Nampa City Council members liken virus restrictions to racial segregation, Holocaust
During a Nampa City Council meeting, a white councilman compared vaccine and mask mandates to the segregation of Black people during Jim Crow, and a non-Jewish councilwoman compared virus safety measures to the way Jewish people were marked with Stars of David during the Holocaust.
As COVID-19 rages through Canyon County, where residents made up nearly 30% of Idaho’s new cases Councilman Darl Bruner suggested that the country could be headed into a time where people who are unvaccinated and who do not wear masks are segregated from society in the same way Black people were in the 1950s and 1960s.
Bruner’s six-minute speech at the beginning of Monday night’s meeting drew claps and praise from most of his fellow council members.
“I believe, having lived in the ‘60s ...and the atrocities of racial segregation, we may be heading for the same,” Bruner said. “In this case it was keeping the “Negroes’, which was the terminology used in the ‘60s, in their proper place – back of the bus, segregated schools, and even separate water fountains. Is there a chance the non-compliant vaxxers, mask wearers will be treated the same?”
Phillip Thompson, executive director of the Idaho Black History Museum, said Bruner’s comparison, “doesn’t warrant a comment.”
“The people who say things like this are just seeking attention,” Thompson said Wednesday by phone.
Vaccine and mask mandates have nothing to do with racial issues in America, Thompson said.
“Nobody in their right mind, who really felt the sheer weight of segregation in America, would make that comparison,” Thompson said.
In his speech, which he also emailed to the Idaho Statesman, Bruner listed four questions for Nampa health administrators. His questions were about antibody data, how COVID-19 is treated in hospitals, how hospitals plan to have adequate staff, and how the virus impacts children.
In his email, Bruner stood by his comments and said the focus of his speech was the questions for health administrators. Bruner questioned how much COVID-19 affected children and how effective the vaccine is in preventing the spread of the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as local health and state officials, have been encouraging people to get the COVID-19 vaccine, since unvaccinated people are at the greatest risk for contracting and spreading the virus.
The St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus health systems began requiring vaccinations among employees in July. Primary Health will begin requiring vaccines next month.
The CDC says vaccines and other preventative strategies like wearing a mask and physical distancing are necessary to control the pandemic.
Councilwoman Sandi Levi said the yellow markings that blocked off seats in the council chambers last year bothered her, because they reminded her of the yellow Star of David badges that Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust.
“When I sat here and I saw the yellow markings on the seats it really bothered me, because all I could think of my last name being Levi, and I’ll just leave it at that, even though I am not one drop Jewish, but it really really bothered me.”
Rabbi Dan Fink with the Ahavath Beth Israel, a Boise synagogue, called Levi’s comments “an insidious comparison.”
“People need to be able to distinguish between something done as part of a genocide to distinguish people to kill them and something to protect life and health,” Fink said by phone Wednesday.
Fink said the comparison would be insidious coming from anyone’s mouth, but he said, “People who are not Jewish don’t have the right to appropriate Jewish victimhood for their political purposes, especially when those purposes are endangering people rather than preserving public safety.”
Fink writes a faith column for the Statesman.
Council members agree with Bruner
At the end of his comments, which were first reported by the Idaho Press, council members Victor Rodriguez, Jacob Bower and Randy Haverfield clapped and took turns praising Bruner.
“I really appreciate your words,” said Bower. “They mean a lot to me.”
“That was a breath of fresh air,” said Rodriguez.
“His words meant a lot to me,” said Haverfield.
In her comments, Levi went on to further criticize COVID-19 protocols, saying the smell of hand sanitizer burned her lungs and that looking through Plexiglass gave her headaches and made her claustrophobic.
Councilwoman Jean Mutchie, who is a community health manager for St. Luke’s Health System, did not agree with Bruner’s comments and said she would be happy to invite St. Luke’s heath administrators to answer Bruner’s questions.
“It is hard to work in health care, I cannot impress upon you how hard it is,” Mutchie said. “We have people, as we walk out of our offices, flipping us off and telling us to effing die.”
She asked that the council members be kind and to think about children, health care workers and school employees.
“This delta variant is different it is very contagious,” she said. “Our kids are going to school, and my heart and concern is for our kids. What are we going to model for them?”
Bruner said he was open to having health administrators address the council. Levi said she would only want to hear from doctors who “represented both sides.”
“They need to be respectful of our view when it differs from theirs,” Levi said.
No Plexiglass for City Council
Bruner’s comments came after Mayor Debbie Kling suggested the council should put up Plexiglass barriers between members again. The barriers were up last year when the pandemic hit Idaho and were taken down.
All council members except for Mutchie said they did not want the barriers.
“I feel like, I want to respect one another and we are so close and we sit here for hours, if someone has COVID (on the council) needless to say we would get it, and we just don’t have time for it,” Kling said.
At a council meeting on Aug. 2, the council voted unanimously among the five members who were present to sign a resolution saying the city would not mandate vaccines for city employees. Bower and Levi both said on Monday that they wished the council had included mask mandates in the resolution.
Rachel Spacek covers western Ada and eastern Canyon counties. Have a story suggestion or a question? Email Spacek at rspacek@idahostatesman.com.
This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 4:13 PM.
