“If any state needed an influx of immigrants, it’s Iowa,” he said.

People who get to know each other do eventually see past general appearance. Bloom recalled a co-worker he at first called “the bald guy.” After they had worked together and been to lunch, the bald guy became “Murray.” And after a few years, he became the guy who complained all the time and the guy who was good on deadline.

“He took on human characteristics,” Bloom said.

And in communities where people of different backgrounds get to know each other, that can happen. Years ago, Bloom said, the dream of many immigrants seemed to be assimilation, to become just like their neighbors, even if it meant changing their name to something more American sounding.

Attendee Oscar Argueta has lived in Iowa for eight years.

“I’m from Guatemala. How long will it take for me to be [accepted as] an Iowan? I say 40 years,” he said.

“Who is really an Iowan? Who’s really a Postville person?” asked Bloom. “I ended my book with, ‘I’ll never be an Iowan, but Iowa is my home.’ For people who don’t get that, I think it’s their problem.”

Later, Argueta said he considers himself an Iowan; he realized that in a moment of self-reflection about four years ago.

“I surprised myself,” he told the Courier. “I said to myself, ‘I’m an Iowan. I don’t miss home any more.’ I am so involved that I want to stay here.”

When he thinks of going home these days, he said he thinks of his home in Iowa. Many Hispanic Iowans have said their goal is to become an American citizen and to remember where they come from while they also embrace their new culture.

But in Postville, the religious group did not want to assimilate, Bloom said. They didn’t want to “get to know each other.”

But if they want to be Iowans, wouldn’t they have to adopt some of the typical Iowa traditions? Not necessarily, said Bloom.

Part of the reason they moved to a rural community was because they wouldn’t be forced to do things differently; they could remain themselves. It caused a sort of “civil war” in Postville.

So how, asked one audience member, did the two diverse cultures in Postville eventually learn to get along?

“They didn’t,” said Bloom, adding there are still tensions between the townspeople and the Hasidim. “We need to learn there are people who won’t become Iowans. People can be who they are, and that’s OK too.”