I'm From Arkansas Ya'll

sick of negativity about Arkansans and other Southerners... we ain't idiots!

I'm from Arkansas, ya'll
I was born here
in Arkansas

I have teeth
I have shoes
I have a lover
who isn't my brother

I can read, write
add , multiply and divide
talk of this and talk of that

I am from Arkansas
guess what?
I am not a hillbilly
my neck is not red

I can cook, sew
hush a babe
shoot a gun too
I am southern lady
 through and through

I'm an Arkansan
and proud to be
Yee-Haw
Ya'll
Woo Pigs,  Sooie, Arkansas Razorbacks
I'm from Arkansas - ya'll


I read some comments on Yahoo news about the flood here in Arkansas at a camp ground. People were swept away... some still missing. Many were children... what is a parent's worse fear? Losing a child. This is something that is unbearable,
Many of the comments were cruel with a capitol C. Such as.. "Stupid crackheads", "Incestuous idiots", "toothless rednecks".
and one said something like, "Yay, got rid of a bunch of hillbilly scum".... I take offense!  This is so wrong. We are not inbred idiots here... nor toothless, shoeless hillbillies. We pull together in times as these. We are educated. I am tired of hearing all the negative comments about Arkansans and other Southerners .... All over the world and in the U.S. there are people who are rednecks, hillbillies. Incest was not patented in this state it happens every where world wide. So I think the people who wrote those ignorant uncaring comments show the world that ignorant people are rampant... all over the world

There are many famous people from Arkansas. Many well known writers, John Gresham, Maya Angelou, Helen Gurley Brown a writer who also publishes Cosmopolitan Magazine, John Gould Fletcher the first Southern poet to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and a peer to EE Cummings and of course, Legion, the flying pig,Sam Dickens, Craig Froman and me! ~ (haha) ...Actors Mary Steenburgen, Billy Bob Thornton... this is getting long.. so let me mention William Jefferson Clinton one of the best presidents in my opinion, And Mr. Johnny Cash! No sir we ain't a bunch of ignorant hillbillies!

Author's Note

just a little crap poem and rant of sorts - written last year - it was in May i believe when this tragedy occurred .. entire families swept away...
This is a beautiful state.. the picture is of Old Mill Creek outside Little Rock click on it .. so beautiful... of course i am using 'ain't and yee-haw ' with some sarcasm... I don't say ya'll or ain't( i have a baby- i want him to speak correctly) ... if i drink a bit on New Year's Eve I might say yee haw tho :D

Reviews

[Fran Marie]

Yep, I hear ya on this one,a rightous rant on the hillbilly and such stereotypical connotations, of the term Hillbilly,then redneck, supposely refered as to southerns who picked cotton got sunburned necks~etc....indeed; it's a cruel world to hear such derogatory comments and remarks such as hillbilly scum
a great piece and love the picture~ y'all gut a rite purrdy state and i ain't a lyin hee haw~j/k

[Art]

Way to go Chloe...some people just don't have any sense...no wonder this world is so messed up...

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

an excellent rant. I have thought about posting a picture of myself smiling because many think we have no sense or teeth here in Georgia. This is excellent Chloe!

[Emily B]

Kentuckians get the same kind of crap. Aunts and uncles moved north of the Ohio river when they got married, it automatically made them smarter and more socially acceptable, never mind that they grew up the same place my mother did. Had a boy from Connecticut sitting at my table once, Told me that Kentuckians were all idiots. I let him know real quick that idiots grow everywhere :)

[bob, small b. aka invs]

anyone who would make jokes about the human loss in a flood is beyond stupid and less than human.

i liked the poem. it was witty and made its point with good humor and pride.

[NoneOfYourBusiness akaK..]

a strong and proud push against idiotic stereotypes~ I really enjoyed the fierce backbone quality slapping a good solid one across the preconceived notions of morons who haven't the capacity of insight or compassion~

[Samuel Dickens]

You have some funny lines here that gave me a chuckle, like "I have a lover who isn't my brother." I'm an Arkansan who has traveled enough (20 years in the military) to know that there are good and bad things about any place you go. I used to think New Yorkers were all rude, but then I met some really nice ones. In short, it is just plain unwise to throw any group of people into one pot. For the life of me, I don't understand how anyone could have said cruel things about the campers losing their lives. That kind of talk is unexcuseable, but we find it on the internet all the time. I guess they think they'll never be held accountable for it, but I'm not so sure. Somehow, I have the crazy idea that I'm going to have to answer to a higher authority one day. Oh, you forgot Glen Campbell.

[Gomer LePoet]

Ha. you tell em Chloe. You are so right there. I like your cute little poem too.
it is unfortunate that stupid seems to be spread all over this world. In fact I think there are quite a few holding important positions in industry, banking - ha,
goverrment ha- ha. You mind if I come in and sit a spell, I'll be sure to knock the cow crap off my boots before I do.

[Jibey]

Makes its point powerfully and well...

[Creepy Swine Guy]

Soooo ... what you are saying is that to pigeon hole an entire group of people and make judgments based upon anything but the quality of each individual ... is wrong. Do I understand correctly?

[Valentine]

Cloe, I live in Batesville, Arkansas and I was born and raised in Michigan..I see very talented people here and Lyon College is one of the top small colleges in America..I do not see hicks or rednecks or trailer trash..I see very nice people that treat each other with much respect..go and get them writers girl..love and God bless..Kathie