Hampton citizens, city leaders begin conversation on racial equality during Love Rally Saturday

Hampton resident James Alexander had a short but harrowing answer as to why he participated in the Love Rally 2020, a peaceful demonstration honoring George Floyd and other victims of race-related police violence, in Hampton Saturday.

“I was George Floyd 45 years ago,” said Alexander, one of the few African Americans living in Hampton. Floyd was killed on May 25 when Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis Police Officer, detained and knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers have been charged. Since his death, Black Lives Matters movements have transpired in most major cities and have since trickled down to smaller communities.

While Alexander's experiences with racism in Hampton have been minimal in his 10 years in the city, he has experienced the type of police brutality that has been at the center of protests and demonstrations in recent weeks.

During his stint with the military and while on active duty in California, Alexander was pulled over in his vehicle while coming home from a day trip to Los Angeles. After a tense exchange where the officer refused to tell Alexander why he was pulled over followed by the officer’s demands for Alexander to get out of his vehicle and lay on the ground, the officer attempted to physically remove Alexander from his vehicle. Alexander said he was able to toss the officer off of him, but that was one of the last details of the incident Alexander remembers.

“As I’m walking back to my car, I hear this loud crack, like a bat hitting a baseball,” he said. “I turned around to look at (the officer) and he had broken his stick on my head. When he looked at his stick, he went for his gun and at that point, I blacked out.”

Alexander woke up the next morning in handcuffs, covered in dried blood and dirt. When he went to retrieve his car from the impound, he found his vehicle burned to ash with no explanation why.

Alexander was never told why he was arrested, he said he was never charged with any crimes related to the incident and was discharged from the military within the next year. He said he still struggles with residual physical effects from the confrontation and the mental scars will never heal. That’s why incidents such as the murder of George Floyd resonate so painfully with Alexander.

“When I saw this on T.V., it was like deja vu,” he said. “I flashed back to everything.”

Alexander was one of a few dozen that showed up to the Love Rally in Hampton Saturday to show solidarity to those who have suffered and plea for a change. The event included several demonstrations to honor George Floyd, as well as Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot and killed while jogging in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in her Louisville home. Throughout the day, people such as Alexander were invited to share their stories with the crowd.

Osrick Jamerson, a Zion, Illinois native who has lived in Hampton for two years, said he was surprised to learn that Hampton would have an event such as Saturday’s, but that news also came with a sense of relief.

“I didn’t expect nothing really to happen out here, but I got a sense of hope in such a hopeless world,” he said.

Jamerson said it’s important for these demonstrations to happen in communities of all sizes because discrimination can exist anywhere. Speaking to those gathered Saturday, Jamerson told of his own experiences in Hampton and other Iowa communities. He said he’s faced discrimination in the workplace on more than one occasion, has had looks of disgust and hushed comments shot his way when entering stores in the community and has been the only person in a group ID’d in certain instances.

The ability to finally tell those stories and help begin a conversation about race in the community, Jamerson said, was “a breath of fresh air.”

“It was a relief because I have so much bottled in and I’m in a community where I feel like if I express it, nobody will care,” he said. “Hearing everyone’s stories and seeing how everybody is, it gave me a sense of hope.

“We all just want to see change,” he added. “I’m proud to be an American, I just want everyone to know we don’t think we’re better than anybody or above anybody, we just want the same and respect as everybody.”

Experiences like Jamerson’s are why Hampton resident Amanda Fender elected to organize the event. While complimentary to Hampton Police Chief Bob Schaefer’s leadership and service to all members of the community, she said local residents need to be made aware that modern racism isn’t limited to the incidents that happen between African American citizens and police. By starting the conversation in Hampton about racial equality, residents from all walks of life can begin to understand one another.

“The reason it’s most required here is because there are few people who are of color and how we make those few people feel who are different than everybody else is super impactful and I feel there is education that needs to happen,” she said. “This isn’t about anything other than educating and making sure people understand this is how we make them feel and whether your intention is there or not is a moot point.

“This is bringing a light to what we can do better,” she added.

Images and videos of riots and unrest stemming from protests in larger cities led to tension and uncertainty locally, Fender said. She said the rumors and fears expressed to her about organizing a peaceful rally against racism are examples why a conversation about equality in Hampton needs to begin.

“It proves that especially here in smaller communities that the need for change is necessary," she said. “Now is the time for change, now is the time to stand up.

Watching peaceful protests unfold in Denver, Fender decided to organize an event in the local community and reached out to friends eager to help.

"From there it spiraled," said Fender. "It's been fun to work with a bunch of different people from a bunch of walks of life."

Along with arranging for a panel of speakers to engage in a conversation, Fender sought out ways to memorialize the recent high profile victims of racist violence. Saturday's event kicked off with a 1.5 mile march in honor of Ahmaud Arbery, who was a mile and a half into his normal jog when three armed men chased him down with a truck and killed him in the subsequent confrontation.

Roughly 50 people turned out for the march, which began with a short speach and a prayer from Pastors Dan Hanson and Chris and Laurel Meester.

"Racism is a sin," said Hanson. "To treat anyone differently than you'd want to be treated is sinful."

Hampton Mayor Russell Wood said he welcomes that ongoing discussion with open arms because having conversations about race, uncomfortable as they could be at times, helps create a unified community.

“When I ran (for Mayor), I ran on a concept of community and I think this shows a commitment to community, that it’s about all of us living together and treating each other with respect and dignity," he said.

Wood said that Saturday’s event was an important reminder that Hampton is a diverse community and that the conversations about race relations should extend to all communities living within Hampton.

“I think it is important for people to understand that racism isn’t just black and white because we do have a lot of people in our community that are not white,” he said. “We just need to respect each other.”

The mutual respect about which Wood spoke was apparent throughout the afternoon, Fender said. Discussions were had on how members of minority communities can become involved and influence positive change in the community and dialogue was opened between city officials and attendees. Fender said that sense of unity is a positive start towards the cause of equality.

“It meant so much to see a variety of our brothers and sisters united for such a tremendous cause," she said. “We came away from the event with great actionable steps we can all take to keep this movement soaring in our community.”

Hampton Police Chief Bob Schaefer, who joined demonstrators in kneeling for George Floyd and a candlelight vigil for Breonna Taylor while serving as the lone peace officer on Band Shell Park grounds, said the rally was a positive thing for the community and is just as outraged as anyone about the police violence that both initiated the protest and has occurred since.

"I don't think that there's a police chief in this nation that condones what happened up in Minneapolis," said Schaefer. "That's not what we're hired to do. The police shouldn't be doing things like that."

The Love Rally Saturday ended with two demonstrations The first had attendees laying flat on their stomachs with hands behind their backs while repeating “I can’t breathe” for nine minutes to symbolize the incident that resulted in George Floyd’s death. The second was a candle light vigil to honor Breonna Taylor.

Seeing people of all ages and race participate in those gestures brought a sense of hope for the future to Alexander. The children who laid with their arms behind their backs, carried “Black Lives Matter” signs and listened to the experiences shared, Alexander said, are the ones that will use their voices for change in the decades ahead.

“I think this is going to have an impact on these children as far as compassion and things like that,” he said. “It’s important that kids are exposed to a lot of positive things and I commend this parents for bringing this awareness to their children.”