The only way out is through...
Just two weeks ago, on August 13, 2024, residents of Hampton, Iowa awoke to discover that racist, makeshift posters of a violent and threatening nature had, in the dark of the night prior, been affixed to the front doors and windows of 6 Latino-owned downtown Hampton businesses and the La Luz Centro Cultural Center, also located in downtown Hampton.
The posters read “USA Illegal Immigrant Hunting Permit” with “Trump 2024” placed on the bottom portion of the paper poster. Captioning of the “Permit” also read “No bag limit, Tagging Not Required.”
I encourage anyone who would like to discover more details about the incident, investigation, arrest of a suspect, and the rest of the aftermath — or at least two weeks of aftermath because this only happened two weeks ago — should follow the reporting of the Hampton Chronicle on all of this.
Hampton Chronicle (Facebook)
Hampton Chronicle (Website)
The Chronicle is a small newspaper, in a usually somewhat sleepy, small, county seat town in a rural county, Franklin County, in the midst of Iowa. I imagine that most people who have ever heard of the Hampton Chronicle, and certainly virtually all who have never heard of it, would hold a bias that such a paper would not be prepared to cover an incident like this.
However, if you read the Chronicle’s coverage, I think you will find that they have risen to the challenge better than most would have. The have covered the incident and followed developments in the story well and substantively. In particular, reporters Jennifer Burnham and Matt Grohe, along with their editor, have demonstrated the best qualities of professional journalism at a crucial time for the town of Hampton.
I intend to write more about this incident and the case in coming days and weeks, really, for as long as it takes. And if I may, let me offer a few reasons why I feel this matter so deeply. I grew up in Franklin County. Our family farm was just a mile or two north of the Franklin and Cerro Gordo County line. I attended school, from kindergarten to graduation, in Sheffield, Iowa, which is in Franklin County and just 11 miles north of Hampton.
It angers me, deeply, when anything like this happens, anywhere. But I admit my human foibles, frailties and biases. And because this happened in the county where I spent so much of my youth, I am quite simply infuriated. I find myself struggling to “just let it go” as a number of commentors on Chronicle reports and posts have suggested that we all should do.
No, I don’t think I will “just let it go.” And I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that I am not the only one that refuses to “just let it go.” So those are two reasons that I will continue to write about this - first, that I loathe seeing this happen and second, it offends, deeply, that it has happened so near where I grew up. Perhaps that second reason is biased, but, actually, I don’t care.
Since I began my sojourn a bit over a year ago, I have said a number of times that if I cannot stand up for justice where I am at, if I cannot plant my feet and fight for what is just in my own backyard, then what does it matter if I stand up at all?
I will close, for today, with one more reason that I refuse to “just let it go.” Years ago, I wrote to a friend that also happened to be a member of the U.S. Senate regarding a fundamental issue of fairness and justice for family farmers and ranchers that, “I would rather spend a lifetime in rightful struggle, and lose, than spend one day in the hell of unprincipled compromise.” I meant it then and I say here today because I mean it now too. Say what mean and mean what you say, that’s what my father told me once, back in the day.
Moreover, too many community and civic leaders in Hampton and, truthfully, in Des Moines as well, are too eager to close the book on this incident and move on.
In the first days after the incident. The Hampton Police Department issued the following statement.
“It was reported to the Hampton Police Department that in the early morning hours of Tuesday, August 13, 2024, multiple flyers were placed on the doors of several Hispanic businesses in Hampton. We are taking this matter very seriously, and are working diligently to identify the individual or individuals responsible. Upon completion of the investigation, the case will be forwarded to the Franklin County Attorney. We are not able to comment further, as this is still an active and ongoing investigation. Chief Mark Morrison.”
I understand Chief Morrison’s vague reference to policies that might prohibit him from commenting further on a case under active investigation. Many, if not most, law enforcement agencies across the country have such policies.
However, an arrest has been made, charges have been brought, a trial will ensue. Do I have the right to expect more from Chief Morrison in helping guide his community out of this dark place? The answer, in case you were wondering, is yes. Yes, I can and should expect more from the Chief in coming days and weeks and months, and more importantly, the people of Hampton have the right to expect more too.
City of Hampton Mayor Steve Birdsall told the Chronicle that he hopes that the action of one or several people doesn’t define the community of Hampton as a whole.
“We need to come together as a community to overcome the negativity,” Birdsall said. “I’m not happy about it, but I know that Police Chief Mark Morrison is doing everything he can to solve the case with immediacy. We hope we can move past this, because we don’t need this in our city.” Mayor Steve Birdsall, City of Hampton, Iowa
We hope we can move past this, because we don’t need this in our city. When I first read that quote, I had to take a minute to consider it, because frankly, it made me bridle, more than a little. He’s correct, in part, but misses the mark as well, and honestly not that narrowly. No, Hampton does not need this, nor do I believe that most Hampton residents want this in their town. Add to that the rest of the residents of Franklin County, and Iowa, and even the nation, most of us do not want this for Hampton or anywhere else.
But as I wrote in a previous post, hope is not a strategy, and false hope is its antithesis. Hoping that everything will quiet down and everyone in Hampton will just go back to the way things were on August 12th is, at best, wishful thinking. At worst it is, well, I’m not going to go there… yet.
Chief Morrisson, Mayor Birdsall, I have spent that aforementioned lifetime in rightful struggle. And I have spent over a year deeply reflecting on how I can best work for justice for my community, my state and my nation. I have not learned everything, but I have gained some knowledge and wisdom along the way. In other words, I know what I know.
I know that both of you will come to regret and despise the “hell of unprincipled compromise” as much as I do. Don’t continue down that path. Engage your community, ask the deeper questions, and answer them to the best of your ability when you are in turn asked. Keep hope in your heart, but let your actions speak for you and your community’s future.
We must come to understand that unrequited hope, false hope, will simply lead us back down into the same darkness out of which we seek to rise up. You are not responsible for the darkness brought on by the hatred and prejudice of others, but you find yourselves, we all find ourselves, in it nonetheless. Mayor Birdsall, Chief Morrisson, one fundamental truth, one sojourner's truth, that I have learned after much personal struggle is that when we find ourselves in darkness there is often no easy way out.
Most often, the only way out is through.
[Photo credit — Hampton Chronicle — the photo below is one of the racist posters that was affixed to the front of seven places of business in downtown Hampton, Iowa in the early morning hours of August 13, 2024]
