[PurpleLove08]

I am not that person wanting to move here so I really can't answer the question.

Sometimes opportunities for jobs, lower cost of living, etc may outweigh the negatives of racism, heterosexism, xenophobia, etc.

To the OP: You'll be fine in the Jonesboro area for the most part. There have been some incidents where charges of racism were thrown out but you'll be fine. I know quite a few black people who attend ASU and they seem to like it. I'm not sure how it is for Hispanics but most of the time any racism you encounter will be subtle or you may not even notice it.

Also by not moving there, you'll be letting those who are racist against you win.

I hope you decide to move to AR. Don't let some of these people on this board scare you. There are plenty of welcoming people who are not present on this board who would be happy to have you.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by joetownmom

Other than that, in answer to your question, if everyone stayed with "their own kind", there would be no one but Native Americans here in the US and even in Arkansas.

People have every right to move somewhere new for various reasons - economic, cultural, whatever.

I have been to Watts and to East LA; I found both to have some positive points and my race was never an issue. Never.

However, in the great state of Arkansas, my religion is an issue, my ethnic background is an issue, and that is just for starters.

Arkansas is the only place where I can say that I have seen hooded Klansmen marching and picketing in broad daylight at the city auditorium in Rogers in the late 1970's.

I think that alone would answer - and explain - the original poster's questions about racial prejudice.

It wasn't the city auditorium because Rogers didn't have a city auditorium. And many in the city tried to stop that march. There was a petition that was widely supported by the community to stop it. The Klan was not and is not popular in Rogers. If you saw the Klansmen, then you saw that the picketers were protesting the Klan, not supporting it. That said, the town should have allowed them to protest. Free speech isn't free speech if the only speech protected is the stuff we like to hear. Just like allowing the tea parties to be organized in liberal communities is important.

More to the point, that was almost 40 years ago. Rogers had a population of less than 10,000 and pretty close to zero minorities. Just like Little Rock's Central High was all white over 50 years go. Times have changed. And changed quite a lot. Your "answer" didn't answer the OP, it was completely misleading.

[RogMar]

Originally Posted by joetownmom

Arkansas is the only place where I can say that I have seen hooded Klansmen marching and picketing in broad daylight at the city auditorium in Rogers in the late 1970's.

I've seen them in IL, WI, IN, and MO.

As a matter of fact, at one time in history, Indiana was *the* Klan state.

Largest membership in history, and even the Governor openly belonged.

I was in a central IL town, large town, about 7 years ago, and the downtown area was clogged because of the Klan rally.

For all the ballyhooing about Arkansas, the Klan, and racists, it doesn't hold a candle to a lot of states.

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

It wasn't the city auditorium because Rogers didn't have a city auditorium. And many in the city tried to stop that march. There was a petition that was widely supported by the community to stop it. The Klan was not and is not popular in Rogers. If you saw the Klansmen, then you saw that the picketers were protesting the Klan, not supporting it. That said, the town should have allowed them to protest. Free speech isn't free speech if the only speech protected is the stuff we like to hear. Just like allowing the tea parties to be organized in liberal communities is important.

More to the point, that was almost 40 years ago. Rogers had a population of less than 10,000 and pretty close to zero minorities. Just like Little Rock's Central High was all white over 50 years go. Times have changed. And changed quite a lot. Your "answer" didn't answer the OP, it was completely misleading.

It wasn't forty years ago; I'm not old enough for that. It was in the late 1970's and if it wasn't the city aud, then it's the armory right along the business 71 main drag that goes onto into Springdale and eventually Fayetteville.

It was a scary sight to see grown men prancing about in white robes and hoods with signs but it was real.

And unfortunately the racism that existed then still exists.

And I did answer the OP; if I were her, with her heritage, I wouldn't want to move to Arkansas because diversity is not respected, it's considered suspect.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by joetownmom

It wasn't forty years ago; I'm not old enough for that. It was in the late 1970's and if it wasn't the city aud, then it's the armory right along the business 71 main drag that goes onto into Springdale and eventually Fayetteville.

It was a scary sight to see grown men prancing about in white robes and hoods with signs but it was real.

And unfortunately the racism that existed then still exists.

And I did answer the OP; if I were her, with her heritage, I wouldn't want to move to Arkansas because diversity is not respected, it's considered suspect.

There isn't any more racism in Rogers than there is in Missouri. And having lived in Rogers at that time, I can tell you that the people of Rogers were upset and outraged that KKK members NOT FROM THE COMMUNITY decided to stage a march in Rogers, not because there was so much support in Benton County for the KKK but as a publicity stunt. It might have been scary to you, but to the people of Rogers it smacked more of the ridiculous. Silly men trying to make the 5 o'clock news.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by peluche912

We live in California, and the company that my husband works for is offering him a relocation to Jonesboro Arkansas, we are latin, not mexican, we don't have dark skin but latin, lots of people has told us that they are very racist down there and what worries us the most is our daughter, she's 3 and starting school pretty soon and we are worried that she's going to get teased because skin color she's whitter than we are, and of course now she's just 3 but later on kids can be cruel sometimes..... i've been reading and what i can find is that they are racist about african-americans but couldn't find much about latinos.....

Is there racism in Arkansas? What place doesn't have issues regarding races to some degree?

[adysmom]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

There isn't any more racism in Rogers than there is in Missouri. And having lived in Rogers at that time, I can tell you that the people of Rogers were upset and outraged that KKK members NOT FROM THE COMMUNITY decided to stage a march in Rogers, not because there was so much support in Benton County for the KKK but as a publicity stunt. It might have been scary to you, but to the people of Rogers it smacked more of the ridiculous. Silly men trying to make the 5 o'clock news.

What ever you may think of the K.K.K. they have the same right to have a rally as anyone else does. They may be trying to get on the 5 O'clock news that happens. But let's not leave out the million man march in D.C. lead by good ol Luis F. or the black panthers that were carrying clubs at a polling place harassing white voters, Could that have anything to do with a black running for president? And all the other black & Hispanic rallies that go on. Remember that mexican rally in Los Angeles where they marched on freeway, Did the Klan get out of hand and go crazy and do anything stupid like that? There are many violent black hate groups lets not make it sound like it's only whites because of the Klan.

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

There isn't any more racism in Rogers than there is in Missouri. And having lived in Rogers at that time, I can tell you that the people of Rogers were upset and outraged that KKK members NOT FROM THE COMMUNITY decided to stage a march in Rogers, not because there was so much support in Benton County for the KKK but as a publicity stunt. It might have been scary to you, but to the people of Rogers it smacked more of the ridiculous. Silly men trying to make the 5 o'clock news.

Any time grown men in any era, now or thirty years ago, feel a need to hide their face and identity behind white robes, then proclaim their supremacy in a public place, it is well beyond ridiculous and it is indeed frightening. Frightening that such mentalities can survive into this "modern" age.

I was there; driving by on that long ago day and it was a far bigger deal that some "silly men trying to make the 5 o'clock news". Paint it how you wish, color it with memory and whitewash it, try to make something evil ordinary if you wish but it's there.

Of course racism exists in Missouri, more than anywhere else in this far southwest corner but I never said it did not exist. But you don't find most people posting messages on nationwide message boards to stay away and stick with your own kind here in Missouri, none that I visit any way.

That racism still exists and is rampant is far from being just my individual opinion:

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Racism and Arkansas voters in the 2008 Presidential Election


A story in the Fulbright Review, a publication of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, caught my eye today. The headline is "Red, White and Blue," with an emphasis on "white." It reports on a study by three UA political science professors who considered the role of "symbolic racism" in the 2008 Presidential election in the states of Arkansas and Georgia.

What struck the researchers was that in Arkansas, there was no precedent for electing an African American as a governor or to Congress. The whole of the South was blue in the final tally, except for Arkansas, which resembled a red bull's eye. [/indent]This story (and apparently the study on which it reports) does not touch on rurality in relation to how Arkansans voted in the 2008 Presidential election, but I have written about that issue. Mod edit: CITATION VIOLATION

AND
Crews Face Racism in Northwest Arkansas



Reported by: KARK 4 News

Monday, Feb 16, 2009 @10:00am CST

http://arkansasmatters.com/media/jpg/power_outages2009-01-06-1231256813.jpg (broken link)

http://arkansasmatters.com/common/videoplayer/img/controller_220.gif (broken link)

A Madison County newspaper is reporting that a group of electric company workers from Pennsylvania trying to restore power to folks in the northwest Arkansas region have been subjected to racial slurs.

Out of the 100 plus crew, close to 40 of them are African-American.

Mod edit: COPYRIGHT VIOLATION

AND

[SIZE=3]Racism Perpetuated by Arkansas Sheriff.[/SIZE]
Bentonville County Sheriff Keith Ferguson makes racist remarks at a local meeting.
December 7, 2007

Washington, DC. The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization is outraged with the racist remarks made by Sheriff Keith Ferguson in Bentonville County, Arkansas while holding a meeting in a local café. The current sheriff distastefully “joked” that a Hispanic waiter working at the café was probably working illegally and probably could not understand English because of her ethnicity. Mod edit: COPYRIGHT VIOLATION


AND ONE MORE JUST FOR EMPHASIS Arkansas
Volunteers Face Racism and Threats
Mod edit: COPYRIGHT VIOLATION

 Mod edit: OLD NEWS: NOTHING TO SEE HERE

[joetownmom]

And if anyone still doesn't think there is rampant racism in Arkansas, click on this site....it was sickening and disgusting to me.

Link to KKK removed

[Mollym313]

Originally Posted by adysmom

For the reasons that you moved out of Arkansas Is the same reasons why many move into Arkansas, And would have it no other way.

I don't seem to understand if some people are so worried about racism in Arkansas why do you want to move here in the first place? Stay where you can be with your own people and be happy.

Until we stop using terms like "your own people" any minority has just cause to be concerned about race relations in new, unfamiliar communities.
Unfortunately, I recently watched a very disturbing documentary about Harrison, Ark. News travels fast when the KKK is well known and "some" have moved to that area because of "the lack of blacks."

Unfortunately not all there feel that way but when that is a public presence in a community it exudes racism throughout. I'm not saying its fair but I understand. I also think its unfair to judge the whole state on the racist views of some.