A Response to Recent Protests

I am one of seven elected officials tasked with bringing change through Iowa City’s government to confront systemic racism. I’m also a white woman of tremendous privilege. I sit uncomfortably as both as I ask for your support and help.

George Floyd’s murder in late May led to sustained protests against police violence here and around the world. On June 3, a group of protesters met a line of law enforcement on North Dubuque Street in Iowa City, preventing the protesters from heading onto Interstate 80. When the group did not turn back, law enforcement used gas and flash-bangs to disburse the crowd. That event traumatized the community and catalyzed the protests.

A group called the Iowa Freedom Riders (IFR) coalesced in June from the early protests. IFR has made a variety of demands to the city council. Despite the challenge of take-it-or-leave-it rhetoric and the opacity of government powers and procedure, we met the moment in good faith and voted quickly and unanimously to approve  a 17-point Resolution in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

At the same time we were creating policy, protests continued. Individual councilors met and communicated with representatives from IFR, slowly and carefully trying to build trust, with plenty of false starts. As we made progress, we were assured protest tactics would change, including that there would be no more spray painting. Eventually the protests stopped, while COVID-19 began to surge.

After many weeks without protests, University of Iowa groups and IFR marched again on August 19, 20, and 21. On Friday, August 21, someone intentionally drove a car through the protesters who were on foot at an intersection on Burlington Street. (That driver was arrested by the Iowa City Police Department.) IFR announced four days of scheduled protests leading up to the September 1, 2020, city council meeting. The sentiment IFR stated publicly was that city council is not doing enough.

At the same time, individuals who identified themselves as Iowa Freedom Riders continued talking and meeting with individual and small groups of city council members. They also gave extensive public and individual input on the ongoing implementation of our 17-point Resolution. 

On Saturday, before the second of the four days of protests, the whole council received a very positive email from the IFR email account, looking forward to continued discussions. That day I exchanged several messages trying to get IFR to provide a route for their planned march so we could re-route vehicle traffic to protect protesters. (There was a general permit application submitted that afternoon, but no route.) I also emphasized that IFR had told Mayor Teague there would not be more spray painting.

Saturday night more spray paint came out. The University of Iowa Police were present at the Pentacrest, and after tagging on the Old Capitol on Friday, IFR reported that someone was arrested. Sunday night the spray painting was extensive, with protesters vandalizing public and private property alike. 

So, while the local government has repeatedly stated our support and made measurable progress in new work to address systemic racism (see icgov.org/BLM), the graffiti hasn’t changed since early June. The messages are still mostly “F*ck 12,” “ACAB,” cartoon pigs, and “BLM.” 

Hear this, without condition: Black Lives Matter. Black lives still matter, forever. Graffiti or not. To acknowledge this, Iowa City must continue to change, and it will be uncomfortable.

As I said in June, we can have the most progressive, equitable policies in the world, but that doesn’t matter if people’s lived experience is still one of oppression. Oppression comes in many forms, wherever power is vested in one person and taken from another. Power imbalances are inherent not just between police and Black residents, police and protesters, but also doctors and patients, employers and employees, teachers and students, landlords and tenants, lenders and debtors. The commitment to address systemic racism must not be limited to one city issue.

Right now there are some protesters who want to manufacture conflict, to create enough disruption, well beyond the First Amendment rights of free assembly and expression, that we are compelled to respond. We do not want escalation.

Because we know that arresting protesters escalates an already tense situation. Even the gentlest arrest is inherently dehumanizing. Bringing police into crowds, especially into an expressly anti-police crowd, increases the risk of violence and injury. Letting protesters and drivers interact puts a fuse in the current powder keg of political divisions and extreme pandemic-enhanced stress.

To the businesses and residents who are frustrated and hurt by the traffic disruptions, profanity, and spray painting: I hear you. Our policy decisions to date have resulted in a lack of enforcement that’s subjected you to inconvenience and expense, discomfort and heightened uncertainty, in an already impossibly stressful time. I am sorry. Please know that we are trying to do what is best for our community.

To the few protesters still out there spray painting: to what end? You are burning goodwill, discrediting your peers’ progress, and defacing our shared community. This local government is stretched beyond capacity, and has been since March. We can push to change our form of government, but right now every hour spent dealing with spray paint is an hour that cannot be spent on the change you say you want to see.

To the community members coming to the table with honesty and vulnerability, and a willingness to learn and teach: thank you. This work will continue, on Zoom, on the phone, in reading, researching, and emailing. This work is quiet, methodical, careful, and thorough. This work is at boring public meetings, not scrawled on the walls of MidWestOne and Big Grove. Our progress is messy, but it is real.

In the context of mounting crises and a community mourning in so many ways, right now I ask that we pause, breathe deeply (through our masks), and give each other the grace to step forward, together.

Spray paint from protesters on the windows of MidWestOne Bank, August 31, 2020.