It’s bad for Arkansas

As an Air Force family, we were stationed in Arkansas in 1981 and chose to raise our children as well as retire here in 1996. Since this is naturally a beautiful state, it was an easy choice.

Over time, I reluctantly learned how to call the

Hogs and eat brisket that does not quite rise to the level of Texas brisket. My husband and I both had a second career in this state and my two boys chose to live and work here as well.

With all of the good Arkansas can offer, current legislative actions have caught my attention. As a retired teacher, I always tried to teach my students to understand every perspective and not pass judgment too quickly. Relative to dropping the mask mandate, Sen. Trent Garner recently stated that we shouldn’t go back to the mask mandate because it was controversial. Since his statement is a false equivalence and he lacks a medical degree, I view it as being completely flawed.

In addition, new bills that strike at a woman’s right to make a choice for her own body, along with spewing fear of a transgender population and denying medical services to patients that don’t align with the practitioners’ “beliefs” brings me to question the Legislature’s perspective as representing the rights of all Arkansans. Finally, with many of the new bills argued under the guise of “protecting“the rights of a supposedly oppressed group, it seems the passage of a hatecrime bill is unlikely.

I definitely struggle with the premise of these actions, and it does not reflect well on Arkansas. Without a doubt, the community, the nation, the world and, more importantly, our students are watching, and all, collectively, will pass judgment.

The real questions remain: Is Texas brisket truly the best? Is calling the Hogs the definitive action that represents Arkansas? And finally, the utmost question to our legislators: How much damage will be inflicted on the real lives victimized by the current legislative acts?

NANCY FISCHER

Jacksonville