Prejudice against certain classes is closer than it appears

There is nothing wrong with this country that cannot be cured by what’s right with it. This state’s most famous native, William Jefferson Clinton, said so in his first inaugural speech as president back in 1993. That sentiment permeates his presidential library, which locals told me he still visits regularly. In celebration of his 80th birthday on Saturday, the first 80 visitors will receive a free watermelon, a gesture to his hometown of Hope, which is known for growing the fruit.

Not sure if the 42nd president intends to be one of the lucky winners this weekend, but if a celebratory return home is on his calendar, I hope Bill Clinton uses that opportunity to address what happened to 18-year-old Alisa Hackett not far from where his library stands.

This week the teenager filed a federal lawsuit alleging an Arkansas State Police trooper told her he was going to “tune” her up before throwing her to the ground and punching her in the face during a traffic stop. In a video circulating online, Hackett can be heard asking the officer what she did wrong, asking to call her mother and screaming in pain from the officer’s attack.

Since the incident, Hackett has hired a civil rights attorney, Ben Crump, who is calling on local authorities to open a use-of-force investigation through the state police’s Office of Professional Standards. “Arkansas State Police have to explain to the public how that is a reasonable response to a teenager at a traffic stop,” Crimp said in a statement. “If you cannot handle a teenage girl without taking her to the ground, cursing at her, and punching her in the face, you should not be wearing a badge.”

According to a report by the trooper, Moisses Arellano, he pulled Hackett over for going 71 miles per hour in a 60-mile-per-hour zone. The incident has prompted lawmakers to schedule a meeting with Col. Mike Hagar, Arkansas State Police director and the state’s public safety secretary.

“I think anybody who’s seen the video understands that putting a fist to a young person, a young lady’s face is never acceptable,” state Rep. Jay Richardson told the Arkansas Advocate. In addition to the lawsuit, the Arkansas Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP’s Arkansas State Conference are calling for an investigation as well.

Residents are still waiting to see what Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders intends on doing about the incident. Especially considering her recent Instagram post in which she proclaimed to be a protector of young women like Hackett.

“Only the weakest men compete in women’s sports, and those celebrating it are just as weak,” Sanders said. “Women and girls deserve better. And as long as I’m governor of Arkansas, we will prioritize fairness over delusion and biological reality over political correctness.”

It’s worth noting that former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a law banning transgender women and girls from competing in school sports more than five years ago. And there are fewer than 10 transgender athletes total among the half million NCAA student athletes nationwide. In other words, Sanders got all glammed up for social media to yap about a nonissue for her state.

However, do you know what is a major problem in Arkansas? Policing. According to US News and World Report, Sanders’ state ranked 45th in public safety and dead last in corrections outcomes. Things aren’t looking up: the trooper whose actions prompted the lawsuit has not even been put on leave.

According to the lawsuit, Hackett, who is Black, continues to “suffer physical pain, humiliation, fear of law enforcement, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and emotional distress” since the Aug. 1 incident. Even without the backdrop of the state’s racial history, just seeing an 18-year-old being punched in the face by a much larger adult man should’ve been disturbing enough to get authorities to take Arellano off the streets. With that backdrop of history — from the Little Rock Nine who integrated Central High School in 1957 to the protests this February in Jonesboro regarding use of slurs on Arkansas State University’s campus — the lack of response is a sobering reminder that the prejudice in the country’s rearview mirror is closer than it appears.

Earlier this summer, a group of 11 Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), sent a letter to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert demanding the organisation protect Caitlin Clark (who is white) from receiving hard fouls in a league known for hard fouls. I wonder who in the GOP — a party that campaigns on protecting girls in bathrooms and locker rooms — is going to demand accountability for what happened to a young Black woman on a dark highway road.

I doubt a Black male officer in Arkansas would be able to punch a white teenage girl in the face and then go back to work unaffected, without even being put on leave during an investigation.

President Clinton knows this dynamic all too well. While in the White House, his administration investigated a string of Black church arsons, bombings or attempted bombings between Jan. 1, 1995, and Sept. 8, 1998.