Part four of a four-part series
A large, mostly white crowd gathered in the Loveland, Colorado, council chambers for a recent city council meeting. Some heckled and bickered during the nearly 90-minute public comment period; police intervened at one point.
Many were there to oppose the city council considering measures to give non-white and LGBTQ residents more of a voice, to make city processes more equitable. Most said the idea was 鈥渄ivisive.鈥�
鈥淚'm not a fan of multiracialism to be truthful. You can call me a racist if you want to,鈥� an older white resident told city councilors.
A 鈥渞attled鈥� Lynn Adame, 53, called in to speak after. Her mind was on her grandson 鈥� he is Native American and Mexican like her, but also Black and white: 鈥渢he epitome of multiethnic.鈥�
鈥淏ut you know what? I'm glad he spoke up,鈥� she said of the older man who spoke before her. 鈥淏ecause this is why we need this DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) work. Because there are people with his mentality and his thoughts out there, and they are affecting people like me.鈥�
Several moments during the last two years have reflected race-based problems in Loveland 鈥� at city council, and board meetings, during and in . Often, a key point of contention for some residents is whether racism even exists in the city, or ever did.
The debate raises a question: why is Loveland so white?
'The racism was so known back then'
Adame鈥檚 family has been in Loveland for at least a century. Racism contours tales of their history: housing discrimination, 鈥渨hites-only鈥� signs in store windows, slurs and, particularly in the last few years, being told to 鈥済o back鈥� to where they 鈥渃ame from.鈥�
Her city is known as a former 鈥渟undown town,鈥� a term for the thousands of communities that excluded certain racial and ethnic groups, often Chinese or Black people, after the post-Civil War Reconstruction era of racial progress.
The 鈥渟undown鈥� part comes from signs at many towns鈥� limits often warning the targeted racial group they had to leave by sundown.
鈥淏lack people were not allowed to be within the city limits after hours. And brown people were basically treated as second-class citizens,鈥� Bob Adame, Lynn鈥檚 73-year-old father, recalled. 鈥淎 fact of life that everybody knew.鈥�
With many oral narratives like his, . Still, .
Former Loveland and Gary Hausman vaguely remembers biking across a city bridge over the Big Thompson River some 60 years ago. Nearby, an unofficial-looking sign told Black people they were unwelcome after sundown.
鈥淚 can't remember growing up ever seeing Black people in the city limits of Loveland,鈥� Hausman, who is white, told the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau. 鈥淪o I'm sure it had an effect on them.鈥�
Hausman鈥檚 friend since high school, Dennis Dinsmore, vividly recalled a similar message attached to another sign at the city鈥檚 border. He stole it while college-bound in 1967, about four years after Dr. Martin Luther King's famous .
鈥淲e observe Jim Crow laws here,鈥� the sign read.
Dinsmore remembered a Black friend visiting his dorm, looking at the sign and asking if he knew what it meant. Dinsmore said he didn鈥檛; he only stole it as a meaningless prank. After learning the sign referred to post-Civil War segregationist laws, Dinsmore threw it out.
Oral history and old U.S. census numbers are often the primary evidence of sundown towns, according to James Loewen. The historian and sociologist, who died in August, spent years uncovering the nation鈥檚 sundown towns and wrote the book 鈥淪undown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism.鈥�
The city likely never had any official ordinances, according to local historian Lowe.
But in the hundreds of sundown towns Loewen confirmed over his long career, ordinances were seldom needed to ensure a racial group鈥檚 exclusion. For example, Dinsmore鈥檚 older sister and her husband moved back to Loveland from Arkansas with a Black nanny in the mid-1900s.
鈥淭hey were visited by some gentlemen in a car that said that it would be a very good idea if they sent her back home, if they didn't want trouble,鈥� Dinsmore said.
The nanny was gone soon after. Lowe and other residents report similar incidents throughout the 1900s: a visiting basketball team forced to sleep elsewhere, homeowners association rules prohibiting Black residents, general housing discrimination and .
'Second-generation sundown town problems'
鈥淚t's even crazy to call it history because it's like current events, it鈥檚 happening right now,鈥� said Julius Philpot, a Black Loveland resident.
The 32-year-old junior league basketball coach moved to Loveland four years ago for more affordable veteran housing.
鈥淔or me, the experience has been no different than any other areas where it's predominantly (white),鈥� he said, describing racist or prejudiced incidents, like being asked if he鈥檚 part of a gang and being called slurs. 鈥淭he people that want to clutch their purses, they kind of just eyeball you in a sense, and you wouldn't really understand it until you've been in a situation.鈥�
He鈥檚 far from the only resident of color to say they have experienced such racism.
During the summer of 2020, several incidents put Loveland鈥檚 racial issues in the spotlight. A few examples:
June 2020: One first 鈥淏lack Lives Matter鈥� protests. Co-organizer Alaysha Marshall, a Black and Arab resident, tells KUNC that angry backlash to the peaceful, undisruptive protest was hard to stomach, but the support outweighed it.
July 2020: Barry Wesley, a Black university student working in door-to-door roofing sales, is held at gunpoint by a white resident, Scott Gudmundsen. The former Utah policeman said he thought Wesley and his white coworker were 鈥淎ntifa,鈥� according to the police report. Wesley begged to live, witnesses said. Gudmundsen responded that he wouldn鈥檛 kill him, but 鈥減olice would.鈥�
Two days earlier, Gudmundson told others of his concerns about 鈥淎ntifa,鈥� citing a Black man he saw drive by and make a peace sign, the report said. He wasn鈥檛 charged with a hate crime and is on parole, partly since the attack
August 2020: City council holds combative debates about racism and diversity, including over what "Black Lives Matter" means. In a separate meeting, the council鈥檚 mostly-conservative majority to pass that aimed to officially acknowledge systemic racism and diversity鈥檚 value.
September 2020: The local school board votes to remove Loveland high school鈥檚 鈥淚ndian鈥� mascot, partially because Native American residents found it racist, The decision drew heavy pushback from white residents, including former mayor Ray Reeb.
Philpot gained some notoriety among locals from in the Loveland area, leading to particularly .
A 鈥淟oveland Against Racism鈥� rally in August 2020 was interrupted by a crowd of counter-demonstrators. , some of the counter-demonstrators, armed and wearing body armor, said they were with the Three Percenters, a far-right, anti-government movement.
鈥淧eople showed their true colors during these protests,鈥� Philpot said. 鈥淭hey've been literally sitting here in the woodworks, they're still here, they're comfortable.鈥�
Philpot attended the demonstration and spoke with some of the counter-demonstrators. He said some were willing to calmly engage him, others not so much.
鈥淭here's people that are skipping those steps of actually having a conversation with somebody,鈥� Philpot said. 鈥淭he same conversation that they want somebody to have with them when they're like, 鈥榳ell, not all of us are racists.鈥欌��
Division vs. diversity
A word repeatedly comes up in people's reasoning for opposing equity measures: 鈥渄ivision.鈥�
鈥淚 think we have a portion of council and the community that believes that racism is a thing of the past, that it no longer exists, that anybody has equal opportunity,鈥� Loveland Mayor Jackie Marsh told the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau.
Her comment echoes , LLC, a Colorado Black-run equity consultant group, which .
鈥淎nd then you have another portion of us that believe that there is white privilege and racism does exist,鈥� said Marsh, who is up for reelection in November. 鈥淎nd just because you are Caucasian and don't experience it, doesn't mean that it isn't there.鈥�
Marsh is part of a three-person left-leaning minority. The rest of Loveland鈥檚 nine-member council often as a conservative .
鈥淚 agree that (minorities) should have a voice, but I think there's other people out there who should have a voice, too,鈥� argued majority councilor Steve Olson at a Loveland City Council meeting in August. 鈥淲hy shouldn't I have a voice?鈥�
Olson opposed a 鈥渄iversity commission鈥� made up of non-white and LGBTQ residents. His position echoed many of the public comments from a mostly white, mostly anti-equity group of residents crowding the council chambers that evening. The city including disability and senior citizens commissions and a golf board.
He already has a voice in the city鈥檚 all-white council, through which . A is responsible for executive functions.
鈥淚 guess I'm concerned about having a group just that is addressing them and it's their group and then becomes more 鈥榳e feel we have some privileges鈥� and that does turn to rights and so forth,鈥� Olson added, arguing any board the city creates shouldn鈥檛 use the word 鈥渄iversity鈥� in its name because that would be too divisive. 鈥淚 just think something that is more inclusive of the community instead of a special interest group would be a better title for that.鈥�
It鈥檚 common for residents and some councilors in Loveland, Colorado鈥檚 whitest large community, to argue that conversations about racism during the all-white council鈥檚 meetings focus .
Some even the only racism that still exists is as a result of .
Mayor pro tem and mayoral candidate Don Overcash agreed any commission should not have 鈥渄iversity鈥� in its name.
鈥淚'm concerned that there's certain words that in our nation have become very politicized and polarizing,鈥� Overcash said. 鈥淚 think we need to be sensitive to that because we are part of the overall culture, so that's why I would like to suggest a different name. You saw the reaction (in public comments).鈥�
But white residents opposed to diversity and equity measures are not the only ones showing up to meetings and writing city councilors. , including Lynn Adame and , have about the constant racism they have endured in their city.
Black resident Jaelynn Coates in August 2020: 鈥淓verywhere you go in Loveland, there are reminders that not everyone is truly welcome here ... I'd like to feel like I can be proud to live here and feel comfortable establishing my life here long term. But the truth is, I'm really just too unsure that this is a place I want to stay, to raise a family, to grow old.鈥�
Overcash acknowledges a few racist individuals likely live in Loveland. But he doesn鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a pervasive problem, despite the testimonies before the council and in nonprofit-organized , city and elsewhere.
鈥淚 can direct you to people of color that would say 鈥業 don't see what the problem is,鈥� they would say they're making an issue,鈥� he said, adding they鈥檝e likely experienced racism, 鈥渂ut they don't see that as a whole society or a whole city doing these things."
Interestingly, a similar battle between 鈥渄ivision鈥� and efforts to make racial progress was waged over 100 years ago, during the Civil War. According to sociologist James Loewen鈥檚 book 鈥淪undown Towns,鈥� as frustration with the war mounted, a portion of pro-slavery rhetoric centered on the conflict itself blaming African Americans for the national division.
In some northern communities, Loewen wrote, the argument was strong enough for whites to begin forcing Black people out of town.
鈥淏ecause somebody in 1920 did something, doesn't mean in 2021 I need to pass some bill or do something to try to correct what was done 100 years ago or 80 years ago,鈥� Overcash said when asked whether Loveland鈥檚 sundown history should be addressed.
The question, Overcash added, is, 鈥淗ow are we moving forward as a society and a culture that values people to a greater degree?鈥�
Sociologist James Loewen proposes three steps a former sundown town should take to become 鈥渞eformed:鈥�
- Admit it happened
- Say it was wrong and apologize
- Take steps to ensure it doesn鈥檛 happen anymore
Loveland鈥檚 city council is in a unique position to take all three steps. But there has been little movement on the issue.
The debates about racism and equity began with a vote to consider creating a diversity commission during a Dec. 17, 2019 meeting. After nearly almost no action has been taken by city councilors.
On the horizon
With a few exceptions, almost everyone interviewed for this story said talking about the city鈥檚 sundown history and racism was important to some degree, regardless of their position on other issues. Public comments in meetings, , and elsewhere tend to weigh more heavily against this position.
鈥榃e need to get to a point where we're lifting everybody up to our actions and our behaviors instead of just trying to score points or shine a spotlight on a small problem,鈥� Overcash said. 鈥淕et a light on it, but find a way to solve the problem and not complain about it.鈥�
He points to the as an example, which is something even those who disagree with him on most other points also say is needed to increase the city鈥檚 diversity.
Still, many residents the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau spoke to argue there is something inherent to that history that cannot be resolved 鈥� and risks being repeated 鈥� if it is ignored.
A place to call home
In her sleek high-rise apartment building overlooking downtown Loveland and distant lush mountain greenery, Tara Hunter can see herself calling this place home for a long time.
鈥淔rom what my limited experience is, it's a really great place and I love it,鈥� Hunter said.
At first, the 46-year-old Black woman was shocked Loveland had so few other Black residents. With the city鈥檚 size, proximity to larger communities, opportunities for recreation, beautiful parks and community events, she wondered: 鈥淚s something keeping them away?鈥�
And then she learned about its sundown history.
鈥淚 am, you know, one of the handful of Black people that might come through there,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I'm still not feeling like this is a place that I don't belong.鈥�
Since moving to Loveland in January 2021, Hunter鈥檚 experience has been free of prejudice and racism, mostly positive even. She has lived in communities with similar histories before, and said there is value in addressing it.
鈥淣ot necessarily saying, OK, we're going to set a goal of increasing diversity by this much or anything,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 goal of just understanding, like, why do we look like we do in Loveland? 鈥� And, is it a negative thing that's keeping people away from here?鈥�
鈥淵ou're not going to know that without discussion,鈥� she said, before hitting the city streets for a run. She came back home later, continuing to work, sleep and live in Loveland, even after sundown.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
