Now is the time to teach Iowa’s future about the world’s mistakes in the past

Hadley Harvey is an impressive young Iowan. Highly intelligent, personable, kind, and driven. Some might say what you would expect from the daughter of two veterans. The Des Moines public school student is active in her school and community in many ways. She wants to use her “skills, talents, and knowledge to give back to the community and help make sure that everyone is thriving.”

Recently, she testified against SSB1150 (now SF507), which seeks to restrict city and county diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She is concerned that eliminating DEI initiatives will negatively impact all Iowans, and erode gains made in respect and understanding of each other. “Removing some aspects of DEI, like implicit bias training and research on the impacts of DEI in the workplace, schools, and society in general, really hinder our understanding of each other.”

At the same time Harvey was testifying against SSB1150, another subcommittee was convening on HF336, which would have expanded holocaust education. Knowledge of the holocaust is vitally important, especially given recent studies that demonstrate youth’s lack of awareness of the atrocity. HF336 expanded on HF2545 and would have added to the social studies standards a requirement to teach the Holocaust.

The bill stated that holocaust education is a high priority “to provide students with an understanding of the importance of the protection of human rights and the potential consequences of discrimination against and persecution of Jewish people” and that “Antisemitism remains a persistent, pervasive, and disturbing problem in contemporary American society.” Proposed curriculum would have included not only the Holocaust itself, but the events leading up to it. Harvey supported that bill as well. “Everyone understanding and learning about the Holocaust is vitally important. There's no doubt about that whatsoever. I think everyone's history deserves to be acknowledged and understood.”

The thought that went into this bipartisan bill was evident in the language describing the needs and desired results. Education that teaches history is crucial to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Professor Dan Reynolds has taught German studies for 27 years, and explained how laws were used to give legal cover to subsequent discriminatory action. “They needed the perception of legitimacy and then the dehumanizing process began. Most clearly with the Nuremberg Laws about Jews who gradually had rights taken away from them. They lost their jobs. Eventually, they were not allowed to own or drive cars.”

Reynolds gave me a quick rundown of the American legal principles that Hitler was inspired by. From Manifest Destiny to California’s 1901 eugenic law to Racial Integrity Laws to Jim Crow, Germany greedily exported ideas from the United States to create the Nuremberg Laws. Now, teaching Jim Crow could be considered as a divisive concept under HF802, which has caused confusion among educators. One could only imagine the perplexity a teacher would have when faced with questions from students. Questions about where Nazis got the ideas for forced sterilization, anti-miscegenation laws, and lawful discrimination of groups of people in public spaces and employment.

The irony of teaching about the holocaust - without being able to teach the divisive concepts that led to it - would have been thick. But only one bill made it through the first funnel. And it wasn’t the bill that would have been a step in the right direction.

All this is not saying that we are on a path to Holocaust here. It is merely pointing out that we need to stop this dangerous trend of dehumanization of certain groups of Iowans. Especially considering that just two days before both of these bills were in subcommittee, a masked hate group was marching in downtown Des Moines and on statehouse grounds, spewing hate and threatening to “reclaim America.”

Fear and apathy are two reasons why structural racism and authoritarianism can proliferate, but the benefits of privilege conferred to some also contribute to their success. An entire country standing by and watching a group of people have their rights systematically removed is not a mistake, it is a tragic failure of humanity. Which is why the rally in support of transgender Iowans at the Capitol the same day that the aforementioned subcommittees met was encouraging. But this support must not end when session ends.

The Holocaust was preceded by changes in school curriculum that were tailored to glorify the Aryan race, justify changes, and remove books that taught different views. All of this was by design, with Nazis “leaning into really wretched, horrible stereotypes and then trying to turn the Jew in particular into a menacing figure,” Reynolds explained. “It just got to this point of ridiculousness. It was a gradual process of degrading treatment. [They were] encouraging people to leave, and using intimidation factors in the hopes that people would emigrate.”

While social media posts talking about leaving Iowa have been common, Harvey says her peers haven’t given up on their state. The sentiment is more one of sorrow over what they consider home has turned into. And worry about the future. “They're worried that with the removal of DEI comes the removal of the opportunities they worked hard to earn. For example, getting scholarship money taken away while pursuing their degree.” Despite this, they are still determined to see a brighter future. “Honestly, it is admirable to feel that you love something so much that you want to see it be better,” Harvey told me.

We are fortunate to have young leaders like Harvey who embody hope and wisdom. “There have been many times throughout history where people have created space where there was not space made for them,” Harvey says. “Now more than ever it’s super important that people create space to have these conversations. To challenge norms, to think critically about these issues. To foster love, respect and sense of community. And it will be difficult. There is no doubt about that,” she cautions. “However, there are resources out there to help people create spaces. And I encourage people to utilize that.”

Chris Espersen is a Gazette editorial fellow. chris.espersen@thegazette.com