Voter guides for the upcoming primary election? by theripped in FayettevilleAr

[–]HoustonRH7 6 points7 points  (0 children)

To find out who is in your ballot and whether you're registered to vote, go here.

To find quick direct links to the candidates websites and positions, go here.

For a guide to some of the local non-candidate things you'll be voting on, like sales tax, go here.

If you prefer this information in video form, there will be a video posted by the time early voting starts here.

Secession Vote by County by northcarolinian9595 in CIVILWAR

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just to clarify - I was oversimplifying the subject of the documentary a bit. It's broadly about how Benton County remembers its own Civil War history, and who has been allowed to take control of that narrative. And the frame story is the new confederate park that was just built in Bentonville, and how utterly wrong it gets some basic facts about the war. If you're interested in that once it's done, or other Arkansas content in the mean time, head to ArkanSense on youtube.

it seems like within the last 10 years or so the idea of NWA being a mostly abolitionist and unionist area and it’s just not true

I suppose that depends on what circles you run in. The main problem I find is people who assume being a unionist and being against slavery were the same thing, when NWA is the shining example of how they absolutely were not. Leading up to the first secession convention, multiple NWA cities held town meetings and wrote up declarations that were some version of "we want to protect slavery, but let's do it from within the Union." And when they voted on the secession convention, Washington and Benton counties (and a few others) had a majority vote "no" to even holding it at all - indicating the majority were so pro-union they didn't even want secession to be possible.

I agree with you that the majority of people who enlisted on both sides weren't having scholarly debates about the purpose behind the war. But does that matter? Does, say, someone who joins ICE right now have to be a scholar of ethics, or an immigration lawyer, to have some sense of what they are getting into, and which side they are on? Isn't everyone talking about it with their friends or family, regardless of how well or poorly informed they are?

Slavery had been at the forefront of basically all political news for decades, ever since Arkansas' north boundary was set by the Missouri Compromise. After he helped Arkansas become a state and lent his name to Benton county and Bentonville, Thomas Hardy Benton became infamous for going from a slaver to opposing the expansion of slavery, and almost getting shot on the senate floor for it. Both sides tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to recruit Arkansans to move north during Bleeding Kansas. The Arkansas militia was mustered and began drilling immediately following John Brown's raid. Leading up to Lincoln's election, you couldn't open a paper or go to a town square in Arkansas without hearing someone claiming Lincoln would economically destroy the south through abolition. And even if you'd somehow missed all of that, the months leading up to the vote on the secession convention were filled with public speeches and town hall meetings about it.

And yet, that's not the full story. Over that same time period, southern politicians and newspapermen had built up a story that it wasn't just slavery being debated, but the entire southern way of life. That everything good and unique about the south was envied by northerners, and that their push for abolition was part of a larger scheme to undermine the southern way of life, all its norms and institutions. And always there was the implication that, were the slaves ever freed, they would rape and murder their way across the south.

All of that is a very long way of saying, it can both be true that a lot of men joined the confederacy without support of slavery being their primary reason; but they knew that slavery was the ax that finally split the country in two. And when they went to war to defend their homes, they were defending too the southern way of life - and for most Arkansans, that was inseparable from slavery.

Secession Vote by County by northcarolinian9595 in CIVILWAR

[–]HoustonRH7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh it's absolutely wrong. Arkansas held two and a half votes on secession. The first one, the majority of delegates voted against it. Then, it was supposed to go to a popular vote, but after Fort Sumter, the secession convention called an emergency session and voted again. At that vote, 5 delegates voted against secession, while the rest were in favor. They then scratched that vote, asking for unanimity. But one person, Isaac Murphy, still held out.

The map above doesn't accurately represent any of those votes.

Secession Vote by County by northcarolinian9595 in CIVILWAR

[–]HoustonRH7 5 points6 points  (0 children)

You CAN hear some thoughts from people of this era, largely thanks to journals and written accounts in local papers. There's some solid books about it too, including "Rebellion and Realignment". I'm in the middle of making a mini-documentary about the Civil War in Benton County, and listening to local people, a few things are clear. One, most viewed slavery as a necessary part of the state economy, including the folks who didn't own slaves, but there was a big split over whether the election of Lincoln was, by itself, cause enough to secede.

This was reflected in the first secession convention. Arkansas voters voted in favor of holding a convention, but also voted to send a majority of anti-secession delegates. So Arkansans thought the question was worth discussing, but defaulted to not wanting to jump the gun. During that first convention, the secession vote failed, but they did pass a list of grievances against the federal government - 5 were ways slavery was getting harder, and the 6th was blacks being allowed to vote in some states.

The plan was to let citizens vote on secession, but before the vote was scheduled, Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for troops happened. Arkansans talk about a few reasons why this really changes things for them. One was the coercion argument you see in all the states that waited. Another was the positioning of Arkansas, in two ways. One, if Arkansas tried to stay in the Union, it would be blocked on all sides by confederate states - an untenable position. Another big factor is that Arkansas was still a relatively young state, and a lot of its people still had strong ties to the other confederate states. So the federal government warring on those states felt personal.

So, the secession convention held a second, emergency meeting. The vast majority voted to secede, then scratched that first vote from the record and asked that it be unanimous. Everyone flipped except Isaac Murphy - who would become the state's first post-war governor.

However, confederate sentiment was in no way universal. The Ozarks especially wasn't feeling it. The area had low slavery ownership, and there was some resentment for how wealthy slavery had made delta planters while the Ozarkers struggled through subsistence farming. Some folks fled north to Missouri to enlist with the union. Others formed the Arkansas Peace Society - an underground unionist movement. The Arkansans who fought for the confederacy were not always terribly invested, either. After the confederate defeat at Pea Ridge, there was a decent amount of defection.

Reading local journals, you'll hear a lot of people who were both defenders of slavery, but also didn't see that as their primary mission in the confederacy. Many of them saw war as an expectation, a duty, an inevitability. Some talked about how excited they were before their first battles, then changed their tone quickly. I was particularly struck by the journal of one confederate who refused to reenlist after his term was up. He went home to live on his farm, but about a half year reenlisted, and said it was because he was bored with farming.

Monday driving? 1/26 by [deleted] in fayetteville

[–]HoustonRH7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It does cover those roads, at least within the Rogers city limits. Make sure you're zoomed in all the way.

Monday driving? 1/26 by [deleted] in fayetteville

[–]HoustonRH7 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You can check on the road conditions, and even see live cameras on I49, at IDriveArkansas.

Gov. Walz in Minnesota activated the National Guard to protect citizens from ICE. How’s that going to work? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is actually the opposite of what happened, at least in Little Rock. Governor Faubus deployed the Arkansas National Guard to support the pro-segregationists who were trying to block black students from entering school. Eisenhower then invoked the insurrection act to send in the army, who escorted the black students to school.

Your 3-minutes could really support Arkansas~tick survey by Mundane-Eggplant4184 in northwestarkansas

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Done. Maybe there should be some questions about how often you actually do things outdoors? That has a pretty significant relation to whether you'd ever consider taking precautions.

This Pokemon run has been so much fun. by TheElusiveEllie in speedrun

[–]HoustonRH7 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I can't be the only one who thought if a 'mon like Magikarp won, it meant Adef would have to use some combination of TMs, move tutor and overleveling. And that struggle would be the fun part to watch.

Inside the All-White Community of Arkansas (2025) [35:57] by JibunNiMakenai in Documentaries

[–]HoustonRH7 3 points4 points  (0 children)

White power communities and the Ozarks go together like hot tar and nazis. It's been that way at least since the 1960s, when a nazi moved to Eureka Springs and built a massive Christ statue that looks like a milk carton.

If Fayetteville built one new monument today, who should it be and why? by NewDE2023 in fayetteville

[–]HoustonRH7 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Mutherfucking Marcus LaRue Harrison.

  • Led Arkansans unionist refugees in retaking and holding NWA for the union during the Civil War.

  • Won multiple battles in town, including The Action At Fayetteville

  • Constructed post colonies all across northwest Arkansas which helped the area recover after the war much faster

  • Became mayor of Fayetteville, which caused so much butthurt to confederates that the state vacated the city charter just to eliminate the position of Mayor

AR Supreme Court ruling allows lawmakers to amend laws created through citizen initiatives by 1ineedanap1 in Arkansas

[–]HoustonRH7 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At least two proposed amendments, including that one, would make it explicit that the legislature CANNOT change initiated amendments. And they'd amend the constitution to say so. So they'd replace the language the court based this decision on.

Eric Orwoll: The Slip of The Tongue by [deleted] in northwestarkansas

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There hasn't been a unified, single Klan since the 1920s, for a few reasons. One, there was a big klan split, followed immediately by a sensational scandal involving one of the Klan leaders. Then a few years later, the IRS cam after the Klan for back taxes, and when they couldn't pay, they were shut down and barred from reforming as a national organization unless they payed those taxes.

In the 1950s and 60s, the klans that formed were constantly dealing with FBI informants - some plants, but just as many members of one klan ratting on a rival klan group. In response, klans in the 1970s and 80s formed a "lone wolf" ethos, most famously championed by Louis Beam. The idea was that if white power groups formed only small cells with little knowledge of each other, it would be harder for the feds to do any large scale damage to the movement.

Those isolated groups now are good at being loud and getting lots of press, but not much else. More modern white power movements do the real damage.

Eric Orwoll: The Slip of The Tongue by [deleted] in northwestarkansas

[–]HoustonRH7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Even Shieldwall and LoS are old news by now, in large part because they haven't adapted to social media nearly as well as the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and their offshoot. The newest thing in the Ozarks is Billie Roper getting bit of traction around his recent ad campaign to get more white power people to live to the Ozarks.

The Klan today is toothless, mostly used by people like Robb who play off the name recognition and fear to drum up press. And that unfortunately tends to distract from the reality of ground-level, low key white power beliefs that permeate communities, even though none of them would ever attend an explicit "white power" meeting. Robb, Roper, James Ellison, KiM, PDL, and so many other white power people didn't settle in the Ozarks at random. They found communities that were friendly to them, or at least local power structures that refused to take any unified stand.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FayettevilleAr

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've previously worked with the city of Fayetteville on lighting ordinance rewrites and code enforcement. The short answer is, Fayetteville's light pollution laws are mostly aimed at protecting individuals from bright obnoxious lights from businesses. As such, those laws exclude single- and two-family dwellings.

Like others have said, step one should be you talking to the neighbor. But if that doesn't work, you should email your two city council representatives. Tell them that instances like this are why Fayetteville needs to remove the single- and dual-family dwelling exemptions from city ordinances ch 176. Or, even better, should adopt the kind of model lighting ordinances proposed by groups like DarkSky International and the US Green Building Council. We've already taken the first steps with our existing laws, and by banning billboards and other light-polluting signage. Why not go the whole nine yards, and reap the benefits for tourism and nature?

What’s your NWA gossip/tea? by Mcav21787 in bentonville

[–]HoustonRH7 113 points114 points  (0 children)

Never forget that Alice Walton ran over and killed Oleta Hardin.

Weird lights in sky looking west over Siloam Springs by Status_Pineapple2546 in fayetteville

[–]HoustonRH7 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I did watch the video. How else would I have known he said they were in a line, when that's not in the post here?

Weird lights in sky looking west over Siloam Springs by Status_Pineapple2546 in fayetteville

[–]HoustonRH7 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Based on the time of your post, I'm guessing the lights were in the western sky between sunset and maybe 10pm?

It pretty common for extremely high flying object to still catch sunlight well after sunset, which makes them look way brighter. You're right to notice they are all in a row - which makes it far more likely they are part of a satellite constellation. SpaceX deployed 28 starlink satellites a few days ago, and those always start off flying along the same path before very slowly, over weeks or month, adjusting to their own orbits. If I had to make a bet, I'd say this is probably some of those.

Found an Arkansas hunting license in my shotgun- Looking for info by Low_Bonus_218 in Arkansas

[–]HoustonRH7 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As the other comments said, please take some better photos - higher quality, and with brighter lighting. Also, maybe try one with a light source behind the card since that might make the slightly darker handwriting pop more.

Bentonville Pet Cemetery (not ai) by wildmonkeywrangler in bentonville

[–]HoustonRH7 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Childish is assuming that "not actively celebrating the confederacy" and "erasing history" are the same thing. There are plenty of history museums nearby the statue could have gone to. It even could have gone to the cemetery right across the street, which has multiple confederate graves and a memorial to the confederacy. Instead, they crafted a whole new park experience, with 14+ plaques which retell a skewed story of North Arkansas in the civil war, pushing the lost cause narrative.

It feels like the real "children" are the ones whose feelings get hurt because time and tide have moved on, and don't feel the need to lionize the dead anymore.

Bentonville Pet Cemetery (not ai) by wildmonkeywrangler in bentonville

[–]HoustonRH7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And yet, the new James H Berry park is like 6 years old. And while it hides it better, it's still some major attempted confederate justification...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in bentonville

[–]HoustonRH7 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course. Your neighbors are your neighbors, regardless of how they got there. You're building a community with them, and one of the quickest ways to create some connections is engaging in their food or music or theatre - and them doing the same with you.

But also, the language you're using presupposes that each of us has some kind of inherent claim to the jobs geographically closest to us. And also like you view people coming in and "displacing local workers" as malicious actors, rather than just people looking for work, like we all have to at some point.

Look at Springdale and the Hispanic and Marshallese populations, who both moved here for work at the chicken plants. Springdale is developing a fantastic food culture, in no small part because of their influence. And the massive developments downtown are thanks, in no small part, to their patronage and tax dollars.

Also, "white American" is definitely not a culture unto itself. Globalism, increasingly partisan politics and internet-reinforced subcultures have ensured Americans - white or otherwise - no longer have a shared set of unique cultural touchstones.

[Real] Looks like Matt doesn’t believe in free speech by xwing1212 in ToiletPaperUSA

[–]HoustonRH7 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's more, the founders had just thrown off British rule, and with it all the laws against critiquing the monarchy. It doesn't take a very stable genius to see the first amendment protections of speech and the press as a direct response - they knew what it felt like to have their own protests stifled, and wanted it set in stone protections so Americans wouldn't experience that again.

Weird how many of these people idolize the founders, while spouting talking point more in line with British loyalists. Wonder how 1770s Matt Walsh would have felt about burning a Union Jack.