My father lives in bumfuck Arkansas so I have some experience with the people there, they are decent people. There is a huge outlaw mentality throughout the whole state, so people understand and respect travelers more then one might think. I hitched from Fayetteville to Texarkana by myself, but I'm a white female. I had two scary rides, the rest were really nice christian people. If you don't mind getting preached at then you should be fine. Anyone who has a problem with your ethnicity probably just won't pick you up.