OPINION

MIKE MASTERSON: A 'hit job'

My hometown of Harrison has worked diligently for years through its Task Force on Race Relations, a proactive city government and thousands of caring residents to shed the unfair image of a community steeped in racism.

The state's Martin Luther King Jr. Commission has even recognized Harrison with its coveted "Dream Keepers Award."

Nonetheless, what's that they say about taking three steps forward only to tumble backwards from unjustified blows?

The latest assault came the other day when Los Angeles filmmaker and "viral superstar" Rob Bliss traveled to town. It's clear to me Bliss came to aggrandize himself while raking in thousands off the ignorant behavior and indefensible slurs of some 20 people.

They passed Bliss as he apparently recorded only negative reactions to the "Black Lives Matter" sign he displayed. Bliss then cynically passed those relatively few shameful reactions off as supposedly representative of the city's 13,000 residents.

He compiled his heavily edited material over three days standing near the local Walmart that also serves surrounding counties, as well as posing before a billboard advertising Ku Klux Klan leader Thom Robb's White Pride Radio based 15 miles away in Zinc.

Bliss' resulting video wound up published by at least 14 national media outlets, including USA Today and The Washington Post.

It's sad that of the thousands who visited Walmart over Bliss' stay, his scheme achieved his goal. Some willingly made fools of themselves on camera while Bliss ignored--or edited out--untold other passers-by who either didn't react, or offered a positive reaction.

Harrison Mayor Jerry Jackson and community leaders reacted both to Bliss and media outlets, denouncing the video as "unfairly representing Harrison and eroding decades of work to overcome Harrison's past racist reputation." Bliss clearly wasn't interested in fairness. His national smearing perpetuated the ingrained falsehood that the Ozarks town supposedly is what Bliss reported to be (without attribution or proof), the "Most Racist City in the United States."

Jackson responded on Friday (edited for space): "On July 27 a video recorded in Harrison was released on various social media platforms. It has since been viewed by over 3 million people, who now know Harrison only through this distorted portrayal. ...

"When the video first aired, several people ... came together to look into the truth behind this video and its creator, Rob Bliss. I believe this was nothing less than a professional 'hit job.' Our opinion became clear: Rob Bliss, and a partner, both from Los Angeles, are professional agitators who saw an opportunity to exploit Harrison. Bliss presents himself as an 'agent of change' when, in fact, he's only interested in making money, and doesn't actually care about the issue.

"He has done similar stunts in other places. After posting his highly edited videos, he immediately starts a "GoFundMe" page where he collects thousands of dollars in donations, in addition to money he is paid by YouTube and other social media for views. He promotes his video and 'GoFundMe' page until he has eked out all the money he can, and then he moves on to his next project. If you doubt this, I challenge you to do your own investigation.

"The words of the people in the video were way beyond horrible and cannot be justified. ... However, it is important to know that Bliss and partner spent at least three days in Harrison on a very busy street and in front of a very busy Walmart. We estimate that about 80,000 people would have passed by in those three days. They were able to, through provocative comments of their own, which they did not record, get just a couple dozen of those people to respond with disgusting comments making up just two minutes of highly inflammatory video."

Jackson said Harrison has a Black Lives Matter group, led by Quinn Foster, that has led peaceful and productive local protests but whom Bliss didn't contact. Foster denounced Bliss as a profiteer.

"Many other Southern towns and Harrison's distant past," Jackson wrote, "includes some well-documented racist acts of violence. The town and our local race relations group have worked over many decades to overcome our history of racism and its lingering reputation. We are not the racist town we have been made out to be.

"The fact that the Ku Klux Klan and leader have settled in nearby Zinc, Ark., and that a few supporters have rented billboards to display their hateful message has only added to Harrison's undeserved notoriety. Our race relations task force has worked to successfully remove four of the five privately owned billboards. ...

"This is one of the most devastating things that I have been through as Mayor ... . I know that when we are attacked, our community can come together to fight this. ... I urge you to combat hateful comments with something good. ... Like many communities ... we do have racist people among us, but we are not going to let a few define our city ... . In the last few decades, we have taken community efforts to denounce racism on all fronts, and we are committed to doing more."

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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.

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