O f course Dumas is not "one killed and more than two dozen injured in what was one of the largest mass shootings in the country." But when a lot of people across the country have probably never even heard of Dumas and then the one time they do, it's from nationwide stories about this horrific incident, it's hard to separate the city from the story.
But city leaders are trying to separate the negative from the positive, and it seems as if they've made a good start.
Last week, there was a Nonviolent Youth Summit. It came as a result of a cooperative effort of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, the Dumas mayor's office and the Dumas School District. There was even an appearance from a well-known personality to add some pizazz.
"Today is all about hope, healing and restoration," said Vivica Fox, the celebrity. "We got to let our kids know that we are there for them."
Students and community members filled the gym for a variety of self worth-building talks and exercises.
"Dumas is a great city and what took place in Dumas doesn't speak to who Dumas is throughout the world," said DeShun Scarbrough, director of the MLK Commission. "We want to show that Arkansas is a beautiful state and Dumas is a beautiful city."
The annual celebration, called Hood-Nic, is a homecoming of sorts for the community. That's where the shooting started on the March night. The point was later made that Dumas can't be held responsible for what happened because the events were completely unexpected.
"Once we began to actually get over the shock, get over the embarrassment ... and get over all those negative things, then we began to work positively individually and as a group to rebuild ourselves and our respect for our own community," said Mayor Flora J. Simon.
Yes, the healing has to start from within, something along the lines of we know we're better than this and let's remind ourselves and remind the world of that fact. It's a good lesson for any community that has suffered perception-altering events.
Good luck to Dumas, and may the next bit of nationwide publicity about this close-knit community be about the newly inspired effort to tell the city's real story.