Cedar Rapids bridge won’t bend toward justice

At the end of the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech on the steps of the Alabama state Capitol.

King said, “’How long will it take?’ Somebody’s asking, ‘How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?’

“How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” King said, borrowing a quote from 19th century abolitionist Theodore Parker.

That’s why the Eighth Avenue Bridge in Cedar Rapids was named the “Arc of Justice” bridge. The revamped bridge’s striking architecture will make it a downtown landmark, while also raising the bridge level to avoid flooding.

Well, at least it was called the Arc of Justice bridge. At some point, city officials dropped the name. It’s now just the Eighth Avenue bridge. No public input. No decision announced to the public.

“What does justice mean?” said Anthony Arrington, managing partner at Top RANK, a executive search & diversity consulting firm and a member of the board of Advocates for Social Justice. The group spearheaded efforts to make the city more equitable since protests in 2020. He confirmed the city’s decision and abhors it.

“This isn’t just a Black thing. It isn’t a DEI thing. It’s our community,” Arrington told me. He brought up the issue during public comments at Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting.

“I don't understand the justification for why, but what I've been told is that this is a decision regarding a potential to lose a $56 million grant,” Arrington said. “And my question is, what is about arc of justice that has anything to do with anti DEI anti diversity, equity, inclusion legislation, and how that impacts our city?

“The arc of justice represents everybody in our community. It represents everybody in our community. And when we talk about justice, we're talking about justice for all people. So what does the arc of justice really mean?” Arrington said.

A statement the city sent me isn’t crystal exactly clear.

“Since 2021, the City of Cedar Rapids has submitted seven federal grant applications related to the 8th Avenue Bridge Reconstruction Project. The ‘Arc of Justice’ name was first introduced in 2023 grant submissions to align with specific funding priorities; however, a new name for the bridge was not formally assigned. The city reverted to the original project name, ‘8th Avenue Bridge Reconstruction Project,’ to reinforce the project’s primary focus on infrastructure improvements,” said a statement from the City Manager’s office emailed to me Monday afternoon.

I’m fluent in word salad. Seems it was OK to call it Arc of Justice when Joe Biden was president. But under Donald Trump, it’s just plain infrastructure.

Anyway, It’s just a name, with no deeper meaning.

“… the Arc of Justice Bridge will stand as a symbol of our work to shape a future where every community member can thrive,” said Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said in a statement in 2024 when the city landed a $56 million federal grant for the bridge project.

So, maybe the name is important.

I understand federal funding is vital for the bridge and other city needs. But it’s also important to know what a city stands for, and what it will do to protect its values.

Cedar Rapids swiftly dismantled its internal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in February due to “recent presidential executive orders” and pending state legislation.

In his 2017 book, “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,” Yale historian Timothy Snyder calls this “anticipatory obedience.”

Lesson No. 1? “Do not obey in advance.”

The Arc of Justice name breaks no laws or executive orders. Would bridge funding actually be in jeopardy without a name change? Dropping it, as Arrington puts it, was “cowing” to Trump’s possible punishment.

There’s been a lot of cowing going on. News organizations, law firms, universities and other institutions have also bent the knee to please dear leader.

The last thing we need is more leaders going along to get along with an authoritarian regime that relishes invoking fear and wants to halt that bend toward justice. Don’t help them.

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