By Glynn Wilson –

HARRISON, Ark. – It seems fitting to visit Boone County on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, since Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the area, beginning with cliff dwellers who lived in caves in the bluffs along the Buffalo and White Rivers.

The Osage Sioux were the dominant tribe, along with the Shawnee, Quapaw and Caddo people, according to the town’s Wikipedia page. The trouble started when the Cherokee arrived in 1816 and did not get along with the Osage. Hostilities erupted into a full-scale war in the Ozark Mountains, and by the 1830s, both tribes were removed to Indian Territory across the state line into Oklahoma.

Two race riots in the early 20th century and an influx of white supremacist organizations during the late 20th and early 21st centuries would later scar the reputation of the area, which achieved sensational national tabloid fame in November, 2016, as “the most racist town in America.”

Exclusive Nov. 24/25 2016: Inside the most racist town in America where “diversity is a code word for white genocide” – The Daily Mirror’s Christopher Bucktin visited the Ku Klux Klan stronghold, Harrison, Arkansas, where white supremacy has long been a way of life:

The Daily Mirror’

Their fame, or infamy, depending on your point of view, grew more with a viral video from a Michigan activist, simply filming racist reactions to his one man campaign to display a Black Lives Matter flag in town by the Walmart.

Video

That controversy set off a chain of events that resulted in a joint resolution signed by the Harrison City Council, the Boone County Quorum Court and the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce on September 3, 2020.

“A video was released … on YouTube that featured individuals angry at a Black Lives Matter protester. Boone County Judge Robert Hathaway joined Harrison Mayor Jerry Jackson and Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Bob Largent by issuing the following statement:

“The video does not represent Boone County nor the City of Harrison. While we cannot excuse the reprehensible behavior and words of individuals recorded in the video, we know for certain that they do not reflect the views of the majority of the good people of our communities. It is obvious there is still work to be done in our area and across the nation. We must constantly strive to do better, and we pledge our continued efforts in that regard.”

The area remains a Ku Klux Klan stronghold, however, with the older white nationalists with white robes and pointy hats joined by younger bigots and racists who identify themselves with the alt-right and even Adolph Hitler’s Nazi Party, exemplified by a new generation of “white power” advocates like Richard Spencer, who galvanized followers in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 by declaring that then president Donald Trump “loves white people.”

Trump for president signs and flags still adorn many farm houses in the rural, agricultural area, although some are tattered and others have disappeared from neglect as the Trump MAGA movement seems to have lost much of its steam.

But vigilance is the watchword as Election Day Nov. 5, 2024 looms like a historical marker that could be the end of American democracy as we know it, or another banner day in the history of the Republic when the people rise up to defeat those who would destroy this democratic republic and turn the United States into a white nationalist theocracy.

“America was, until this past generation, a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity,” Spencer declared in trying to increase support for this anti-democratic movement. “It is our creation, it is our inheritance and it belongs to us.” His dream was “a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans.”

He drew applause even in Washington, D.C. by shouting “Hail Trump. Hail our people. Hail victory” as a cadre of followers gave Nazi salutes.

Red flags went up about this right-wing uprising in 2015 and 2016, when Trump first announced his campaign for president and promised to build a wall on the southern border to keep out immigrants, calling them “criminals and rapists.”

The move won support from Andrew Anglin, the publisher of neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer, who wrote: “Jews, blacks and lesbians will be leaving America if Trump gets elected – and he’s happy about it.”

But when Spencer and Jason Kessler and their tiny band of white boys from Virginia, described as white nationalists, white supremacists or neo-Nazis, tried to make a show of bringing their racist message to the nation’s capital in the summer of 2018 to allegedly “Unite the (political) Right,” their “rally” of about 10 guys was cut short and they may not have made it out unscathed if not for a massive show of force by the DC Metro Police. They were vastly outnumbered by anti-racist counter protesters chanting “No Trump! No KKK! No fascist USA!”

It was the first anniversary of the protest in Charlottesville over a statue of Robert E. Lee, where city leaders denied Kessler a permit for fear of more violence. The Metropolitan Police in Washington geared up for the event with a massive show of force, blocking off all the streets and sidewalks for blocks around the White House, where President Donald Trump was absent, spending the weekend at his golf resort in New Jersey.

The president was not forgotten by the 10,000 or so protesters, however, made up of peace activists, liberal groups, Democrats, Black Lives Matter members, Methodists preaching love and the AntiFa Army dressed in black with covered faces ready for war with the Nazis had they not been escorted in and out of the rally by the Secret Service, DC police and the Metro Transit Agency. We were there to cover it.

Neo-Nazis Vastly Outnumbered by Anti-Racist Protesters in DC Rally and March

This week, the Democratic Party of Arkansas issued a statement on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

“Today, we celebrate and thank the Indigenous Peoples’ who have called Arkansas home for centuries,” the statement reads. “Our state will forever be enriched with your culture, legacy, and the enduring contributions that serve our state and lands to this day.”

And a Black man running for Congress, Rodney Govens of Cabot, Arkansas, came to speak to a group of Democrats at North Arkansas Community College this week about the real problems facing the people here.

Like many Southern states, including Alabama, these right-wing MAGA Republicans have taken over as a super majority in the state capitol of Little Rock.

They turned down a billion dollars a year from the federal government for health care in a political protest of the first African American President, Barack Obama, leaving many counties here without a hospital or even a doctor in general practice or an OBGYN, an obstetrician gynecologist to deliver babies and take care of a woman’s reproductive health.

Women and babies are dying as a result, leaving Arkansas at the top of the list of states in the category of infant and maternal mortality.

“Our nation’s healthcare system has a serious shortage of doctors, nurses, mental health providers, dentists, physical therapists — you name it, there’s a worsening shortage of credentialed workers to meet Americans’ needs — and it’s hitting our rural counties the hardest,” Govens says on the campaign trail. “The people of Arkansas deserve better, and our current members of Congress are sitting on over a dozen proposals to help solve our healthcare workforce shortages – yet they’ve have taken no action.”

Even after the Obama administration passed the first law ever to regulate the private health care system, the Affordable Care Act, and funded federal health insurance for millions of people who had been denied care, including for “preexisting conditions,” Govens says the healthcare system is still failing many, especially in small towns.

“Imagine needing medical help and having to drive hours just to see a doctor, or having to wait at least a week even if you drive two counties over,” Govens says. “Industry leaders have been warning of a coming workforce crisis and begging Congress to act for several years. All the signs and data from 2024 so far shows that the healthcare workforce crisis is already here.”

A new Healthcare Workforce Report summarizes the situation, citing a half-dozen reports and surveys, all revealing that the healthcare professionals who haven’t left the field yet are burning out faster than ever, and the number of Americans with no nearby access to primary care is rapidly rising.

What does this mean here in Arkansas?

“Those of you living in he First District don’t need to see statistics,” Govens says. “You already know you have to drive 30 miles or more and wait at least a week to see a doctor for the flu. God help you if you need to see a cardiologist after a heart attack event. Specialists are even harder to get in to see.”

But he provides the statistics on his website and Facebook page, including the fact that 22 of the 31 counties in the First District are federally designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas due to having too few (or no) primary care physicians.

For every 3,500 residents, at least one full-time primary care physician is needed, he points out, or one for every 3,000 residents if the population is older and likely to need more health services. Baxter County, a hotspot for retirees with a higher median age than surrounding counties, direly needs more PCPs despite having one of the region’s biggest health systems.

Half of Arkansas counties have no primary care, no midwives, and no maternity care at all, he says. Arkansas ranks 45th worst in the nation for access to maternity care.

Crittenden County has no maternity care at all and is also on the federal HPSA list, while Lonoke County also lacks any maternity care, despite growing in population and not being so rural.

“This is unacceptable,” Govens says. “I’m committed to making healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone. Congress needs to do its job and pass legislation to invest in our healthcare workforce.”

Despite the urgency of the situation — even lobbyists are now begging lawmakers to do something — Congress hasn’t made any real progress on the dozen-plus proposals from this session that would expand healthcare education programs and make it easier for healthcare organizations to hire, train and retain staff.

Several important bills are stuck in limbo, Govens says, in the House now run by Speaker Mike Johnson, which has been called the Do Nothing Congress only concerned with promoting Trump and blocking any legislation to help Americans, including a bill to tackle the problems at the Southern Border which was killed at Trump’s behest.

“This is why I’m running for Congress,” Govens says. “It’s time we tackle our problems — including the healthcare workforce crisis.”

The Republicans are also robbing the federal dollars set aside for public education and funneling it to private, Christian schools, where critics say there is no accountability.

Arkansas LEARNS — The Sarah Huckabee Sanders Education Plan

But as long as people are being fooled by bad, misinformation on the internet and cable television channels like Fox News, it will be up to Democrats and the independent web press to get an accurate message out about what’s really going on out here in rural America.

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