Guest View: Iowa should lead in civility

By Rudy Daniels, Sioux City

Iowans take pride in showing respect and kindness to everyone.

I always hear from out-of-staters how everyone is “Iowa Nice.” Whether it’s at a tailgate in Ames or a convention in Des Moines, our reputation is built and sustained on civility.

In this time of increased political rancor, Iowa is poised to be an example to the rest of the nation. We can show the country how to talk with neighbors and strangers about policy without resorting to the kinds of behavior and rhetoric that oozes out of campaigns — and still govern effectively.

On Inauguration Day, protests turned to riots. Businesses were vandalized and vehicles were left burning while rioters threw whatever they could find at police.

Closer to home, last year saw environmental activists chaining themselves together and forcing the police to arrest them in Iowa and North Dakota as they protested the Dakota Access Pipeline. These actions serve only to polarize and entrench established divisions. It’s an all-or-nothing strategy that serves no persuasive purpose; its only rationale is causing fear.

As a retired professor, I’m also disturbed by what’s happening on college campuses, where the loudest voices can shut down free speech.

Students rioted and lit fires to protest one controversial speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, at UC-Berkeley last month. The same speaker was supposed to appear at Iowa State in December, but the event was canceled after police needed the sponsoring student organization to put up $2,000 for added security at the last minute.

In January, a group burning flags on the Old Capitol Mall in Iowa City was halted by a veteran of Afghanistan wielding a fire extinguisher. Two of the protestors were arrested for violating the city’s open burning ordinance.

Last month, nearly 100 people sat outside a committee chamber at the Iowa State Capitol singing and chanting in an attempt to disrupt proceedings and delay a vote.

Now we’re seeing members of Congress attacked at meetings in their districts.

The town halls occur across the country, but one local group is giving tactical training to as many as 40,000 activists nationwide: Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.

Iowa CCI is no newcomer to disruptive tactics. The group has been giving “How to Be Arrested” workshops and its executive director was arrested in January at a sit-in protest.

For years, Iowa CCI has used the tactic of picketing outside the homes of people it views as political opponents. In one instance, they picketed the home of a political consultant — who actually didn’t live there anymore, though his 9-year-old son became frightened.

We may live in a time of partisan divide, but both Democrats and Republicans in Iowa have condemned Iowa CCI’s tactics.

Whether or not we agree with whatever policy ICCI is pushing at a given moment, the tactics they use are detrimental to our decency and democracy.

ICCI fails its causes and those who support them by employing reprehensible tactics and giving politicians a valid excuse to ignore them.

Resorting to demonizing opponents, impugning character and shouting down adversaries won’t win new supporters and it damages Iowa’s reputation for friendliness and hospitality

By refusing to engage in conversations, let alone compromise, our national discourse is eroding before our eyes.

As President George W. Bush said, at a memorial service in Dallas for the victims of the police massacre in 2016, “At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. Disagreement escalates too quickly into dehumanization. Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”

No matter our politics, we should all strive to disagree without being disagreeable. It’s the Iowa way.

Rudy Daniels is a retired college professor, historian and author.