Strength is not only the power to exact change, but also the endurance to persevere. There are many examples throughout Arkansas history in which we not only used our power to exact change, but powered through the adversity plaguing us with strike. The most prominent example that comes to mind is when the Little Rock Nine stood up against segregation, and started to integrate into Little Rock Central High School. They used their strong wills and powerful minds to go against social and political practices. Understanding that though the fight would be tough, the positive ramifications it would have on the next generations was worth the price.

That sort of selflessness and self sacrificial mindset is the embodiment of Arkansas strength. They were met with many threats against not only their lives, but of the lives of the people they hold dear. Unfortunately the threats did not just stop at verbal assault. Many of them, Like Ernest Green, were physically assaulted by their white classmates. Even amidst the violence, they did not stop persevering. They were able to use their strength to start the integration process, but the battle was far from over. In 1958, Little Rock high schools were closed for an entire academic year. An attempt to ice out the strong willed Arkansas, amidst the political, social, and legal controversy. But they did not back down, they remained headstrong and waited for their time to shine. In May of 1958, Ernest Green became not only the first African American student to take classes at Little Rock Central High School, but he also became the first African American student to graduate from there as well.

This cataclysmic moment became the first ripple in an ever changing title wave that swept the nation. Little by little, other districts, cities, and even states started to use the Little Rock Nine as a symbol for hope, and a symbol for change. This would not be the first or the last time that Arkansas has become a beacon for hope and an inspiration across the nation. In 1992, Arkansas native Bill Clinton was elected as President of the United States. Bill Clinton was able to take all the core values that Arkansans hold dear, and amplify them on a nationwide scale. During his presidency, the United States saw its lowest unemployment rate in the past 30 years. He was able to create more than 22 million new jobs. Just like the Little Rock Nine, he used his power to enact change. He ensured internet access to over 95 percent of all schools, he raised the educational standards, which increased reading and math scores on the SAT. Overall Bill Clinton and the Little Rock Nine are perfect examples of what make Arkansas strong. And that is the fact that Arkansans are strong willed and well mannered, always fighting to tackle injustices and inequalities they see. Arkansas is strong because it sees where change is needed, and becomes that change.

Works Cited:

“Te Clinton Presidency: A Historic Era of Progress and Prosperity .” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://clintonwhitehouse5.archives.gov/WH/Accomplishments/eightyears-01.html. 

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Being biracial, it’s easy to feel out of place. Sometimes it is all in my head, but a lot of the time people make it blatantly obvious that they see me more for my racial makeup than my actual person. If I socialize with one race, I am often perceived too much of my other race, resulting in me being treated differently. When things like that happen, I try to brush it off as much as possible. But when that inevitably does not work, I find myself feeling I must choose one race over the other even when I enjoy being both. Some perspective: there are times I catch myself acting like a chameleon, changing colors whenever I feel threatened. It can be exhausting and disheartening, because I think about how people can’t accept me for me and look past my color and the way I speak. But I am working on just being me, no matter what people think.

Growing up in a white community with a white family and white friends was hard on me as a brown, little girl. I hated strangers glaring at my family in stores. I hated their preconceived notions not only about me but my mother. And I hated feeling like an outsider at various get-togethers. I remember being twelve and being rejected by a boy I liked because his parents did not allow him to date black girls and then me telling my friends, “I was almost white. I was almost acceptable.” With good intentions, they responded with, “If it makes you feel any better, you’re the whitest-black person I know.” Now that I am older, I see how ignorant and hurtful that conversation was to my self-esteem. But at the time, I took what they said as a compliment. Anything that made me come across as less-black made me happy, because that is what the environment around me said was for the best. If anybody saw me as anything but white, it hurt my feelings. You can only imagine how many times my feelings were hurt considering the fact I am literally brown. Now that I am older, it is comical to think about, but at the time I felt like I was losing my mind trying to be something I was not. Nor ever will fully be.

At nineteen years old, I can proudly say I now love being black as much as I love being white. As I mature and educate myself more on the world, I realize my mismatched family and I were never the problem. Instead the narrow-minded people who surrounded us were. Times are gradually—but for sure—changing. I see interracial couples with biracial kids more often. I think about is how I hope they never feel like they must present themselves a certain way for the sake of other people. That is how it feels to be biracial me.

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