The Wily Filipino

The State of Arkansas.

I suppose it's a good sign that the very first Starbucks is opening in the state of Arkansas in May, but man -- what does that say about Arkansas?

Madeline's grandparents lived in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and I had the opportunity to visit them a few years back. (When we visited the big headline in the papers was that an Old Navy was opening in Little Rock.) Things are simply different in the South, I guess: people would actually doff their hats as we would walk around the residential area in Pine Bluff.

Pine Bluff (at some point, the murder capital of the U.S.) was at least a lot better than my grandparents-in-law's former residence, Altheimer -- population a few hundred, if only a little over one hundred. I simply can't imagine being the only Asian in the (almost literally) one-road town -- especially in the '40s, when Madeline's grandma and grandpa owned the one general store (alongside the post office, the fire station, and the feed store). As we drove into town, residents knew instantly who we were related to; the local pastor even let us look around the small church.

Altheimer is literally divided by the railroad tracks, with the blacks (of course) on the bad side of the tracks. (The local swimming pool wasn't even desegregated until the mid-'80s.)

Later on we went hiking along this ridge in the mountains and were regaled with a view of the local nuclear plant. It was extremely hot and humid as well.

Posted by the wily filipino at March 25, 2003 10:41 AM