Iowa lawmakers rose to the moment during Black Lives Matter protests, but it didn’t last

Maybe it was just a figment of our imagination.

After all, we live in Iowa, where Republicans who run the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than lines on a zoning map, have banished Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from campuses, encouraged the whitewashing of American history and passed a school library book ban that has sparked the removal of books by Black writers.

And yet, it must be true. It was in all the papers.

Five years ago in June, Iowa lawmakers returned to the Statehouse to complete the 2020 session after a pandemic pause. It was roughly two weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police.

The killing sparked protests against police brutality and systemic racism across the nation, with the group Black Lives Matter leading demonstrations. Protests reached the Iowa Capitol grounds and chants echoed through the Statehouse.

And then something extraordinary happened.

Majority Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate swiftly and unanimously approved legislation barring the use of chokeholds by law enforcement and other police reforms. Black Lives Matter members watched from the galleries as the bill passed.

More remarkable than the bill was watching Republicans and Democrats set aside differences and rise to meet a moment.

“I'm saying to you today, my beloved brothers and sisters, and I mean all of you, not only are you a part of history, you are rectifying history. And that is something that you can tell your babies, your grandchildren …” said then-Des Moines Democratic Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, who was chair of his party’s Black caucus.

Republicans understood the urgency to act.

“I grieve that in our great country, a criminal hiding in a police uniform placed his knee on a man's neck until he was dead,” Republican Rep. Steven Holt said.

Steve Holt? Social justice warrior?

The next day, Reynolds signed the bill on the Capitol steps surrounded by BLM members and lawmakers gathered in the June sun.

“The upsetting tragedy, the crime that took George Floyd's life on a street in Minneapolis, opened the eyes of the nation and sparked a movement. It also reinforced the message of our African American brothers and sisters that have been telling us for years that injustice exists and is unacceptable in a free and great nation such as this,” Reynolds said.

“This bill is a loud and resounding signal from the people of Iowa and its leaders that we are ready and willing to act,” Reynolds said.

It didn’t last.

The sun dimmed and eyes shut. Republicans abandoned their better angels and embraced President Donald Trump’s sinister version of events.

Trump called protesters “terrorists,” “anarchists” and “thugs.” He hid from them in his White House bunker. Earlier in June, federal police fired gas, pepper spray capsules, rubber bullets and flash bombs to disperse protesters in Lafayette Park near the White House. Trump then walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo op with the president holding a Bible.

He called “Black Lives Matter” painted on Fifth Avenue in New York “a symbol of hate.” He warned scary protesters would march into white suburbs any minute now.

In January 2021, after losing the election, Trump claimed BLM protests were way worse than his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In 2021, Reynolds called for “Back the Blue” legislation intended to protect police and end racial profiling by police. Majority Republicans dumped the racial profiling portion in a hot minute. Reynolds didn’t put up a fight.

The final bill toughened criminal penalties for protesting. It expanded the crime of criminal mischief to include a Class D felony. Drivers taking “due care” who run into protesters now have limited civil liability protection for injuries they cause.

A year after that moment in the sun, Reynolds signed the bill flanked by uniformed officers.

We know what happened next.

The Legislature demanded the erasure of every remnant of DEI programs on state university campuses, which were meant to embrace and support students who have historically faced discrimination.

That history also had to go. They prescribed history curriculum in K-12 public schools. This year, the House passed modifications of university general education history curriculum to weed out any courses that “distort significant historical events or include any curriculum or other material that teaches identity politics or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States of America or the state of Iowa.”

The bill remains a live round when the Legislature returns in 2026.

Many of the books being removed from school library shelves for describing “sex acts” are by Black authors writing about police violence, sexual assault and racism.

This year, Republicans passed legislation requiring cities to shut down citizens’ police review boards. Cedar Rapids’ review board was a signature achievement of Advocates for Social Justice, who led peaceful but powerful protests. Review boards were dismissed as left-wing plots by bill backers.

Statehouse Republicans have declared racism over. That’s big news.

June 2020 happened. But the figment of our imagination was thinking Trump Republicans could truly care, for more than a moment, about the struggles of our Black brothers and sisters who have been fighting injustice for years, as Reynolds described.

Aggressively shoving hard truths out of our public spaces, public discourse and public education is a politically advantageous way to make sure white, conservative voters are super comfy wearing their blinders. They don’t even see color, if you haven’t heard.

Now, with Trump back in the White House, what will the next five years look like?

One thing we know for certain — they will be unimaginable.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com