As Iowa and this nation 'roll back' civil rights, our safety as Black people is threatened
If you can't see the anti-Blackness blanketing this country, it's because you don't want to.
I’m only as safe as the will of the crowd.
I told my Black publisher colleagues from Atlanta, Georgia, and Prince George, Maryland, what it’s like for me living in Iowa as a Black woman, about what it has meant to navigate predominantly white spaces all my life. I told them about how I always have to consider my safety, word choice, body language and movements — not only as a woman — but primarily as a Black woman. I have to think about my husband's and my sister's and brother-in-law’s safety, too. I pray they won’t encounter a racist police officer during their daily commutes nor encounter a “Karen” or others who may incite a mob mentality against them in public.
Marc Morial, president and CEO of the Urban League, said: “. . . this year’s State of Black America® reveals just how deeply extremist ideology has seeped into America’s most vital institutions, resulting in an ever-rising tide of deadly violence, oppressive laws, and weaponized racial polarization.”
We don’t all experience Iowa or this country the same way nor do we have the same degree of safety and freedom. We never have. Iowa lawmakers’ recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, LGBTQ rights and women’s reproductive rights — and the mounting resistance to DEI and Critical Race Theory, I view as barometers of anti-Blackness.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw affirmative action in college admissions also has frightening implications. A coalition of civil rights groups, including the Urban League, released a statement: “. . . Yesterday’s decision serves as a distressing reminder of the uphill battle we continue to face in dismantling systemic racism and the potential implications this decision can have on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the workplace.”
My Black publisher colleagues described their cities far from the Midwest as “Black meccas” and talked about having Black dentists, a Black veterinarian and shopping in Black-owned stores with predominantly Black shoppers. They described the freedom they feel moving through their lives without the oppressive concerns I have to bear. They agreed my hypervigilance is stressful and worrisome. They invited me to move.
I didn’t tell them about the aggressive white man who tried to run me off the freeway this week in a road rage incident. The man, wearing a reflective construction vest, drove a bright yellow monster truck, which had black personalized plates. I glimpsed weird decals on the truck, including a large red griffin on the back just like the previous Waterloo Police Department logo that some people felt resembled a Ku Klux Klan dragon.
What was the man who chased me past two exits on I-235 in West Des Moines conveying with his large red griffin, quick rage and reckless driving? Was it simply because I flipped him off, which he richly deserved? Or, was it because I, a Black woman, had dared to do so? How did my Blackness factor into his disproportionate aggression?
Hate crimes are increasing. Black people always have to consider what happens to them through a prism: Is this person just a jerk, or is this person a racist jerk? Am I safe in this crowd? Or am I only as safe as the will of the crowd?
Because Blacks don’t always survive encounters with racist jerks, and the will of the crowd appears to rejoice in the rolling back of civil rights.
We must keep sounding the alarms! Otherwise, all the progress that's been made can be stripped away in decisions by powerful but unaccountable people in robes.
I am sorry that because of a behavior of a few the resentment continues. When will we be able to live and let live without uninformed, hateful attitude?