Iowa City Councilor Michelle Payne's Unfortunate Gaffe: "Colored People"

When Iowa City councilor Michelle Payne, currently running for reelection, tried to imagine how white people might relate better to black people by having black friends, she unfortunately reverted from black people and black friends to the out-dated phrase “colored people.” She immediately retracted her mistake, a racist gaffe traceable to the 1950s, by saying, “I shouldn’t say it that way, [I mean] how black people think about our community leaders . . . .”

One wonders what Payne’s family background is and how often she interacts with black people or even liberal white people who discuss racism. I serve on the Johnson County Disproportionate Minority Contact Subcommittee and not once have I heard the phrase “colored people.”

She’s right about having black friends. Nothing works to break down barriers like having friends, coworkers, student interns who are of a different race, a different religion, or a different sexual orientation than yourself.

When I worked at the University of Iowa, I had a brilliant black student intern who helped me with the technical and secretarial aspects of editing a newsletter for technical staff. His parents, both professionals, were divorced, and he seemed to need an anchor, which my husband and I provided him. We invited him to our home on weekends, brought him with us on camping trips, and provided with as much emotional support as we could, because he was a talented, wonderful kid and deserved our support.

I remember the eureka moment I had in graduate school getting my master’s in social work when a fellow grad student said, “It’s not as if we chose to be gay.” I realized he was born that way, and it’s not a burden in a homophobic society (more so in 1991 than it is now) that one would logically choose if being gay was “a life style choice,” as some conservatives would have us believe.

Then I worked with a smart, ethical social worker at the Muscatine Department of Social Services. He was gay, and we had each other’s backs.

Michelle Payne needs a black friend. She already has a black coworker, fellow city councilor Kingsley Botchway. She should get to know him.