Realization inspires call for street changes
I am writing this letter in shame and disgust: Shame for what I have discovered, and disgust that it took so long to see it.
I am a longtime resident of Fayetteville. My son attended Fayetteville schools and graduated from the University of Arkansas. Twenty-five years ago, I bought a new house in a new subdivision called Heritage Village. I live on Tradition. I liked the name because I like tradition.
And then came today, when I found a flyer on my porch about changing the street names "Plantation" and "Chattel." I am ashamed to say that I did not know that chattel means "slave," in spite of being college educated, and possession of what I thought was a decent vocabulary. But I know why I didn't know: white privilege. And I am ashamed.
When you combine the other names of the streets in Heritage Village, it is apparent that I have been living in a white-supremacist development, and I feel mortified. Street names include "Heritage," "Legacy," "Tradition," "Plantation," and "Chattel." If the developer was the one who submitted these street names, I suggest that in addition to changing "Chattel," the city should also change the name of the park at the back of the subdivision, which is named after the developer.
Betsy Blake Berrier
Fayetteville
GOP falters, becomes
shell of its former self
This recent push by GOP legislators in Arkansas, Georgia, Texas and others to make it harder for American citizens to vote is antithetical to a substantial part of what it has always meant to be an American, having a voice in governmental policies by voting. The fact is these voting process changes are based on the previous president's lies about election fraud, which we know is a lie due to a lack of credible evidence. Why would the GOP hitch their wagon to the least ethical and moral public individual I've ever witnessed, especially as a president who on a daily basis tried to cause chaos and division? The GOP stood by and allowed this to happen until their supporters, convinced by their lying political leaders, stormed the U.S. Capitol building.
The GOP is a hollowed-out remnant of what it used to be. Family values, that's a joke. Just look at how they legislate against fellow citizens for being different and the cads they elect to public office. Law and Order? Ha ha ha. Supporting or excusing an attack on the Capitol Police and the building, resulting in death and destruction. Freedom of religion? Good grief, give me a break. The hypocrisy is so pervasive in all of these areas that it would take several volumes to cover them all.
The actions of the current GOP leadership -- Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman, Rep Steve Womack and Attorney General Leslie Rutledge included -- have really taken an anti-democratic stance and are now actively pushing their agendas at the state level across the country, pushed by national GOP leadership with no concern for the local needs or desires of the states citizens. This is what happens when a political party is bereft of any ideas that appeal to and benefit all citizens: They want to solidify power and exclude others from the political process.
We hope our fellow citizens will support House Resolution 1 in Congress for auto-registration for voters, repeal Citizens United, bolster anti-bribery laws and protect the Voting Rights Act. This county needs to get past party partisanship politics and get back to working together. Please contact your local and national reps to let them know how you feel.
Rich and Denise Lanuti
Fayetteville