected, is whether the Midget needs to leave.