'Midgets' mascot name comes under fire for seven high schools

Video: Freeburg Midgets Football First 6 Games
See highlights of the Freeburg High midgets, one of seven schools in the nation with the mascot name

Schools and states across the nation have taken a stance on mascot names like Redskins, Indians and Chiefs, changing longstanding team names in the interest of avoiding claims of racism and objectification.

Discussion has now arisen about changing another mascot name that offends a group of people: Midgets.

According to the Associated Press, the Little People of America submitted a petition to Freeburg High School in Illinois, asking that the school change its "Midgets" mascot name. The story reported that 4,400 signatures were listed on the petition.

Superintendent Andrew Lehman told reporters that the school's mascot name comes from a newspaper reporter who nicknamed the team the Midgets nearly a century ago after it consistently beat schools with much taller players. The name was given to the team at a time when the term "midget" was common when describing those with dwarfism.

But the word has become derogatory in current times, according to the LPA, and they feel it's time to eliminate the word as a mascot name.

"It sends a signal to youth that the use of the word 'midget' to describe a small person is acceptable and humorous," LPA President Gary Arnold told the AP. "We recognize that it's not intended to have a negative impact. But with all the history and baggage that comes with the word, it still does."

According to the MaxPreps database, Freeburg is among seven high schools that use the mascot name. All are located in the Midwest: Butternut (Wis.), Dickinson (N.D.), Hurley (Wis.), Lincoln Central (Estherville, Iowa), McLaughlin (S.D.) and Putnam County (Unionville, Mo.).

Lehman told the AP that Freeburg has no plans to change the mascot name but that he will pose the question at a school board meeting.

"People's perspective on what is a good mascot or a bad mascot, that's a subjective issue," he said. "The name stuck. The town liked it. It ought to be the decision of the people who run the school."

Meanwhile, Superintendent Scott Lepke in the McLaughlin School District said that he has not received any complaints, but he understands that a mascot name change might be a good thing for his local school.

"We're probably going to have that conversation. It's kind of embarrassing to have that nickname. It's not a positive," he was quoted as saying.

The LPA actually started as the "Midgets of America" in 1957 but the name was changed some years later.