Iowa Nice?
I’m afraid I have some bad news for my fellow Iowans. No, it isn’t another snowstorm or blizzard that is on the way. Yes, I know the temperatures are going to be minus 20 degrees in the next few days, but this is worse.
And, as bad as the return of the Republican legislature in January is to wreak further havoc on the educational and cultural system of the state, this is something that outstrips that debacle. And it isn’t even that Iowa Republicans are likely going to vote for another Trump dumpster fire in the Monday night caucuses.
This news is largely invisible to white Iowans who like to think of themselves as gracious and kind people, which isn’t untrue, it is just incomplete.
The news I must share will deflate your sense of “Iowa Nice.” It is going to create a good deal of cognitive dissonance.
Iowa, we are not what we think we are. Don’t get me wrong, I love my state but that is why I have to share this devastating news. Get ready, here it is….
Guess what state in the union is the 3rd WORST state for Black people to live in? Nope, it isn’t one of those awful Southern bigoted, former Confederate states where they practiced segregation.
IOWA…is the 3rd worst state for black people in the country.
It is no consolation that we aren’t number one because our neighbors are in the top two positions: Wisconsin is the worst, followed up in the number two slot by Minnesota. Iowa comes in third.
Let me put this in perspective…47 states in the Union are better places for Black people to live than Iowa.
Surprised? You thought the Southern States were the worst place for Black people?
Another wake-up call is that those awful Southern bigoted former Confederate states don’t even show up in the top 10…the ten worst states for black people are all in the Midwest and Northeast.
Top 10 Worst States for Black Residents:
Here is the list of the top 10:
#1 – Wisconsin
#2 – Minnesota
#3 – Iowa
#4 – Illinois
#5 – Michigan
#6 – Connecticut
#7 – Nebraska
#8 – New Jersey
#9 – Ohio
#10 – Pennsylvania
Surely this can’t be true! Say it isn’t so.
Sorry, my Hawkeye-Cyclone-Panther friends…it is true. For all our midwestern sensibilities and niceness, Iowa is not a very hospitable place for our African American community. It doesn’t matter that the black population of the state only makes up 4.4% of the 3.2 million residents. Those 150,000 people are fellow residents and citizens. They are human beings but are not always treated that way.
But there must be something wrong with the data. Remember? The South is where all that prejudice and bigotry exists. Iowa has always been a welcoming state where there was a thriving abolition movement and a high percentage of Iowans fought in the Civil War to end slavery, right? Iowa never had slaves…we were a “free state.”
There is nothing wrong with the data. Let me share with you what this ranking is based on. These statistics are pre-COVID, so they don’t reflect the impact of the pandemic, which would make them worse for Black people. Black residents of our state in comparison to the white majority, are so far behind in every category that only a major overhaul of our legal and cultural systems can ever close these gaps. Here are the details for Iowa:
I am sure these numbers will shock most white Iowans who live under the illusion of how wonderfully equal and nice we all are, but sadly they are a reminder for our Black residents of the second-class status they have in this state. These numbers represent their daily existence in Iowa and are likely no surprise to them.
What About Southern States?
What about those terrible bigoted Southern States? Here is where the States of the former Confederacy show up in the rankings:
#12 – Louisiana
#17 – Mississippi
#20 – South Carolina
#23 – Missouri
#24 – Alabama
#25 – Virginia
#26 – North Carolina
#27 – Arkansas
#33 – Florida
#39 – Georgia
#40 – Tennessee
#41 – Kentucky
#48 – Texas
There are a couple of factors at work in this list that Iowans need to consider. First, the percentage of black people in these southern states is much higher than those in Iowa, and they vote. When was the last time Iowa had a black Governor or black Senator or member of Congress? Voting matters which is why white supremacists are hard at work trying to figure out ingenious ways to keep black people from voting.
Another factor is that much of the federal legislation aimed at reducing inequality and inequity was focused on these southern states. Federal legislation matters! This doesn’t mean that the bigotry and white supremacist attitudes are gone in these states, far from it. But it does mean that more action and steps have been taken to reduce the impact of segregation and discrimination in the South than in other parts of the country.
An analysis of the data in these Southern states shows that there are still inequities in all the categories that you saw in Iowa’s numbers. The difference is that the inequities are much less pronounced. The gaps are smaller.
For instance, take our southern neighbor, Missouri, the 23rd worst state for black residents. It is the only state on our border NOT in the top ten worst states for black people. Poverty rates are still higher for blacks by 24.7% to 11.7% for whites. The unemployment rate is still 9.2% for black people compared to 3.9% for whites. So these numbers are still high, but just not as high as Iowa.
We may want to rethink that condescending-haughty attitude we have toward our southern neighbor.
The Dark Underbelly of “Iowa Nice”
What explains this counter-intuitive phenomenon? Why are Midwestern and Northeastern states worse environments for people of color (the stats apply almost equally to non-white Hispanic populations) so much more disparate?
Let’s start with housing and education. The two are inextricably tied together. When large numbers of Black people began to migrate to northern and Midwestern cities in the 1920s, urban areas where jobs were available, white people began a policy of “redlining.” This meant designating certain neighborhoods as “undesirable” for investment and mortgages.
Typically, this meant neighborhoods with incoming black populations were targeted for underinvestment which kept homeownership low, and therefore wealth generation for those families was deterred. This happened in Waterloo, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Sioux City, and the Quad Cities. This is mostly where 4.4% black population lives. Yes, redlining was a deliberate policy in the nice state of Iowa. Banks were in on it, city councils were in on it and real estate agents were in on it…all the while, smiling a nice Iowa smile.
Being segregated into neighborhoods that would not be given mortgages or refinancing meant the tax base was lower which meant the schools associated with these neighborhoods were subpar. Consequently, educational opportunities lagged for students of color. The legacy of this continues today so that even a black person with an A.A. degree is less likely to be hired or will make less than a white high school graduate with no college at all.
Real estate agents also practiced discriminatory housing sales. Even if a black family qualified for a mortgage and had good credit, they were not allowed to buy a house or live in nicer “white neighborhoods.”
Then when urban renewal took place in the 1960s, interstate highways slashed through the middle of potentially thriving black neighborhoods and turned them into enclaves of destitution. Des Moines is the best example of this practice when I-235 destroyed that Black community. Segregation was never part of a Jim Crow system in Iowa, but it was the result of deliberate municipal and state policies over the years.
Living While Black In Iowa
Then there is the issue of being black while in Iowa when trying to get a job, drive down the street, or walk into a coffee shop. Let me cite a real-life example.
Wylliam Smith, a black man, is a University of Iowa graduate and now works as a freelance writer. After moving to Iowa from Michigan for school, he said he realized that Iowa is the kind of place where you may have to correct people’s misconceptions about African Americans.
“I had a roommate, very sweet and kind, he’s actually one of my friends here but he never met a black person before me. The only thing he knew was what he saw on TV. He was astonished when I didn’t play basketball, and he was shocked that I didn’t like watermelon as if was the best thing in the world.”
In his own experiences, Wylliam said that blatant racism isn’t limited to other parts of the country and happens in Iowa as well. “There have been instances where clerks have followed me around the store and I was walking home once when someone yelled out ‘KKK for life.'”
These experiences have been replicated thousands of times by Iowa Black residents. Just ask them.
Iowa “Nice Racism”
Because there are so few Black people in Iowa except in cities like Des Moines or Waterloo, most Iowans do not often rub shoulders with people who have a different skin color. The worst stereotypes can percolate within the mind due to a lack of any real-life, human-to-human experience. These stereotypes and misconceptions can lead to much unconscious bias and systemic racism that is invisible and covered over by Iowa's “niceness.” I call it Iowa “Nice Racism.”
Another example will demonstrate this principle. I worked with a Black colleague when I lived in Des Moines. He had come to Iowa from South Carolina, so after getting to know him, I asked how his experience with racism was in Iowa compared to South Carolina. I wasn’t naïve enough to think there was no racism in Iowa, but I was under the false impression it wasn’t as bad. His answer shocked me.
This fellow told me, “Iowa is just as bad as South Carolina. The difference is that in South Carolina, the rules are clear, and I knew where I could go, who I could talk to, and what not to do. In Iowa, it is all undercover. The racism in Iowa is just as real, but you don’t know who, what, when, and where it will show up. Everyone is so nice here until you cross a line that you can’t see.”
And there it is…Iowa Nice puts a veneer over the racism that exists. Along with the systemic issues that are still at play it means we still have much work to do in this state…and in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska…and well, everywhere.
The work that Dr. Martin Luther King started is not finished. Part of the quiet, nice racism that still exists happens when white people try to suggest that we have arrived at a color-blind society and the dream of Dr. King has been achieved. It makes a mockery of the MLK Holiday, and it lulls every white person to sleep with its insidious falsehood and numbing indifference.
As we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I hope we will wake up from our self-imposed slumber and illusion of “Iowa Nice” and begin the hard work of ending Iowa’s Nice Racism.
Excellent. I had no idea. Thanks.