[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Sneezyone

According to the 10th annual Arkansas Poll, 34.2 percent of registered voters said they knew someone who would not vote for a black presidential candidate. This compares to a national average in a recent Pew Center poll of 21 percent. Also, 20 percent of those answering the Arkansas Poll about Obama's religion said the candidate was Muslim, which he is not. This compares with 12 percent in national polls. On the Web: http://www3.ark.edu/arkpoll

Divorce rates per 1000 couples in 2005
Arkansas 6.0
Washington 4.0
North Carolina 3.8
Virginia 3.9
Florida 4.6
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008)

National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Results for 2007
STATE------------GRADE BASIC PROFICIENT ADVANCED (% at or above)
Arkansas------------4 81 37 4
Washington---------4 84 44 7
North Carolina-------4 85 41 6
Virginia-------------4 87 42 7
Florida--------------4 86 40 6
(Source: NAEP -- State Profiles. Educational Assessments by State. Student demographics. School characteristics. State comparisons.)

Anonymous interviews? My mother received several emails from her bible study group about the pres-elect being a Muslim and urging her to vote for the only Christian candidate on the ballot. My husband's aunt has repeatedly expressed frustration that the males she works with (a Christian org.) are unable to fathom that a woman is capable of doing something other than raising children, as their spouses do. I graduated from HS in NWA. My husband lived in Arkansas up until the day he left for basic training. Our family still lives there. We know it well. No interviews required.

And bluesy, we will enjoy the coasts, thanks...mMy family and the other national merit finalists I graduated with who fled the state right along with me. We hear Sigonella is lovely.

For heavens sake, many of us got emails similar to what your mom got from bible study group, they did not come strictly from AR, that is for sure. I got them from friends all over the country.

As for merit scholars, shall we say BRAG a little. Our granddaughter was a merit finalist, she was born and raised in Texas, guess where she decided to go to college (scholarship of course) University of AR..

I don't know where in AR your husbands aunt lives or the rest of your family for that matter, but certainly not in a major city I would guess. Country attitudes are just that, which is not all bad. I sense you have a chip on your shoulder...I too, hope you enjoy your life living somewhere other than AR..

Nita

[Sneezyone]

I didn't say all the state's residents are prejudiced but there are enough people who are to make the place a real turnoff. And no, I graduated in Fayetteville and my husband in Little Rock, not small towns. Of course, that was 10-15 years ago and back then black students at FHS were pigeonholed as one of two things: athletes or idiots. There were only five, or was it seven, in my graduating class of 200.

No one runs for office unless they intend/hope to win. You expect people to line up like Ghandi to get beat about the head year after year? What's to stop a whispering campaign about any of us being non-Christians? The answer: nothing. And based on polling data, the state's residents are oh-so-inclined to believe such nonsense. Why go through that when there are more welcoming places to be?

I never said there weren't smart people in Arkansas. I said, and it's true, that the state's brightest minorities don't stay. They take their educations and leave. That has no bearing whatsoever on what those educated outside the state choose to do.

That chip on my shoulder? It's my children. I'm about to pay through the nose to send the oldest off to a private school where she'll be one of a handful of children of color, all because the public schools are abysmal.

Guess what, when everyone around you thinks like you, stagnation sets in, growth and creativity are stifled. The population often grays and ages in place, straining social services and lowering the quality of life. How's that workin' out for PA or OH? Stating the obvious does not a villain make.

[Clay Lady]

Last school year I had the pleasure of creating a tile mural to honor Henry Clay Yerger. Henry was a black man that started a school in Hope, AR in 1886. The seventh and eighth grade art students helped to create the design and carve the relief of Mr. Yerger's face.

It was so interesting that these students really did not understand what slavery was. Since I worked with small numbers of students a lot we had some very interesting conversations about race. The fact that Clinton and Obama were making history added to the mix.

I found out that the kids didn't understand the hard feelings the older blacks and whites had. The other big question was where were all the hispanics! The kids had all lived their whole life going to the same schools with each other. There was no school for this color and another for that. They mostly did not see "different".

The other part of this project was the alumni prior to 1969 were invited to have a name tile included. Seeing and feeling their pride was wonderful. Several shared fun stories of the high school years. Honestly - high school "life" seemed the same as the "life" I had in those years. A guy that played football that came to visit wanted to find his two buddies name tiles. One woman in no way wanted her tile to be placed next to certain other person's tile.

Think about how southwest Arkansas was the day Henry Yerger decided he would create a school. Think about where we are today. I don't care what skin tone you have - we are in serious financial trouble. We know that fault finding and egos are a dead end.

If you have the talent to lead - no matter what your color - then put your big person drawers on and get with it. We need all good minds focused on a solution for each part of this country. Arkansas needs you overlook the small stuff. If not you, who?

[Sneezyone]

Clay Lady, I agree with you for the most part. The challenge comes when people either insinuate or explicitly suggest that those who disagree should leave and not come back. The state's brightest minorities are basically taking that advice to heart and who could blame them? If folks don't really mean it, they need to stop saying it. The youth are listening.

My daughter was blessed to spend the last three years in Hawaii and because of the diversity in our neighborhood and her school, she knows no bounds. She's open, honest, friendly and outgoing; her friendship circle includes children of every race/nationality and many different combinations of the two. Having lived here, it's easy to see how Mr. Obama could develop such a strong sense of self-worth, free of the lingering doubts that DH and I possess; every child is assessed based on his/her behavior and aptitude, not what his/her parent does for a living or where they live. Funny names are the norm and mean very little.

What concerns me is bringing my children, especially my son, back to an environment with far more rigid expectations about who they can associate with, date, love, or marry. Some folks don't have the luxury or desire to forum shop, looking for the best home-base for their families but young professionals like DH and I do. The issue is, are those cultural drawbacks 'small' things, or not? To us, they're not small; we know how much they can affect young people, how they impacted us, first-hand.

We committed to spend the next three years in Arkansas, mostly to spend time closer to family and that's exactly what we'll do. There's always a chance that our fears will prove unfounded and if so, that's great. I'd be the first to admit I was wrong. The last thing I want is for my children to be harmed, academically or socially, so I'm definitely rooting for another type of experience.

Things are changing, it's true. I'm just not sure they're changing fast enough in Arkansas. We shall see. I just hate for my kids to be the guinea pigs.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by Sneezyone

The population often grays and ages in place, straining social services and lowering the quality of life.

????

A lot of the population around me "grayed' and stayed in place.

For several generations.

They contibute every day with wisdom, experience, and advice.

They're not straining any social services, and the quality of life would certainly not be as rich in these parts were it not for them.

I'm "graying". I hope the progressives don't come for me because I'm getting "old".

[North Pulaski Player]

All the brightest African-American kids in Arkansas move off as soon as they obtain their degrees or sooner. The sad realility is that they have no chance of living up to their full potential in a backwards state like Arkansas, which explains why so many black Arkansans are now in Atlanta and the Texas cities. The ones still here are only here because of family ties to the area - I would bet that none of you can name a single black person that moved to Arkansas and didn't have family here.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Sneezyone

Clay Lady, I agree with you for the most part. The challenge comes when people either insinuate or explicitly suggest that those who disagree should leave and not come back. The state's brightest minorities are basically taking that advice to heart and who could blame them? If folks don't really mean it, they need to stop saying it. The youth are listening.

My daughter was blessed to spend the last three years in Hawaii and because of the diversity in our neighborhood and her school, she knows no bounds. She's open, honest, friendly and outgoing; her friendship circle includes children of every race/nationality and many different combinations of the two. Having lived here, it's easy to see how Mr. Obama could develop such a strong sense of self-worth, free of the lingering doubts that DH and I possess; every child is assessed based on his/her behavior and aptitude, not what his/her parent does for a living or where they live. Funny names are the norm and mean very little.

What concerns me is bringing my children, especially my son, back to an environment with far more rigid expectations about who they can associate with, date, love, or marry. Some folks don't have the luxury or desire to forum shop, looking for the best home-base for their families but young professionals like DH and I do. The issue is, are those cultural drawbacks 'small' things, or not? To us, they're not small; we know how much they can affect young people, how they impacted us, first-hand.

We committed to spend the next three years in Arkansas, mostly to spend time closer to family and that's exactly what we'll do. There's always a chance that our fears will prove unfounded and if so, that's great. I'd be the first to admit I was wrong. The last thing I want is for my children to be harmed, academically or socially, so I'm definitely rooting for another type of experience.

Things are changing, it's true. I'm just not sure they're changing fast enough in Arkansas. We shall see. I just hate for my kids to be the guinea pigs.

Let me give you an example of how attitudes can influence decisions and expecting the worst may lead to exactly that.

We recently moved here from NM. Of course there is a very high perentage of hispanics in NM but a low percentage of blacks. Most blacks are stationed at Kirtland Airforce base. We live south of Alb in a small town that was maybe 10 black families of which 3 went to our church. One, a retired school teacher now in her 90s, a republican I may add, originally adopted by a white family (yes, that many years ago) and she did not feel out of place, another was a black man, similar story and the third a newly retired Airforce Colonel and his wife. She had been a university professioner but now teaches a couple of classes at the comminity college and is a motivational speaker. Obviously both are highly educated. There son, in the airforce is married to a white woman and they have 3 children..This family, again, btw all republicans, not that it matters. Anyway, they never felt any discrimination and thus were totally accepted by everyone. You may not know much about NM, but it rates close to AR in educational levels and poverty. If you take away Las Alamos and Sandia labs employees it would probably be rated lower than AR. I am wondering if you are not judging AR negatively because of your own prejudices. Yes, many recent graduates leave AR, as they did in NM but you seem to think it is only the black educated. Whtes also leave, probably because we don't have a great number of tech jobs nor much industry period. Not to mention salaries are not up to what kids can make other places and these same young people do not take cost of living into consideration. Our own granddaughter in OK, is facing this. She will soon get her masters degree in nursing from the University of OK and thinks she wants to go back to Texas because she can make more money. Her mom has tried to explain to her about the cost of living, even what she and her husband would have to pay to replace their home and what child care is going to cost. All she sees is how much more nurses get paid.

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by North Pulaski Player

All the brightest African-American kids in Arkansas move off as soon as they obtain their degrees or sooner. The sad realility is that they have no chance of living up to their full potential in a backwards state like Arkansas, which explains why so many black Arkansans are now in Atlanta and the Texas cities. The ones still here are only here because of family ties to the area - I would bet that none of you can name a single black person that moved to Arkansas and didn't have family here.

Read my last post, it is not only blacks, but young college grads period.

Nita

[bluenoter]

Originally Posted by North Pulaski Player

All the brightest African-American kids in Arkansas move off as soon as they obtain their degrees or sooner. The sad realility is that they have no chance of living up to their full potential in a backwards state like Arkansas, which explains why so many black Arkansans are now in Atlanta and the Texas cities. The ones still here are only here because of family ties to the area - I would bet that none of you can name a single black person that moved to Arkansas and didn't have family here.

All the black folks in San Francisco have left. Why? Because it is backwards.

[Sneezyone]

Did I say it was only black youth who leave? I believe I said minorities. They don't all leave after college either, as NPP said, DH and I both left after high school. I appreciate what's been said about self-fulfilling prophesies but , as I said, no one hopes that their children will be pigeonholed or subtly ostracised b/c of who they are and what they look like.

I'm not sure how anecdotal evidence about three black republican families in New Mexico is related to black folks in Arkansas who repeatedly hear some version of love it or leave it. NM and AR have two completely different historical legacies where black folks are concerned. Still, even New Mexico is progressing socially and economically in ways that Arkansas is not.

It is clear to me, based on the responses here, that there are still far too many people who are unwilling and/or unable to take a critical look at the state's atmospherics, acknowledge the seriousness of the problem, and work to change it.