Although Arkansas is often portrayed as a moderate, even progressive state in terms of its race relations, indicative statistics can sometimes tell a different story. For example, between 1940 and 1970, in the so-called Second Great Migration, Arkansas lost more of its African American population than any other state in the nation. Between 1940 and 1950 the number dropped by 12 per cent; between 1950 and 1960 by another 8.9 per cent; and from 1960 to 1970 by another 9 per cent. There is a bitter historical irony to this. While African Americans in Arkansas chose to protest in numbers at what they clearly felt was a lack of opportunities for them in the state, those African Americans left behind had a reduced capacity to make their collective voices heard and to effect change. I’m John Kirk of the UALR History Department and this has been an Arkansas moment.
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