In my opinion, Harrison is one of the most welcoming and loving communities anywhere. Of course, you might expect any mayor to say that about his city. But I say it with deep conviction because Harrison has spent nearly 50 years fighting an unfair and untrue perception. That long struggle has made us more sensitive than most communities.
Last Thursday through Saturday, I had the privilege of attending a national gathering of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. commissions in Little Rock. During those three days, we participated in five interviews and spoke at two different functions. Each time, we were given the opportunity to talk about Harrison, the reputation our community has carried for far too long, and the people I know Harrison to be.
On Saturday, several people from Harrison joined me for an event at Shorter College. Their presence mattered. They did not simply come to hear a speech; they came to stand with our community and show that our commitment to building relationships extends far beyond the mayor's office. I was proud to have them there.
Much of my message concerned the viral video released in 2020 under the title, “Holding a Black Lives Matter Sign in America's Most Racist Town.” Millions watched it, and it placed Harrison in a terrible light. The video contained people making racist and indefensible remarks. We made it a campaign to find those individuals and were only able to find three. One was a mentally challenged young man, another said he was set up, and the third admitted to being racist and proud of it. One is still one too many. But one person does not reflect our community's character. And never has.
Harrison's reputation did not begin with that video. For decades, our city's name has been connected to Thom Robb and a Ku Klux Klan organization located near Zinc, outside Harrison, partly because it used a Harrison post office box. One man's hatred became an entire community's identity. The internet then repeated that identity until people treated perception as fact.
In 2003, local citizens formed the Harrison Community Task Force on Race Relations. Beginning in 2012, Dr. DuShun Scarbrough and the Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission began coming to Harrison and continued returning. They brought Black History programs, peace marches, young people, and honest conversations. Most importantly, they built relationships and earned trust.
That same spirit was present in Little Rock. I did not go there to claim Harrison is perfect. No community is. I went to tell the truth: Harrison has faced its reputation and kept working. The response was tremendously encouraging. People listened. They asked questions. They seemed genuinely pleased to hear that the Harrison portrayed online is not the Harrison experienced by those willing to visit us and meet our people.
The five interviews gave me five different opportunities to explain how damaging a false national perception can be to families, businesses, and young people who are proud to call Harrison home. The two speaking engagements allowed me to go beyond defending our name and talk about what we have learned: a lie left unchallenged can become accepted as truth, but patient conversation can replace suspicion with understanding. That lesson belongs to every community.
Dr. King taught that the Beloved Community is built through reconciliation, understanding, and shared action. That does not happen when we remain separated by stereotypes. It happens when we show up, listen to one another, build relationships, and keep walking together even when that work is difficult.
I returned home grateful for every interview, every conversation, and every person who welcomed Harrison's story. I was also grateful for those from Harrison who traveled to Shorter College to be part of it. Their presence showed that this is not one person's effort. It belongs to all of us.
We cannot erase Harrison's past, and we should not try. We can learn from it. We cannot control every label someone places upon us, but we can continue living in a way that proves the label wrong.
That future is ours to write together. Harrison has not reached a perfect destination. We are still learning, still building relationships, and still challenging false perceptions with truth.