Springdale, Arkansas is again considering breed-specific legislation (BSL), a pit bull ban, as they did in 2010, and 2007. With places like Dardanelle, Dover, Garland County, Caddo Valley, West Memphis, and Marion, Arkansas, who have passed BSL or considered it, perhaps Springdale thinks it will be in good company. Yes, indeed, notice that many Arkansas communities have passed BSL because they know their constituents are most likely too poor to hire an attorney to legally challenge the unconstitutionality of these cities’ breed-specific ordinances.

These areas’ constituents may be too socio-economically disadvantaged, and as I wrote about Dardanelle, Arkansas, too full of minorities . . . or at least, maybe that’s what the town’s governance thinks. It’s no coincidence, surely, that the ethnic make-up for minorities in Springdale is about one-third Latino or Hispanic. 35.4% to be precise, according to census data. And that doesn’t include the 1.8% the population that is African-American or black.

So, just as I did with Dardanelle, I will ask: Is Springdale using a pit bull ban to racially profile? Is there an underlying assumption that minorities, particularly minorities with pit bulls, are criminals?