Racial Justice
The ACLU of Iowa is working for an Iowa where all people, regardless of the color of their skin, are treated fairly and given equal opportunity in schools, the courts, by law enforcement, and in their communities.
What you need to know
7.3x
A Black person in Iowa is 7.3 times more likely to be arrested for drugs than a white person—even though studies show that Black people and white people use marijuana at about the same rate.
30.7 percent
The poverty rate in 2018 for Black Iowans. The corresponding rate for Iowa is 11.2 percent.
11x
Black adults in Iowa are imprisoned at nearly 11 times the rate of white adults.
The ACLU of Iowa is working to make sure all Iowans are treated fairly, no matter what their racial background is.
The promise of equal justice for all in Iowa still has not been achieved. Though generations of civil rights activism have led to important progress, systemic racism and inequities that disadvantage communities of color are still woven into the fabric of our institutions today.
Systemic racism permeates the starkly segregated world of housing. In public schools, students of color are too often funneled through the "school-to-prison pipeline." The criminal legal system disproportionately targets and subjects people of color to police brutality, incarceration, and numerous collateral consequences.
We strive to create an Iowa where systemic racism is dismantled and the harm inflicted on communities of color is repaired.
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