She is 19 with two kids, two brothers, barely knew her father, and her children are by two separate men. The hearing I was going to was to get her an order of protection, not from the father of either of her children, but her current boyfriend.
I passed this sign on my way. The hearing was in a neighboring county and so I had time to think about the girl whose life and security I’d be working to protect this morning, and that sign.
I asked myself what I know about our vice president; a former attorney general, U.S. senator, not only of Asian American descent but also African American … and her husband Jewish. All three characteristics a first for a VP, and of course the first woman.
I wondered if that property owner had a little sister, daughter or granddaughter. I wondered if they put the sign up referring to our VP as a hoe because she was black, Asian, or just because she is a woman.
I asked myself does this person not have any females in the family? That this mindset of thinking it is OK to degrade and relegate represents everything that is wrong with this society and acts as a catalyst for violence against women. That maybe they just think it’s funny but that it really underscores how extremely ignorant they are, or worse, they actually think this way.
I wondered would the outcry over Harrison Butker’s graduation address be the same if the model of women in the home he exalted was really honored and revered by men in society, rather than it being the barefoot and pregnant trap of destitution and abuse it is for so many of our little sisters, daughters and granddaughters.
As I drove, I became more and more determined to do everything possible for my client, to empower her even for just a short time. I hoped her boyfriend would testify so I could cross-examine him, and she could see what a true coward he is. I knew the statistics and probabilities were that she would return to him but if I could empower her enough today, just maybe…
This is a time when we have to not only ask ourselves as an American people, but an Arkansas people, is this who we are? This time in our state when we are fighting so much over what we teach our children … CRT, the LEARNS Act, the books in our libraries, etc., etc.
The truth is the words that come out of our mouths, the messages we share on social media, the signs we put in our yard, and the injustices and wrongs we fail to call out are what we are really teaching our children.
It’s an everyday choice that defines who we are as a community. And it is long past due for us to realize that we are all one community.
And so today, but not just for today my friends, be impeccable with your word, be discriminating with what you put out into this world, our community. Carry yourselves with the pride and confidence of mediocre white man. And protect and lift up our little sisters, daughters, and granddaughters.
Chris Flanagin