Iowa City council member issues open apology

Iowa City Council member Michelle Payne, who is seeking re-election to an at-large seat in the Nov. 3 city election, issued an open letter of apology Thursday for comments she made at a Sept. 30 candidate forum.

The forum, hosted by the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, Coalition for Racial Justice, and the Affordable Homes Coalition, was held at Kirkwood Community College. More than 50 people attended the event.

In her letter — which was distributed by the City Clerk's Office to local media and will be included in the late handouts for the council's next meeting — Payne addressed comments she made in response to the question, "What are the causes of racial disparities in Iowa City's policing of adults and youth? What, besides training, can be done to ensure that city staff members, including officers, do not discriminate or act with racial bias?"

"In responding to this question, I said in part: 'Maybe if you were white and had some black friends you'd get more insight into how coloured (sic) people — I shouldn't say it that way, how black people think about our community leaders,' " Payne wrote. "I recognized as quickly as I spoke that the words 'coloured (sic) people' was an offensive term and immediately attempted to rephrase the comment.

"The purpose of this letter is to offer my sincere apology for the use of this term. In making a point about racial disparity I misspoke in a way that was contrary to the very point I was trying to make regarding open and honest conversations about the very things that divide us, but should not," Payne wrote.

During the question and answer portion at the end of the forum, one attendee voiced her frustration with the answers provided by Payne and other candidates.

"I've been kind of upset listening to your answers. It seems like a lot of you are really ignorant on race issues. My question is, are you willing to self-educate yourselves just in your daily lives, like read a book?" the attendee said.

In her response to that question, Payne said she would be willing to commit to self-education.

"Absolutely. I think this is a huge issue, and I totally agree with you that we probably think that we're a lot more educated than we are, and whatever it takes to be more educated, I think it's important to do that and be able to communicate with all members of our community," Payne said. "Absolutely I would read a book or go to a class."

Payne was not available for comment Thursday.



Reach Andy Davis at 319-887-5404 or at aldavis@press-citizen.com, and follow him on Twitter as @BylineAndyDavis.