European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 13, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Everything in the town Wos just Fine until this. We need to take Core of the people Here instead of bringing these other people in. It s us against the Blacks. That sust the Way it is Michael Ligh Foel i by Isabel Wilkerson the new York times for years now along the winding Bluffs in this Mississippi River City of victorian houses and Church steeples nobody thought much about race and prejudice. Nobody had to. There were Only a handful of Black people in Dubuque Iowa. A resident could go for years without seeing a Black. Besides people thought racism was something that happened in the big cities or the deep South not in a Nice quiet place like Dubuque. But now residents often think and talk about race. Because of a Cross burning incident two years ago that surprised Many people the City Council in May adopted an extraordinary plan to attract 100 Black families in Hopes of adding diversity to Dubuque a virtually Alt White City of 58,000. Since then a backlash of fear and intolerance has erupted. There have been five Cross burnings in the last four months. In october uniformed police Rhen stood guard at Dubuque senior High school after racial fights broke out. In recent Days racial epithets have been scrawled on school and Church buildings some proclaiming Quot the new Kkt Quot and when a Man who admitted burning three of the crosses returned from jail to his Job at a meat packing Plant his co workers Are said to have greeted him with a standing ovation. Such scenes Are causing Many White residents to confront their own racial attitudes. Quot this is the ignorant oppressive Underbelly of Dubuque Quot said Peter Kjeseth a professor of greek and hebrew at a lutheran Seminary in the City and a member of the local chapter of the National association for the advancement of coloured people. All of this is happening in a tradition bound heartland City of mostly Irish and German catholics where racial minorities make up 2 percent of the population and where there Are Only 331 Black residents scattered across the City. The racial tension has forced residents to wrestle with deeply imbedded prejudices. Quot people Are wondering How can we have a race problem when we Don t even have minorities Quot said Kim Clayton a Counselor at the High school and a member of the committee that drafted the integration plan. With its newly tapped Well of intolerance Dubuque is a Symbol of . Race relations specialists on the topic say. As the Economy has stalled and As some politicians mine racial fears to win votes unresolved prejudices have produced a symbolic racism whose code words Are Quot quotas Quot and Quot unqualified minorities Quot and which can explode at any time Given the impetus these experts say. A it is a perfect test Case a said Joe Feagin a professor of sociology at the University of Florida who has written extensively about race relations. Quot this is not the South. This is the heartland. These Are the people who Are the soul of America. And if in a heartland City with no history of slavery and segregation you find such virulent racism it suggests that it is a cancer affecting us  Blacks in Dubuque say they have Felt alienated and slighted for years. But what has brought out the latent racism now is a plan to encourage local employers to hire minority workers particularly Blacks. The goal is to recruit 20 minority families annually for the next five years with financial incentives and recognition awards to businesses that hire minority members and help for newcomers seeking housing the program which came in the Wake of the Cross burning two years ago that ignited a Black family s garage is to be financed by Federal Grants and private donations. A task Force set up to examine the situation found what most Dubuque residents already knew the City is an isolated homogeneous Island where everything from the police Force to the fire department to every teacher in every Public school is White and where Blacks Are even a minority in the local chapter of the National association for the advancement of coloured people. The task Force of business leaders and school and City officials said that whal Dubuque needed was More minority citizens the Hope was that exposure to other groups might make people More tolerant. The City Council approved the plan 6-to-1, last Spring although the City government devised and adopted the plan its execution is up to private employers and it is unclear whether they have had any Success in luring Black workers. But Evert before any influx of new Black residents the very idea has enraged some residents. Some Young Whites express fears of Black newcomers taking their jobs others speak of crime and mayhem coming to Dubuque. People Are afraid As one resident put it that Quot we wont be Able to open our windows sit on our porches stroll in our neighbourhoods Quot one Rumor has it that Quot busloads of gang members from Chicago with guns Quot will be deposited right on main Street. Quot we be go a problem Here and it s a serious  said mayor Jim Brady. A Dubuque missed the 50s and the 60s. We did t go through what seima and Montgomery went through. We watched and applauded from afar. But we did t face it ourselves because we did t have the numbers of Black people. Now we re finding we have our David Dukes right Here in  it is White working class Young men frightened by an Uncertain Economy who have been the most openly hostile orchestrating fights and Cross burnings out of protest against integration. A a we re speaking up for White people a said Michael Lightfoot 19, a sometime meat Packer who is one of two men who admitted to several recent Cross burnings. A everything in the town was just Fine until this. We need to take care of the people Here instead of bringing these other people in. It s us against the Blacks. That a just the Way it  Lightfoot and his friends Are trying to Start a local chapter of the National association of White people a White supremacy group in Dubuque. Lightfoot a View is echoed at the High school where racial clashes student walkouts and wildly exaggerated rumours have pitted some of the school s 1,450 White students against the school s 12 Black students. Tensions reached a fever pitch two weeks ago when a group of 30 White students stood outside the cafeteria talking about the Iasi racial fight and complaining about the Black students suddenly a Black senior James Lewis walked around the Corner. Quot there goes one now1&Quot a White Slud enl shouted As the White students stared Lewis Down. Lewis his defences up asked if they were looking Tor a fight. A while student Scott Perry made an obscene gesture toward Lewis sparking yet another round of fighting with Perry throwing the first punch. Both were suspended. The hostilities Are surfacing in an atmosphere of ignorance and innuendo where stereotypes and rumours fill the autumn air and where in the absence of any personal knowledge of Blacks White images of them take on their own kind of mythology in one Tetter to the local newspaper a White resident asked Why town leaders thought Black people would come to Dubuque when a everyone knows Blacks Don i like cold weather Quot last week a Rumor that Black students were bringing guns to the High school prompted officials to search lockers. Only a Jack Kyle was found some Are convinced that based on what they be seen on television Blacks might do anything they re always the mean Guy in the  said Brian Amley a senior at the High school nothing riles people like Slee Dunne whose Eon is to be an Auto body Mechanic More than the idea the e Ore Black residents might come to town and take jobs could have had Quot they re trying to take Over the town of Dubuoue Dunne said. Quot the younger generation is not going a i tolerate it we Don t want Blacks coming to Nubuo. 1 they re just nothing but dirt it s bad enough to to e oui of to a White Guy but a Black Guy it would mean von lost a of to someone that everybody knows is lower than you Quot supporters of the integration plan say such tears Aie unfounded Dubuque s 6 percent unemployment rate frequently cited by detractors As the reason the town does not need any More Woi Kois is lower than it was a decade ago and the jobs that the newcomers would Likely assume supporters say Aie those most in Dubuque would not Quality for anyway one new Black in silent is a neurologist Lor instance although his recent move hero is not related to the City s plan. But that has not blunted the anger. In recent weeks Anonymous advertisements have run in the local newspaper the Telegraph Herald urging resident1 to join a petition drive against the integration plan Donald Deich. The Only cily Council member who voted against the plan says tie does not think the City should be in the personnel business at taxpayer expense a a we a re not All racists a Deich said. Quot they can Hung in 200 of them As Long if to Don t have to pay for it it does t bother me any As Long As they behave themselves and Don t Bung a Bunch of ragtag relatives that cause  if anything Good has come from the current crisis supporters of the plan say it is a rethinking about Long held attitudes. Roger Maiers the former commission chairman remembers growing up in Dubuque and not seeing a Black person until he got out of College Quot i grew up with a Ceil am image of Black people Maiers said. Quot when you meet a few you realize the stereotypes Don t hold water i try to get it out of my mind but a Tittle of it slays with me i Call myself a recovering bigot Quot specialists in race relations caution that what has happened in Dubuque could happen anywhere. Quot this shows we re not very Tai irom old fashioned racism and we Are Able to revert very quickly it social or economic anxieties arise Quot said or Marilynn Brower a psychologist who is director of the Institute for social science research at the University of California los Angeles Quot racism is a belief system that does nol inquire direct  she and others say it will Lake More than merely bringing in Black people to   indeed some key in would be a responsible to Bung m Blacks without an All out Campaign to educate and sensitize Whites to other Cul Luies and races Quot racism is imbedded in the daily Culmo of while people buried deep in the socializing of our children Quot Feagin said Quot it needs to be dealt Wilh Asil it were a smallpox epidemic this is a while problem not a Black problem Quot what is not at All Clear is How City leaders will persuade Black people to come to Dubuque for now they arc hoping that a few Brave pioneers will want to try life in a clean quiet City Thal is at least trying to face up to its prejudice Quot Dubuque needs Black people More than Black people need Dubuque Quot said Ernestine Moss a Black resident who is president of the local a act. Quot Dubuque needs Black people to bring it into the 20th Century Quot it 11 to / it Urf us Ltd t i y w i 11 i i i a 1 i a i i. T f ois awry and segregation Yuu t and such v a relent racism to  that it is a cancer affecting us Al the stars and stripes abcs Page 17