Boy Scouts 'Border Patrol' Patch Depicting Fleeing Immigrants Causes Uproar
Boy Scouts 'Border Patrol' Patch Depicting Fleeing Immigrants Causes Uproar
By Nina Golgowski, DAILY MAIL
April 6, 2012Updated Apr 6, 2012 at 11:48 AM PDT
A Boy Scout patch depicting the silhouette of fleeing immigrants has caused a stir among a group of Latinos who are calling it racist.
The badge worn by the dominantly Latino scouts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin mirrors an iconic sign featuring a man, woman and child fleeing which was commonly used along the Mexico-United States border.
The sign served as a warning to drivers of immigrants crossing. Its original image, by Navajo artist John Hood, hangs in the Smithsonian.
The badge was first reported by website Latino Rebels. They reached out to the Boy Scouts of America late last month for comment.
'Neither the United States Border Patrol or the Boy Scouts of America were involved in the naming of the patrol, or the production or distribution of the patch,' Boy Scouts of America Communications Specialist David Burke responded in a statement to Latino Rebels.
The troop 11 members told the website they first created it about 10 years ago after one of its current leaders saw the iconic black and yellow road sign in Texas around 2002.
''The patch is used to symbolize that a scout is part of the "border" patrol,' troop 11 assistant scoutmaster Bradley Schultz responded to the website by email.
According to Mr Burke, each BSA troop is composed of 20 to 60 young men but then divided again into patrols of about 5 to 9. ''Each patrol gets to select its own patrol name. Patrol names can be just about anything the boys decide,' Mr Burke wrote.
'We knew we wanted to be named Border, but we wanted an image to go with it,' Mr Schultz wrote while adding that it most likely will be changing.
''...we have been told by our council that if we don't change the NAME of the patrol the troop will be disbanded as a whole. The troop would most likely be willing to consider changing the image if we were allowed to keep the name, Border Patrol.''
Defending the name and image entirely for troop 11's scouts, assistant scoutmaster Ryan Antczak responded to Latino Rebels with his own statement: ''They wanted this because they didn't wanna be associated with those that come to our country illegally. This has been part of our troop for almost 10 years,'' he wrote.
''We are located in a very diverse area were [sic] the majority of Latin decent. No one has been offended till this day. We are not embarrassed by a branch of our government that serve this country proudly who put their lives on the line.''
Boy Scouts 'Border Patrol' Patch Depicting Fleeing Immigrants Causes Uproar | KSEE 24 News - Central Valley's News Station: Fresno-Visalia - News, Sports, Weather | Local News
'Border Patrol' Boy Scouts not prepared for controversy
'Border Patrol' Boy Scouts not prepared for controversy
Posted: Apr 09, 2012 6:15 PM PDT<em class="wnDate">
Monday, April 9, 2012 9:15 PM EST</em>
Updated: Apr 09, 2012 6:21 PM PDT<em class="wnDate">Monday, April 9, 2012 9:21 PM EST</em>
By Carlo Cecchetto, Anchor
http://kfmb.images.worldnow.com/images/17369351_BG1.jpg
(CBS - A Boy Scout troop in Wisconsin is causing a stir in the immigration debate at the Mexican border.
It all started when the boys decided to borrow an image from a freeway sign to create a patch for their troop, which they named the Border Patrol.
The patch shows an immigrant family running. It's an image well known here in San Diego because of freeway signs warning drivers to use caution at the border.
"I've seen the signs myself, but you know, they don't say Border Patrol on them. It's basically, watch who's crossing," Latino Rebels Director of Development Rick Rios said.
The patch has been used for the past 10 years by Boy Scout Troop 11 in Milwaukee. When it hit the internet, some said it was racist.
"It's easy to say, yeah that's a racist connotation because it shows people being pursued. That's what it can appear like on the surface. But our question was, what does it represent?" Rios said.
posted the article, along with a photo of the patch. It was sent to them by a friend of a parent who didn't think it was right for his son to be wearing it.
"It was a design that was agreed upon by a Boy Scout troop out of Milwaukee, a long way from the U.S.-Mexican border," Rios said.
It turns out the boys in Troop 11 wanted to name their troop the Border Patrol, and one of the boys, who is a Latino, picked the iconic freeway sign image to use on the patch.
"Obviously, the kids said that it is not racist. It was never intended to be racist. We're Boy Scouts," Rios said.
When the story broke, the troop was flooded with emails and they responded via Twitter, "This was created by Latinos."
But in the end, the boys decided to remove the patches from their uniforms.
"They had a meeting to discuss these things, how the parents felt, how the kids felt, how they felt targeted. They handled themselves amazingly well. These are great kids, they really are," Rios said.
The Boy Scouts of America issued a statement saying the patches were created without authorization. Troop 11 also will no longer be calling itself the Border Patrol.
'Border Patrol' Boy Scouts not prepared for controversy - San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com
