Over the past three months, Blytheville has seen a wave of homicides, many of which have involved persons most would consider to be youth.
Blytheville is often categorized, particularly by those who do not live or work here, as a place of lawlessness and frequent violence and whenever we are three months into the year and have had seven homicides, others injured in shootings, and vehicles and restaurants shot at, it can be easy to see why others think that. From the outside, Blytheville can look bad, especially whenever others only want to look our way whenever we've had another violent act happen. However, if I have learned anything in my time here it is that this town is so much more than a statistic for crime, and I really hope that others can start to see it that way.
Let's be honest, it isn't just outsiders that critique Blytheville constantly for its crime rate. We self-sabotage our town plenty of times, and I am very much including myself in that statement, but if we ever hope to overcome being described by other communities as "dangerous" or "scary" or whatever else they want to call us then we are going to have to start working harder at changing our image and it starts with us.
I'm in no way saying that we should ignore the violence that occurs here in Blytheville, but a difference does exist in being aware of our situation and complaining about our situation. I hear so many people whine and moan about how horrible things are here, and all they want to do is complain about how things are and what our leaders aren't doing to make things better. I have a challenge for those of you who simply shout how bad everything is, if you want to continue your shouting then go ahead, but don't do it unless you can present some kind of solution, no matter how small, to the problem you are complaining about. It is very easy to criticize our police force for not doing enough to stop crime from behind the safety of a computer monitor.
I am in no way saying that everyone should be out there policing the city, but Blytheville's problems aren't going to be fixed by police work alone. The community is going to have to get into a state of mind that wants to make Blytheville better. If we all just sit in our homes and worry about how bad things are getting, nothing is going to be fixed. If you are concerned about what is going on in this community then you should find out what you can do to make it better.
To our leaders in the community, I say this, be more honest with us about what is going on and don't try to gloss over the situation with "what about's" and "yeah, but's." We all know what is going on and though it can be nice to hear about what is else is going on in Blytheville and that other things are getting better, it would be nice to hear someone say, "I know that our situation isn't good and this is what I'm doing to try and fix it." We aren't stupid and we don't want to be treated like we are.
Listen dear readers, I'm only 21 and I spent most of my life in Monette, Arkansas. I'm not going to pretend like I have the answer to Blytheville's problems and that I can just say what the solution is to stop violence in the community and get rid of people's stereotypes about this town. What I do know is that it is going to take everyone in this town doing all that they can do to make it better for us to see any kind of visible change. I've recently been trying to picture what Blytheville used to be like in its "heyday" before the base closed and businesses lined Main Street and Blytheville was the place to be in Northeast Arkansas. I wasn't around then and I don't know that Blytheville will ever return to that point, but I know that if enough people care about this town, and I think that they do, we can still turn things around for the better. We've got a lot going for us, we just have to open our eyes and lend out our hands to help.
gwilliams@blythevillecourier.com