EYE ON ARKANSAS
Editorial n Who wouldn’t want to watch Sarah Palin put her refudiation hold on Michele Bachmann? The latest Republican presidential primary will be scary for sure — they all are — but this one may be scary in an entertaining way, “Mama Grizzly v. Mad Michie.” Bachmann just got through confusing John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy, the multiple murderer from her hometown (and if Bachmann is elected president, Gacy will be only the second-worst thing to come out of Waterloo, Iowa.), and identifying John Quincy Adams as one of the Founding Fathers, or was that John Gacy Adams? Palin is equally addled. In her version of American history, Paul Revere rides out to warn the British that the Americans are here, and the Founding Fathers, whoever they are, recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Ronald Reagan didn’t know Grover Cleveland the president from Grover Cleveland Alexander the pitcher, even though he’d played the latter in a movie. In the heat of competition, Bachmann and Palin can beat that, we imagine. Moderator: Why do we revere Abraham Lincoln? Bachmann: He made an expensive car for Republicans to drive. Palin: And he drove it to warn the British they were on the wrong side of the road. These will be debates worth watching.
Ghost passers in the sky n Preston Carpenter, who caught it, and Buddy Benson, who threw it, are both gone now, and even those who remember it are declining in number. Carpenter’s death last week, at 77, is reason enough for old-time Razorback fans to once again celebrate the 66-yard touchdown pass that beat Ole Miss in 1954 and more or less began the modern — that is, “successful” — era of Arkansas football. Benson died earlier this year. People who’d never followed the Razorbacks became fans in ’54. The national media, which usually covered only Notre Dame, took notice of Arkansas for the first time. Younger Hog fans can’t recall the passion of the Texas rivalry, much less that before Frank Broyles came to Arkansas, Ole Miss, not Texas, was our bitterest enemy. Arkansas football was different after 1954, not that we haven’t suffered the occasional disappointment since. Just a few years later, an official awarded the Ole Miss game to the Rebels though they missed the “winning” field goal. A few years later still, his brother-in-law arranged a Tennessee “victory” in the Liberty Bowl. There was the pooch kick. And just last January, Ohio State profited from its use of ineligible players. But cheaters never really prevail, and the games that count are those won honestly: Arkansas 6, Ole Miss 0, 1954.
201 East Markham Street, 200 Heritage Center West, P.O. Box 34010, Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Home page: http://www.arktimes.com • E-mail: arktimes@arktimes.com PUBLISHER Alan Leveritt EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHER
MANAGING EDITOR
ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR
SENIOR EDITOR
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Lindsey Millar Leslie Newell Peacock
Brian Chilson Mike Spain
Max Brantley
Patrick Jones
Mara Leveritt
Rafael Méndez Bryan Moats Sandy Sarlo
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Erik Heller Katherine Smith Daniels Angie Wilson
REAL ESTATE SALES EXECUTIVE Tiffany Holland
CLASSIFIED SALES EXECUTIVE Challis Muniz
David Koon Bob Lancaster Gerard Matthews Doug Smith
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING MANAGER
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Robert Bell
Michelle Miller, Manager
SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Phyllis A. Britton
Kai Caddy
Tiffany Holland
Heather Baker Kelly Ferguson Josh Bramlett
ADVERTISING TRAFFIC MANAGER Roland R. Gladden
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Kelly Schlachter
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Tracy Whitaker
IT DIRECTOR
Robert Curfman
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Anitra Hickman
CONTROLLER Weldon Wilson
BILLING/COLLECTIONS Linda Phillips
OFFICE MANAGER Angie Fambrough
PRODUCTION MANAGER Ira Hocut (1954-2009)
association of alternative newsweeklies
FOR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE CALL: (501) 375-2985
16 JULY 6, 2011 • ARKANSAS TIMES
BRIAN CHILSON
History, look out
GOING, GOING ... : Yarnell’s ice cream was disappearing from store shelves last week after the company abruptly ceased operation Thursday after 78 years in business.
Beebe’s place in history n Gov. Mike Beebe last week spoke to Stonewall Democrats, whose money he rejected in 2010 because the group represents gays and lesbians in Arkansas. He told them he opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions. He tacitly supported Arkansas law that allows discrimination against homosexuals in housing and employment. The only thing missing was his endorsement of the successful efforts to defeat hate crime legislation in Arkansas, a law that failed because it included homosexuals in its protection. He also lectured the group on its need to be tolerant of its oppressors. I was going to write something about this shocking performance, but Ginna Wallace, a recent graduate of UALR, sent me a letter she’d written to the governor. I give her the floor. Governor Beebe, You need to hear a story my father tells me about my grandmother, for whom I am named. It was a day in September 1957, and he was in the kitchen, watching my grandmother do the dishes. She looked out the window and saw a line of military vehicles passing in front of the house. She became enraged. She threw down her dishtowel and ran outside with her apron on to shake her fist angrily and yell at the passing vehicles. The vehicles carried troops of the 101st Airborne, on their way to help the Little Rock Nine attend Central High School, where the Nine’s very lives were in danger from people like my grandmother because they simply wanted equality. I wonder if you think what my grandmother did was wrong. I wonder if you can imagine the shame I feel when I tell this story. My memories of my grandmother are good ones. She was always so kind. She was the perfect example of a Southern belle to
Max Brantley max@arktimes.com
me. She also went to her grave holding on to her racist beliefs. It’s easy to say, “But that’s just how things/people were back then.” But that is the wrong answer. Without the people who stood up to question that type of behavior, we would never have had positive change. I tell you this story, Governor Beebe, as a warning. My shame will become your grandchildren’s shame if you do not change your words and your actions. When you spoke in front of the Stonewall Democrats, you told them that you do not believe they deserve the same rights afforded their heterosexual neighbors. You told them that not only should they accept their second-class status, but that they also should refrain from being visible and active in demanding change. You have a choice, governor, in the same way that Gov. George Wallace had a choice. He chose to change from the easy answer to the right answer. Sixteen years after his 1963 inaugural speech in which he spoke of segregation today, tomorrow and forever, he said: “I was wrong. Those days are over and they ought to be over.” Hear me when I say, Gov. Beebe, that if you do not open your eyes and realize you are wrong just as Gov. Wallace was wrong, just as my grandmother was wrong, that your grandchildren will remember you with shame in their hearts. I pray for you just as I pray for my grandmother. Susan Virginia Wallace