I grew up on the east side of Des Moines less than a mile from the State capital. It was a good neighborhood with a lot of families that had been there for decades and longer, passing their homes down from family member to family member. I went to the same elementary school, middle school, and high school as many of my friends because no one ever moved away. We were a very tight community. It didn’t matter what our religion, or race was. I had black friends, white friends, Asian, Hispanic, Jewish, Jehova’s Witness friends, Catholic Friends, Protestant friends, and all manner of law abiding and non-law abiding friends. Given all that I have a question: When did Iowa become a racist cesspool?
I just listened to an interview with Steve King (R) of Iowa http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/13/politics/steve-king-babies-tweet-cnntv/index.html. Where did you dig this guy up? He’s an embarrassment not only to the State but to the country. With people like this leading the State I’m not surprised Trump won Iowa during the last election. Admittedly I’ve been gone from the State for a few years. The last major event I want to was an Ice Cream Social at First Lutheran Church (now Capitol Hill Lutheran) in 1993. By the looks of it, things have changed and I may have missed a few of the cross burnings.
I’m old enough to remember riots that started at East High School and then migrated down to Amos Hiatt. It terrified me. It terrified my friends as well, black and white. We stood on our playground asking ourselves and each other what the big deal was. Why was everyone so pissed off? What on earth could have happened that made everyone want to beat the hell out of each other?
I’m not sure what is going on in Iowa these days. I’m not sure I want to know. However, I have a feeling that allowing a few people with a little power to control a narrative that is filled with hate, bigotry, and the aforementioned stupidity then you will end up with people like Steve King. I’m not sure where he came from, or what his background might be, but I am sure of one thing. He’s racist. He’s a bigot, and the only person more ignorant than himself are the people that voted for him.
Rex