Wisconsin Law Makes It Harder to Make Schools Drop American Indian Mascots

The Associated Press reports that Wisconsin has enacted a law to make it harder for public schools to be forced to drop American Indian mascots and nicknames. A 2010 law required " Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction to hold a hearing on a school's race-based nickname if it received even one complaint," according to the AP. Now complainants must submit a petition with signatures equal to 10 percent of the school district's student body in order to trigger a departmental review.

Republican Governor Scott Walker said in a statement that he supported moving away from offensive nicknames and mascots, but that he signed the law because "I am very concerned about the principle of free speech enshrined in our U.S. Constitution. If the state bans speech that is offensive to some, where does it stop?" 

Ho Chunk Nation heritage preservation executive director Robert Mann, however, asked in an interview with the AP: "It'd be freedom of speech for who? I guess that's what you'd want to ask."