The term 'midget' has long been used to describe people with dwarfism. Advocates want you to know why that word is problematic.

• At least five schools in Midwest towns use "midget" as part of their mascot names.
• Advocates are working to end use of the word, which they say is a derogatory slur for little people.
• Schools that won't ditch the term say it's not meant to be offensive and is part of their history.

Debates about the use of mascot names and images considered to be offensive have frequently captured national headlines, but one element in this discussion garners considerably less attention.

The word "midget," used to describe people of short stature, is still used as a school mascot in at least five Midwestern towns, despite efforts advocates are making to abolish its use.

"It's not a way you refer to a person with dwarfism. It's a derogatory slur," said Michelle Kraus, the public relations director of Little People of America.

LPA, a nonprofit that provides support to people of short stature and their families, has long pushed to end the use of the word, including as a mascot. Representatives from the organization have met with schools that employ the term, but that has not always resulted in change.

Now, as more schools ditch Native American mascots, and after the reckoning over racial inequality last summer, LPA hopes its continued advocacy will be met by communities that are more receptive to change now than they were in the past.

The M-word

The word "midget," or the M-word, is considered a derogatory slur that should never be used, according to LPA, whose 8,000 members include little people and people of average height. A survey from the group found 90% of its members believed the word should never be used in reference to a person with dwarfism.

"The dwarfism community has voiced that they prefer to be referred to as dwarfs, little people, people of short stature or having dwarfism, or simply, and most preferably, by their given name," the group says.

Kraus said she thinks many people may not be aware the word is considered an offensive slur, so part of the group's mission is to educate the public on the term. Prior to an inquiry from Insider, even Google's featured definition for the M-word did not prominently describe it as offensive, as is the case when the N-word is searched. After Insider asked about it, Google added an "often offensive" label at the top of the definition.

LPA said the word was never an official term for people with dwarfism but was coined in performance spaces when little people were put on display for "curiosity and sport."

5 schools in the Midwest still use the name for their mascots

At least five schools or school districts still use the word as part of their mascot names: Dickinson High School in North Dakota, Freeburg Community High School in Illinois, Butternut Schools in Wisconsin, Estherville Lincoln Central in Iowa, and Putnam County Schools in Missouri.

None of the schools and districts are totally sure how they first started using the M-word as part of their mascot identifiers, but some have an idea. In the case of Butternut, a world champion wrestler, Charlie Fischer, grew up there and was given the nickname "midget" because of his small size. The mascot started being used in dedication to the hometown hero, prompting the school to disagree with LPA's classification of it as offensive.

Other schools believe they adopted the nickname in the early 1900s because the physical height among members of their basketball teams were on the smaller side. In Freeburg, legend has it a local sports writer dubbed the team "the midgets" after a particularly mismatched game, prompting the nickname to stick.

'It was a good photo op, but that didn't produce any change'

LPA has made in-person visits to schools to advocate for the change, though the pandemic has put some of those efforts on hold. In 2015, LPA visited Freeburg and held a press conference during which they hand-delivered a petition with more than 2,000 signatures urging the school to change their mascot.

Kraus said they had conversations about the way the M-word impacts the little people community and about what it would mean to the town's residents if the mascot were to change.

"It was a good photo op, but that didn't produce any change," she said.

A school board member at the time said the community is happy with the nickname, adding "once a Midget, always a Midget," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Current school board members did not respond to Insider's multiple inquiries.

Most recently, representatives for LPA spoke at a school board meeting in Dickinson, North Dakota, a town of about 23,000 people, in December 2019. LPA made a presentation to the board and the groups engaged in friendly conversations about the issue.

But in February 2020, the school board decided not to focus on changing the name after a community survey found 65% were in favor of keeping the mascot name, while only 35% were in favor of replacing it, The Grand Forks Herald reported. Dickinson school board members did not respond to multiple emails from Insider.

When pressed on the resistance to change the mascot, school officials and community members most often say they have never intended for the mascot to be offensive and that it is a part of their history. But Kraus said it's no less difficult to understand that kind of thinking.

"The losses have been difficult because we put in a lot of effort and then it kind of backfires, and it's really hard to understand it, the psychology of it," she said, adding that she thinks lingering misconceptions about little people may be to blame.

"They say that dwarfism is sort of still considered acceptable to make fun of, to demean, because we're not so many."

Kraus said depictions of little people on TV and in movies is also a significant obstacle. Instead of showing little people in a way that shows they are like everyone else, she says it's often "just an avenue in which to poke fun."

Hopeful in an age of reckoning with the past

Though some schools continue to resist, at least two have scrapped the M-word mascot in recent years. In 2016, a South Dakota High School on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation changed its mascot to the Mustangs. In 2019, a Wisconsin high school changed its mascot to the Northstars.

"The change in those two schools has been really, really helpful for us," Kraus said. "Not only because we've seen that it's possible but also because they've been willing to be very helpful about talking with other districts about the change."

Kraus said changing behaviors can take time and that things are already a lot better than they were in the past. In 1996, for instance, when three members of the Dickinson school board decided to ditch the mascot, they were ousted after a community uproar. The Associated Press ran a headline at the time calling them a "politically correct school board."

LPA will continue to advocate to the remaining schools and is exploring new strategies. Kraus said it's important for the next generation of little people, so that "they can start at a very young age to understand that they are like everybody else and that they don't deserve to be demeaned."

She also said the organization is hopeful that society generally is becoming more empathetic to the concerns of marginalized groups.

"We are really hopeful in this age of communities and people really taking inventory of the past and having racial reckoning," Kraus said. "This is about reckoning with how they view people with disabilities, and thinking more about people's potential and abilities and humanness as opposed to the sports teams that once were."

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.