Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Arkansas Culture and Characters Tote that barge, lift that bale
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 6:15 PM
It turns out we were not alone in being struck weirdly by the image adorning a recent cover of Front Porch, the publication that goes out to members of the Arkansas Farm Bureau. (Wednesday update: A reader objected to my original crop of cover image, which was available on link I supplied, so I've substituted full image.)
Another was Caleb Smith, a Fayetteville native who teaches English and American studies at Yale. It so happens he's author of a prize-winning and widely lauded book, "The Prison and the American Imagination." In it, he wrote of a "poetics of penitentiary" in which some seem to find something enobling in the redemption promised for servitude and degradation visited on American inmates.
But never mind me. Let's just let Smith comment on the photo. (Parker Westbrook can comment on the illegal punctuation on the possessive of Arkansas — it's Arkansas's not Arkansas', since a pedantic reader demands more info.) He sent us the letter below. "A bad joke," he says, underlying a darker theme about prisons' resegregation of America. "Cool watermelon recipes" indeed. His letter:
I’m a native Arkansan with a longstanding interest in our prison system.When I first saw the cover of the latest issue of “Front Porch,” the official magazine of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, I thought it was a bad joke. The racist picture shows an African American inmate standing in the fields of one of the state’s prison farms. He holds a rusty, beat-up hoe, and his head is wrapped in a rag. Behind him, a guard on horseback oversees the scene. The visual connections to the history of slavery and segregation are obvious.
Historians like David Oshinsky, the author of “Worse than Slavery,” have worked hard to show how prison farms emerged as replacements for the plantations of the Old South. In the post-Reconstruction era, the criminal justice system was reinvented to serve the interests of wealthy planters and white supremacists. And legal scholars like Michelle Alexander, the author of “The New Jim Crow,” have shown how today’s prison system is working to resegregate America, pushing back against the advances of the Civil Rights era. I discussed some of these problems in my own book, “The Prison and the American Imagination.”
If anyone doubts these facts, I would encourage them to take a look at the numbers. According to The Sentencing Project, Arkansas imprisons African Americans at a rate four times higher than whites, and 9% of the state’s black population has been disenfranchised by our criminal justice system. These statistics only begin to tell the story of the many lives that have been disrupted and destroyed by the system of mass incarceration.
What makes the issue of “Front Porch” such a strange, startling document, though is the way it presents this racist system as a normal, inoffensive reality. The headline cheerfully announces, “Ag[riculture] a big part of inmates’ lives.” Just below these words, the magazine promises “Cool watermelon recipes.” Is this 2011, I wonder, or 1861?
Caleb Smith
Associate Professor of English and American Studies
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Comments (53)
Showing 1-50 of 53
Well, we ARE talking about Arkansas Farm Bureau, after all. Are you serious? Was there not one adult/educated/conscious person in that organization that saw that cover mock-up before it went to press, to say Oh, HELL no? Really?
like
dislike
Whoever put that "Cool watermelon recipes" there is a genius. Evil genius, but still a genius.
"These statistics only begin to tell the story of the many lives that have been disrupted and destroyed by the system of mass incarceration."
I hate that we have disrupted the lives of so many hardened criminals. The cover may have been poor judgement, but the article itself was interesting and informative. What's wrong with making our prison's a little efficient???
Arkansas Take Action should spend the rest of Eddie Vedder's money fighting for the Alford Plea for all the prisoners.
Whoops, another kind of independent possessive there ...
But to be honest, Max, I was taught, by the crumudgeonly Mrs. B in the days of yore, that simply tacking an apostrophe on the tail of an s-ending word was legit -- although "s-ending" and "legit" would have drawn a rap or two.
Oh, the cover? Some kinda dumb.
You can add a single apostrophe if the noun is plural or ancient, but not if it's just a singular noun that happens to end in S.
The problem with prisons being competition with other industry? They do not have to screen their applicants, no background checks required, no credit checks, no education requirements, state paid medical and dental, education programs, wage open to discussion,LOL. So no one see's what is wrong with this picture, if it is so perfect then prisons should cost the state nothing to run, right? I take it that this is the reason for prison industry, to be self sufficient. But what if there is a shortage in the labor force, how do you fill that shortage?
When I first looked at the cover, I did so without seeing who puts out the publication. My immediate reaction was 'Why is the AT reprinting the cover of something off some white supremist website? This promises to be interesting.'
Is the African American man sitting on the horse supposed to make this any less offensive? This whole picture makes me uncomfortable.
If there is a legitimate story to be told, it should be a stand-alone piece, wihtout the theatrics of a racist photo.
For years and years and years, the Arkansas Prison System was self-sufficient because of the slave labor from prisoners. That is why Lee Hensley, the longtime director of the prison system back in the 1950s and 1960s could get away with all kind of inhumane treatment of prisoners--beatings, the "Tucker Telephone," etc--because the prisons were not costing the taxpayers anything. As long as the prisons were not costing the public anything, the public turned its head and closed its eyes. Winthrop Rockefeller, governor from 1966 until 1970, changed all of that. He instituted real reform in the prison system, and pretty well stopped the brutality (with isolated exceptions), but the idea that prison should grow all its own food and make money from other crops still survives. I don't think there is anything wrong with working prisoners, as long as it is not discriminatory, which apparently the English professor does not think it is. Several years ago, my wife and I were driving back from the Gulf Coast up Highway 65 and saw one of the hoe squads spread out across the field beside the highway. My wife was shocked, because she did not think such existed. They had the mounted shotgun guards, but I will say, I noticed whites among the prisoners. Were there as many whites as blacks. I don't know.
I wish they would have put a meth-mouth white dude with one and a half teeth on the cover. All ninety-eight pounds of him struggling to lift the hoe. And the guard should have a shotgun.
"Cool beef jerky recipes"
LOL, Dave.
I am not a native Arkansan and have lived in other states. Believe me, most of the rest of this nation believes that all of us who choose to live here are racist, dumbass hillbillies. Arkansas Farm Bureau did nothing but reinforce that attitude.
Before people judge the publication or the publisher, maybe they should read the article. If, as dave23 said, there was a White guy on the cover of the magazine, maybe talking about pilates and organic produce, I would find this article no more or less offensive. Just because something happens to fall along the lines of some idiot's stereotype doesn't mean that it should be completely ignore. Or in this case, just because there are wrongful stereotypes out there of do-rags and watermelons associated with the Black community does not mean that the cover is racist.
I agree that the prison system in the South tends to resegregate society, and it needs to be reformed. However, other than that, Caleb Smith's comments about race and this cover are not well made.
As a progressive, I look to the day when our society will not be up in arms about the perception of racism, i.e. this cover, and will instead get upset about true racism. This is false outrage about being politically correct. If you want to talk about a true racial injustice, there are plenty of examples. For instance, bring up the point that Congressman Tim Griffin is the honoree of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Toast and Roast next month here in central AR. Talk of a man who has done much to disenfranchise the black electorate and undermine the Black community. Get upset about that, not this cover.
anon, I see your point. Didn't know BBBS was bringing in Tim as an honored guest. Too bad they didn't do their homework.
The photo certainly represents "normal" for a whole lot of Arkansans. I don't know if they hide this type of activity outside of public view these days.. but it's real, it's truth. The chain gangs were alongside roads and highways all through my childhood ... Not that far outside of Little Rock... and were for generations before mine. Nobody ever considered it anything but normal. I would be shocked, pleasantly so, if that's changed. Looks like the Farm Bureau conducted an act of honest journalism to me. Many of y'all must not know what goes on, always perceived as normal in huge portions of your state, your own backyard.
I would certainly agree the practice, the system, is racist as can be, but to call the photo, the reporting racist is to deny reality and demonstrate contempt for reporting of it like only teabaggers used to do around here. Bunch of pearl-clutchers don;t want to know what happens still... in their own backyard.
Frankly, if I had photoshop I would be cut and pasting Obama's face over the guards tonight. I would imagine a whole lot of African Americans now see the Obama presidency... as they see the guard oppressing the labor in this cover.
On a prison related note... I forget what if anything happened in AR on this issue.. Max covered it for a while. VA is changing their tune a little.
In a Victory, Virginia Prisons Will Limit the Shackling of Pregnant Women
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2011/08…
Prison reform in Arkansas really started with J. Smith Henley, a then rare Republican from Searcy County whom Ike appointed to the federal bench in 1958, back when "respectable Republican" was not an oxymoron. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas:
In an early prison suit, Henley ruled that the prison could not withhold reasonable medical attention from prisoners, and he instituted a ban on corporal punishment without appropriate safeguards. In 1968, Henley consolidated a batch of prisoners’ petitions, certified them as a class action, and appointed excellent attorneys to represent the class. In his 1970 decision of Holt v. Sarver, Henley held that the entire Arkansas prison system, a “brutal world run by brutal people,” violated the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment.
http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclop…
There are more details in a book by Feely and Rubin, including the appointment of Jack Holt and Phil Kaplan to serve pro bono, excerpted here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=0S9IQTXjr…
But. But. Still. It's 2011. Unless it was someone's idea of a joke, you don't put "watermelon recipes" on that cover. You just don't. Bottom line.
I agree, Mrs. Frankweiler; you don't. Especially when we live in a society in which this visual requires no explanation:
http://www.racismreview.com/blog/wp-conten…
Max, the cover was bad enough in the original. You shouldn't've run a cropped image that unfairly emphasizes the "Cool watermelon recipes"--you know, even repeating that seems like unfair emphasis, like kicking someone while he's down--by omitting the "Tornado safety plan" two-liner below. I mean, the original is so awful. No need to give anyone a nit to pick.
Caleb Smith ran the full version in his blog: http://www.imaginedprisons.org/2011/08/ark…
So should you.
But Mrs. F, ALL racists think it's funny! That's the whole point of that appalling cover. It's all a joke! The racism, the resegregation blacks through the prison system . . . ad infinitum. Hah, hah! Nudge, nudge.
They get by with it in 2011 because nobody in their Good Ol' Boy hick Bible Belt towns has the guts to call them on it.
My favorite? Overheard at an upscale holiday party in The Rock, before I left for my Australian and Asian tour and returned to the City of Angels?
"I went to WalMart and saw these Obama Christmas tree ornaments. Ain't that a bitch? Suddenly it's okay to hang a nigger from a tree again."
People actually chuckled. Nobody said a thing to the jerk.
I turned, went into the bedroom to retrieve my wrap and quickly said goodbye to the hosts, feigning that "I just got a message that something's come up." I hadn't been there thirty minutes. Hadn't even finished one drink.
Who wants to live around people like that? Who wants to grow a business around them? Raise families around them? People just like them: That's who.
There are some wonderful people in The Rock and in The Natural State.
They're outnumbered
Outnumbered by people like those who think it's funny to publish that magazine cover. They'll faux apologize with, "We're sorry if the cover offended anyone," after the fact.
Honestly? I first thought it was an ill-targeted satire riff from the Onion. "Cool Watermelon Recipes" superimposed on THAT cover?
I look on the bright side and always find terrific people to hang with, wherever I am. Including The Rock, where I made wonderful friends -- Black, White, Latino, Asian., LGBT and Straight, Names and Nobodies.
But the truth is that Arkansas is STILL, after all this time since its inception, underneath its veneer of phony folksy charm, pretty ugly.
The powers-that-be apparently like it that way.
I've nothing but admiration for the Max Brantleys and liberals there, who fight mightily, decade after decade, to make a silk purse out of the place.
I KNOW some of my Razorbabies are confused about all this "dominionist" stuff. I feel your pain.
So let this article make it perfectly clear.
"Despite a recent argument by the Daily Beast's Michelle Goldberg that 'we have not seen this sort of thing [Tea Party religious dominionism] at the highest levels of the Republican Party before,' it's been there since at least 1980. Michele Bachmann is a product of it; so was Mike Huckabee. Ronald Reagan pandered to it; so did both Bushes; so does Perry."
http://www.salon.com/news/michele_bachmann…
Fell all clear-headed now?
Speaking of the Onion: "White-Hot GOP Race Down To Two Mentally Ill People, Person Who Lost Nomination Last Time."
http://www.theonion.com/articles/whitehot-…
Because I don't want to confused my Razorbabies even FURTHER, about dominionism, here's a better link that that piece.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_roo…
Well, Norma, I would certainly tend to agree with you. I love my family, friends, neighborhood, my work; almost everything about living in Little Rock. But that cover? Nevermind the West Memphis Three. That cover. And if the blatant pointy-hooded racism weren't enough? "Tornado Safety Tips". Maybe this really is hell.
For anon and anyone else who doesn't think the cover has hideous racist overtones -- I'm wondering what planet you've been living on. The publication's name is bad enough: Front Porch. When considered outside the context of this cover, sure, it seems innocent enough. When considered alongside a photo of a black man working in a field, it takes on a whole different connotation. Of course, Farm Bureau wasn't done there. No. They had to make sure to pick a black man with a rag on his head to be their cover model. Then they had to throw in the bit about watermelons at the bottom.
If you don't see that as flat-out offensive, then you are most likely part of the disease. You identify yourself as a 'progressive,' but I'm guessing what you really mean is 'Arkansas progressive,' which is, as far as I can tell an offshoot of 'Arkansas Democrat,' which means to the rest of the country, you're just plain backwards.
Let me add quickly -- The defense of the magazine cover by a self-proclaimed 'progressive' reminds me of the Arkansas Times' hideous, offensive defense of regressive, harmful sales tax on groceries in this state. Again, there's progressive, and there's Arkansas progressive.
Direct download of the magazine from FB themselves.
http://arfb.com/news_information/front-por…
There IS a methmouth white inmate featured in a photograph inside.
I find it funny that everyone commenting on this page still clings to the racist Jim Crow laws that disarms blacks in this state.
Shame...this really for me may be the "last straw," I really may have to move. The Arkansas Farm Bureau...for God's Sake.
What it says, really, is that ALL Arkansas farmers -- represented in their Arkansas Farm Bureau magazine -- think this way.
Maybe they do.
If I were an Arkansas farmer who wasn't a racist, I'd raise holy hell.
Silence is deafening.
Holy Guano, Batman! A few quotes from the prison inmate article.
"One thing that makes running a prison farm especially difficult is inmate turnover."
"Hoe squad is the modern equivalent of the chain gang. (“We try not to use that phrase anymore,” said ADC agricultural administrator Mark McCown.)"
"You can eat like an inmate, too."
when you look at the magazine you do see pictures of the prisoners riding to work, working in the field, meat plant etc.....and there are whites there as well as blacks..."Because they represent the worst-behaved
segment of the prison population, hoe squads are supervised by armed guards." "In the Arkansas prison system every inmate has a job" ..for all that are appalled at the Arkansas Prison system, I am sure we will be glad to parole one to your house to be watched over, fed, and bedded in your home...
Norma's exit from the holiday party brought back thoughts of my own uncomfortable experience with this sort of thing this year.
Although I was born here, generations of my family are from here, I spent my youth here, and a few years ago made the decision to come back here, I lived most of my adult life elsewhere. When you remove yourself from the South, you come to understand that acceptable traditions here, are not acceptable elsewhere.
We travel a lot and in the culture we are involved with (pro sports) you learn quickly that talent is talent, regardless of the appearance of the package that contains it. Our circle of frends includes blacks, whites, latinos and asians.
We had work done on our property this spring that involved several heavy equipment operators and construction people to be here for an extended period of time. For the first time, in a very long time, I actually heard the N-word come out of someone's mouth!
The first time I heard it, I wanted to believe my aging ears were failing me and tried to let it pass. But I continued to hear it, so I knew I wasn't mistaken. But equally as offensive were the Hispanic slurs. I began to believe that amoung this group, making fun of the Hispanics was the new, even funnier, acceptable racism.
I thought back to a very prolific John Prine and Kris Kristofferson song "Jesus Was a Capricorn", and how it seemed even more appropriate today than many years ago when it was written.
'Cos everybody's got to have somebody to look down on.
Who they can feel better than at anytime they please.
Someone doin' somethin' dirty, decent folks can frown on.
If you can't find nobody else, then help yourself to me.
http://www.tsrocks.com/k/kris_kristofferso…
Anyway, after about three days and a long discussion with the hubby, I had had enough. The next time I heard it, I said (in a stern "mommy" voice) "Boys, I don't think this is very funny and I don't want to hear it again."
I admit, I was nervous, and shaking a little on the long walk back to the house, but you know what? I didn't hear any of it again for the remainder of the time they were here.
Do I think they stopped it? Of course not! Racists are made, cultivated over many years by their environment, not born that way. But they sure didn't say it around me anymore. And tiny as it might be, that was a step.
Is that Steve Smith's son? If so, I remember him from way back when. Smart Dad, smart son.
Mountaingirl: Personally, I think your "mommy voice" admonition came closer to "raising holy hell" than quietly retrieving your wrap and feigning remembrance that "something had come up."
"It is better to light one candle than to curse the dark."
IMHO
Dear Reimaginethis,
In response to your post, would it change your opinion of my posting if you knew I was not White, dating someone who was also not White, and definitely a friend to the LGBT community? No, I doubt it would not. My subjectively "progressive" nature would not be good enough for your standards. Anyway, free to move out of AR anytime, as you seem to dislike the people here so much. -Anon
Thank you Sky!
We all know Norma is never shy to back away from a fight, especially if it involves social inequality. She fights the good fight.
So, if she chose to remove herself from that situation rather than stay and fight it, any action taken is better than no action at all. She probably did the right thing under the circumstances.
We have all faced the "fight or flight" dilemma .......there have been times when I had to walk away too.
The late Justice George Rose Smith insisted on Arkansas's, and made a compelling case for that spelling, tracing it to the French. If I can find it, I'll post the eloquent complaint he made to the Gazette in about 1988.
I have insurance with the Fram Bureau which I will be switching to another more sensitive and less offensive carrier. And I hope their higher ups will gain a sense of conscience if others follow my move.
Are you really in a position to be lecturing about sensitivity, downtowner?:
"
Posted by downtowner on August 18, 2011 at 12:45 PM
Re: “Alice Stewart noted in Bachmann coverage”
Whenever a bitch is put in charge of covering for another bitch chaos prevails.
"
Sorry Granny, I'll wash my mouth out with soap. I should have said they both act like Ann Coulter in order to express myself in a more "sensitive" manner without changing my observation.
I have no problem with the prison population working on the farm. I grew up working on the farm. If they can supply any of their needs that is less of my tax dollars going to feed & cloth them. They learn discipline & hard work. They can see the fruits of their labor & eat from the bounty they created.
I understand that ALL prisoners work, not just black, white, green, brown, purple.. all have the opportunity. They may learn a skill or even learn that they do not like farm work. They might learn that they don’t want to come back to prison & work for nothing.
I noticed that the guard on the horse is African-American, he is employed, he is not a prisoner & he has a skill. The prisoner shown must have consented to having his photograph taken &/or used or there would be a lawsuit.
If you don’t want to work on a prison farm don’t go to prison. If you don’t want your photograph taken “just say no.” If you don’t like the prison system tell all the criminals to “stop that” or come up with a better system.
Ever one to respond when called, especially on matters related to fashion, grooming and comportment, I LEAP to embrace this teachable moment.
Namely, how to handle bigots at upscale holiday parties.
One must first bear in mind the vast differences between Sky Pilot, an older minister of the cloth in Arkansas, and I, Norma Bates, a younger maven of the couth and global sophisticate.
The whole point of ministers is that they live in their Parent ego states (to briefly reintroduce the timeless simplicity of Transactional Analysis). Their only possible transactions are from their Parent ego to another's Parent or Child ego. "I am right, you are wrong. I know the Bible better than you. Isn't it awful, the moral decay today."
Ministers don't do Adult-Adult transactions. Their entire existence is based on inducing Fear and / or Guilt in others in the phony and hypocritical guise of "Love" which is actually a Threat of eternal damnation unless people follow their orders.
So Sky Pilot infers he would have publicly called the man on his racism in front of everybody at that party, or stayed and made a point of showing his disapproval through a series of glares, shunning or other behaviors.
Thus drawing all the attention to Sky Pilot; trying to embarrass the man, induce shame or guilt, and create DRAMA. That's what ministers do. Perhaps he'd have crowned the man's head with his hand and shouted. "I CAST OUT THE DEMON OF RACISM IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN!" before heading to the bar for another scotch-and-water.
Thus Sky would suck all the air out of the party, shame one person (though probably not), embarrass his hosts and the other guests, and accomplish nothing by trying grabbing attention and show his superiority.
I, on the other hand, already KNOW I'm superior to racists and those who chuckle with them. Especially in the red Valentino suit I wore that evening. I don't need the attention, don't need to act as grown people's parent in public. It's not MY party, not my situation to control.
The ONLY choices on such occasions, my Razorbabies, are to remain (and pretend hypocritically that everything is just fine, which is to tacitly accept and approve the racism like all the others) or leave.
With me, anyway, that decision is always instantaneous. THEN the only choice is whether to leave gracefully or by creating a scene.
Creating a scene on such occasions is exactly the same as engaging with trolls on blogs. Silly, shoddy and self-serving.
Moments like those at that party are why god gave us White Lies.
It is unnecessary to assume that EVERY such occasion demands one deliver a sermon from a pulpit.
ESPECIALLY not for free.
And, aside from generally requiring a clerical collar as proof of authenticity, it is BEYOND gauche to start working holiday parties in the Heights with one's hand extended seeking Love Offerings.
I'm with you, Norma. The solution is to turn and walk away. Those people do not deserve your company. That's the way I handle it. Confrontation with bigots rarely solves anything, and I do not feel the need any more to convert people.
Anon -- No, it would not make a difference to me. I couldn't care less about your personal characteristics. If you don't think the cover screams racism, then you have problems. You can consider yourself progressive, liberal, forward-thinking, or any other label you want to choose. It doesn't change the fact that you are blind to racism and, therefore, part of the disease. Orville Faubus thanks you for your contribution.
If the photo (apparently taken with the unsmiling prisoner's consent) accurately depicts conditions at the prison farm, I don't have a problem with it. If there are problems with conditions, they are more deep than an accurate photo.
I would have hoped that the Farm Bureau folks would be sensitive to the subliminal (and perhaps inadvertent) message sent by the teaser on watermelon recipes.
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