You can still be nice in Iowa, with a tad more skepticism
“Iowa Nice” has long been shorthand for this state’s community-mindedness, from exchanging pleasantries at the checkout counter to pitching in to help a sick farmer during the harvest. Lately, though, Iowa’s niceness has been getting a less enthusiastic rap. Some slogans being carried at rallies say “Iowa Good” or “Iowa Nicer” – as if nice isn’t enough when state or city policies are meanspirited. “Iowa Nasty” has even made its way into the mix.
Some Iowans are questioning how deep the legendary niceness goes. In its polite, non-confrontational aspects, “critics argue it is ‘passive-aggressive with a smile’ or only applies to certain demographics.”
Those aren’t my words; they were AI’s surprising response when asked for context on the term.
Supporting one’s community, some would argue, takes more than greeting new neighbors with a Tater Tot casserole. How nice can be if we pass laws that hurt people – and then dig in to compound the damage? Think fining homeless people for sleeping in public spaces after already clearing them out. Think scrapping any income limits on families who get taxpayer money to subsidize their kids’ private-school tuitions. And that’s after implementing one of the most expansive voucher programs in the country by diverting money from public to private schools. This year, it’s costing between 314 and 350 million dollars.
These are the sorts of overkill our majority party lawmakers – our supposed voice in government – are engaging in. It sometimes seems they’re more intended to flaunt power over the minority party than to serve the needs of real Iowans. Where in the past, you’d see compromises, now we see chest thumping. They’ll seize on an issue like immigration or school privatization and beat it to death.
Images from No Kings rally and Progress Iowa art exhibit by Rekha Basu
Just look at some of what’s going on in the state Capitol this session.
Having already stripped the civil rights of nonbinary folks, Iowa’s governor went on to sign a law banning local governments from setting their own policies against gender- identity discrimination. The nearly 20 Iowa jurisdictions that have such ordinances can’t enforce them. And now some Republicans want to let parents or guardians of gay kids force them into hurtful and highly discredited conversion therapy.
The state was already poking its nose where it doesn’t belong by collaborating with ICE to detain and hold people suspected of federal immigration violations. Now a new bill from Gov. Kim Reynolds would make it harder for undocumented immigrants who are arrested to make bail.
Some legislators even also tried (thankfully unsuccessfully) to punish the young children of undocumented immigrants by ending their access to income-based WIC subsidies. Those provide healthy food and breastfeeding support to low-income pregnant women, mothers and children under age five. “Do we put Iowans first or do we allow people who broke into this country to take advantage of these public assistance programs?” demanded bill backer Austin Harris, a Republican House member.
Harris’ website boasts he prioritizes “protecting innocent life.”
And speaking of food assistance, yet another Reynolds bill to punish food-aid recipients is still alive. It would require Iowa to permanently get a federal waiver to restrict SNAP benefits for low-income children. Her revision would bar them from paying for soft drinks, candy and even some prepared foods.
The list goes on.
Iowa has already risen to second in the nation in new cancer diagnoses. Our drinking water is polluted by nitrates. So you might think lawmakers would demand Big Ag facilities reduce the toxins emitted by their farming practices. Instead, a proposed law would protect such companies from lawsuits and criminal charges based on their greenhouse gas emissions -- a major contributor to climate change.
According to the American Lung Association, “The science is clear: carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases endanger public health.”
These issues were already on my mind the other day when I took a break to work on an LA Times crossword puzzle, and got to this clue: “State with more pigs than people:” Four letters, beginning with ‘I.’ So much for escapism.
But here’s the good news. Iowans are standing up and demanding better.
Thousands rallied outside the state Capitol for “No Kings” protests in late March. There were more than 60 protests around the state. Other events inside and beyond the Capitol have underscored the need to put people and planet before profits. In recent weeks I’ve been at multiple gatherings, some rooted in literature, others in art, addressing issues of public importance like education, immigration and running for office. They’ve ranged from panel discussions and forums to a protest-themed art exhibit – on display until April 30 - at the Polk County Heritage Gallery.
“PrintMaking Change: An Artful Show of Unity,” features the works of local artists who gathered over weeks to print, paint and draw together. They did so under the rubric of Progress Iowa and the Fairness for Iowa Coalition. Jen Sinkler, Progress Iowa’s creative director, calls it “a community art exhibit celebrating creativity, resistance, and collective power.” The art features current events issues from tariffs to corporate tax breaks, reproductive rights to factory farms and more. In Sinkler’s words, “They call for more action from legislators and more community for us all.”
Past, Present, Future Publishing launched the latest edition of its book, Amazing Iowa Women, with a March 29 panel on Iowa Women Resisting Authoritarianism. It was held at Des Moines’ Mainframe Studios in collaboration with ArtForce Iowa and the Young Women’s Resource Center.
Those and many other community-building events are wake-up calls to Iowans who haven’t necessarily seen themselves as political, but would surely suffer under some of these new proposed new laws. Mostly free and also fun, such gatherings encourage us to coalesce, converse, and push back in creative ways.
So this, I believe, is the new face of Iowa Nice. The outreach may be edgier, the outlook more skeptical of those in power who are behaving anything but nicely. But the goal is still a welcoming and sustainable Iowa that cares for its people. And I’d guess Tater Tot casseroles wouldn’t be turned down.
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