If you weren’t already convinced that this moment in the long struggle for racial justice was different, consider this: Harrison and Cabot, cities with overwhelmingly white populations and ugly racial histories, both held peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrations Thursday.
Harrison, in particular, has struggled to overcome its reputation as sundown town and haven for white supremacists. Thom Robb, the national director of the Ku Klux Klan, lives in the unincorporated town of Zinc near Harrison, but uses a Harrison post office box. Leaders in Harrison have long worked to overcome its history and reputation, but according to the 2010 Census, the city remains 95 percent white. A task force on race relations has been at work since 2003.
Daniella Scott, a black woman who moved to Harrison in 2011, founded a Boone County group of Indivisible and organized yesterday’s demonstration. The Arkansas Times profiled her in 2018.
I talked this morning to photographer Beth Crenshaw, a lifelong Harrison resident who shared the photos above.
“It was just really beautiful to see that many people in our town with our racist history come together,” she said. “I can’t imagine that happening even 10 years ago.”
She guessed that around 150 attended the peaceful demonstration yesterday. She said she knew a number of people who had stayed away because they were scared bad actors would disrupt the peaceful gathering. There were people carrying AR-15 rifles standing on the edges of the demonstration; they maintained that they were there to protect property and peaceful protest, she said.
Will Yandell, a student at the University of Arkansas School of Law* whose Twitter coverage of protests in the last week has been invaluable as a record of the events, was on the scene yesterday in Cabot. Ninety-one percent of the Lonoke County city is white, according to the latest census. Cabot has long been a landing spot for white flight from Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Yandell captured video of Cabot Mayor Ken Kincade welcoming demonstrators and thanking them for raising awareness about racism. Kincade described Cabot as a “progressive city.”
A large block of predominantly white protestors put their fists in the air, declaring “black lives matter,” in Cabot, Arkansas – a city with a troubled history of racism. #cabotprotests pic.twitter.com/4kFUdIeK1T
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 4, 2020
The crowd in Cabot kneeling for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in silence – the same amount of time officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on George Floyd’s neck. #CabotProtests pic.twitter.com/Xy6AMDaeZ6
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 4, 2020
I’m going around the crowd asking people how they’re feeling. One woman said, “this couldn’t have happened 10/15 years ago. I’m pleasantly surprised.” A 3-day KKK rally was planned here in 2017. #cabotprotests #GeorgeFloydprotests pic.twitter.com/b0omB1YFJC
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 4, 2020
The protestors conclude the parade route in the parking lot of the Cabot Walmart. Everybody I’ve spoken to is a Cabot resident, and everyone I’ve asked is gobsmacked by the turnout. This is a small city in Arkansas. #cabotprotests pic.twitter.com/ShqgoZIgZC
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 5, 2020
But, like in Harrison, there were also heavily armed folks watching on the edge of the demonstration, who said they were there to protect property.
Lots of citizens out tonight who respond “we are here to keep property safe tonight,” despite a large police presence and the protest being downright polite. #CabotProtests pic.twitter.com/SHIDUNqOiq
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 5, 2020
The Aloha shirt boogaloo crowd is present. I asked them what brought them out. Again, they said they were here to protect property. #CabotProtests
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 5, 2020
This man poses in front of the Autozone. Some engage with him for a moment, but move on quickly, calling him an agitator and a distraction. He has moved ahead and reinserted himself in the parade route two times by my count. #cabotprotests pic.twitter.com/mJQs5XngWo
— Will 🧐 (@wtyandell) June 5, 2020
*A previous version of this post incorrectly said that Will Yandell attends UA Little Rock’s Bowen School of Law.
