In Little Rock, a democratic city, the Trumpians make a low profile. But in rural parts of the state, it is the opposite.
I am writing to you by Little Rock, capital of Arkansas, famous for the jostled integration of nine black students in the central High School in September 1957, an integration which was not only prevented by the Regional National Guard deployed by the Segregationist Governor Orval Faubus, but also endangering by the whites present on the places, paralyzed by the prospect of the end of Jim Crow, howling insults and threats. So that President Eisenhower finally had to call on the famous 101e Army division to make it possible to enter the first Africans-Americans in what was initially designed as a high school for the white elite.
Arkansas is indeed a state “ red », Represented in Washington by elected officials 100 % Republicans. The State Assembly is strongly dominated by the Republicans ; His governor is none other than Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former spokesperson for Trump at the White House (2017-2019) on which we can always count to relay the voice of his master. One could easily assume that the city of Little Rock remains a bastion of this conservatism which, since the Civil War and even before, still reigns in all the southern states. Wrongly: like other major urban centers located in ultra -conservative states – Atlanta in the state of Georgia, Austin and Houston in Texas – Little Rock is solidly democratic, having voted at 60 % for Joe Biden in 2020, also electing the African-American Frank Scott Maire in 2019.
The city also experiences a strong ethnic plurality with 44.6 % whites, 41.5% blacks, 7.6% Hispanics. Addressing the small crowd gathered in front of the famous central High School on the occasion of a walk celebrating diversity and living together, the main one who has directed the establishment for 30 years has said that among its students are today young people from some 41 countries speaking no less than 36 different languages at home. It is undoubtedly the medical school of the University of Arkansas which attracts most of these families to Little Rock.
In terms of employment, the sector “ Health and social services Constitutes the most important in the city, followed by teaching (including not only schools and high schools, but also a branch of the University of Arkansas), and a whole set of administrative, financial and technical services. I do not fail to mention that the Dassault Falcon Jet firm employs some 2,000 people who can also come across many names of place and street derivatives of French: Varennes, Sézanne (sic), Chenonceaux, Champagnolle (sic), Fontenay, Brittany, Alsace, Chenal …
In my opinion and many others, it is good to live in Little Rock, known for its green and hilly residential quarters, its beautiful wooded parks of pines and hardwoods often exceeding 15 meters high, parks often located by the water as is the case of Maumelle Park. People are generally welcoming, courteous, of an easy approach, in this relaxed way so often encountered in the Deep South.
Walking in our rather easy middle -class district, I reassure myself by observing many signs on lawns displaying their support for the Democrats in the legislature and the judiciary of the State. Some suburban houses are openly displayed in favor of Kamala Harris, while we see very much in favor of Trump in our neighborhood as well as in the other residential districts that I have been able to cross for the six months that I live Little Rock. The strong presence of minorities as well as the proportion of graduates undoubtedly play in favor of the democratic orientation of the city, and the refusal to see seated in the oval office a man as vulgar, uncultivated, incoherent, excessive on all levels, and suddenly dangerous.
If the Trump electorate makes a low profile in the city, it is undoubtedly that, minority, it sees no interest in annoying the neighbors, especially since Trump is a figure otherwise. Among the inhabitants of the rural parts of the State which constitute 41 % of the population, it is the opposite: people flutter, hoisting the flag of the former tenant of the White House to show their enthusiasm. Having won in Arkansas with 62.4 % of votes against 34.8 % only for Biden in 2020, Trump retains all his chances of winning the state hands down in 2024.
All this is of course in accordance with what can be seen almost everywhere in the United States. This raises many questions. How a New York billionaire ignoring all the work of farmers, undoubtedly unable to distinguish the front of a cow from the rear, could he gain such popularity among peasants who mostly very modest income, often repulsed by urban life. But it is a fact that xenophobic speeches (claiming that American cities and states are “ busy “Or even ravaged by foreigners), racial hatred (against all these people who introduce” bad genes In the population), of revenge and even strong political repression (Trump spoke of the need to involve military forces against the “ left -handers out of control ) Find a certain resonance in the mind and the heart of those who consider themselves forgotten, despised by the qualified, cosmopolitan elites. If we wanted to prepare for the civil war and legitimize the dictatorship, we would not do it otherwise. And that is why I apprehend on November 5.