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cities like Indianapolis and the ability for all Hoosiers to live freely without the fear of what lies on the other side of the Ohio River. Whoo, boy, someone

cities like Indianapolis and the ability for all Hoosiers to live freely without the fear of what lies on the other side of the Ohio River. Whoo, boy, someone needs to go read about Indianapolis and its relation to the Ku Klux Klan. What a black person needed to fear up until at least the 1980s was firmly north of the Ohio river (the Indiana side). Need gas? Stop somewhere other than Martinsville (to the south) or Elwood (to the north). I grew up in Indiana, and it was no bastion of civil rights. In fact, one of the motivating factors to moving the hell out of there was when the county prosecutor for Indianapolis' county said that a car full of black young men was probable cause for a traffic stop (Stephen Goldsmith, circa 1990 or so). The day after our wedding in the early 90s, it took a little longer to get out of Indianapolis for our honeymoon because there was a KKK rally downtown clogging up the works. (Granted, it was probably half dozen pathetic old men in Halloween costumes, but still...) So let's not glamorize Indiana as this safe haven for black folks. Maybe it is now, 25 years after we moved (EDIT: ya know, my classmates still live there, so no, it probably isn't), but within my lifetime it has been anything but.

dexwiz 5y ago
Born in Indiana, and at one point something like 40% of adult men belonged to the Klan (in the 20s-30s). The state government was controlled by the Klan. In rural areas, the Klan is still very active. Indianapolis has a large Black population, but suffers oppression via systematic racist to this day.
binarynate 5y ago
Thanks for your perspective on this. I sometimes see mentions of the KKK's presence in Indianapolis (what comes to mind is the city government in the 1920's), but I haven't yet pulled on that thread to learn more like I should. I especially didn't know about the continuing issues into the 80s and 90s. It sounds like there's much more to the picture that I should learn about.
mbg721 5y ago
Many residents of northern states despised the black population that they absorbed after the Civil War ended. It was essentially an economic refugee crisis for the working class there. The Cincinnati area was full of what amounted to German-Catholic draft-dodgers (from the 1848 wars) who helped slaves across the Ohio River because they were just as marginalized and figured they had nothing to lose by doing what their religion demanded.

dexwiz 5y ago

Born in Indiana, and at one point something like 40% of adult men belonged to the Klan (in the 20s-30s). The state government was controlled by the Klan. In rural areas, the Klan is still very active. Indianapolis has a large Black population, but suffers oppression via systematic racist to this day.

binarynate 5y ago

Thanks for your perspective on this. I sometimes see mentions of the KKK's presence in Indianapolis (what comes to mind is the city government in the 1920's), but I haven't yet pulled on that thread to learn more like I should. I especially didn't know about the continuing issues into the 80s and 90s. It sounds like there's much more to the picture that I should learn about.

mbg721 5y ago

Many residents of northern states despised the black population that they absorbed after the Civil War ended. It was essentially an economic refugee crisis for the working class there. The Cincinnati area was full of what amounted to German-Catholic draft-dodgers (from the 1848 wars) who helped slaves across the Ohio River because they were just as marginalized and figured they had nothing to lose by doing what their religion demanded.