INDIANAPOLIS, IN. — Growing up in the Gary, Indiana in the 1970’s and ’80’s I was, to some degree, shielded from the blatant racism that existed in the Hoosier state. Gary is a steel town in the northwest corner of the state with about 150,000 people at that time that was 99.9999 percent black. So everyone that I interacted with on a daily basis looked like me. Darn near every teacher I had was black and all of the doctors, lawyers, bank managers, city council men and women, police officers, coaches, store clerks etc. were as well.
However, the fact that I grew up in that city was a direct result of the racism that existed in Indiana. Northwest Indiana, at the time, was THEE most segregated place in America. My dad was a pharmacist and my mother was an elementary school teacher. We were a middle class family, like most others in Gary, that couldn’t live in the suburbs because of the racism that existed in Indiana.
When I was a 14 year old freshman at Roosevelt High School in the fall of 1981, our varsity football team traveled to nearby Valparaiso High to play. At the end of the 3rd quarter they burned a 30 foot cross on us in a corn field adjacent to the football stadium.
That experience will forever be etched into my memory. It was devastating to see what you only thought existed on TV during the Jim Crow era or during the Civil Rights Movement. So when I see the Indianapolis Colts, the only professional football team in the state, supporting people like John Schnatter (Papa John’s) and Bob Lamey and their efforts to be racist, my confidence is shot.
The Colts are one of the biggest influencers in the state and they have yet to step up to denounce either of these cats by distancing themselves from them. They’ve continued their relationship with Papa John’s and even threw Bob Lamey a party even after it was revealed that he told a joke for the sole purpose of the racist punchline.
So what does that say about the ownership of the Indianapolis Colts and it’s leadership in our community? It’s sad that 70 percent of the roster is black and the organization won’t stand up against the very racism that divides our country today. The NFL is a major influencer in the communities that they exist and this is merely pouring gasoline on an already smoldering fire in a state that has a terrible history of racism.
Don’t act like you didn’t know that Indiana in the 1920’s had the largest Ku Klux Klan organization in America. It included the state’s governor, more than half of the state legislature and an estimated 30 percent of all white men in the state. There were more than 250,000 members in the state at the time and that estimate is low balling it.
And please don’t act like you don’t see these ignorant people still riding around with Confederate flags on their cars and trucks today. What’s EXTREMELY ignorant about it is that Indiana wasn’t even a Confederate state. So that means that they can’t use the excuse that my great-great grandpa was a confederate so it’s in the family line and I’m just celebrating my heritage. No, these folks have simply gone out of their way to be an idiot racist because it feels good to them.
Therefore, with the Colts not having the guts to stand up against the racism in this state tells you just how bad things are. If you don’t stand up against it you’re complicit. That’s why I’m so thankful for the radio employee that decided that Bob Lamey wasn’t going to be an idiot on their watch. Thanks my friend and stop me when I start lyin’!
Playas Thesaurus: Learn these words because they’ll become very important while reading TheJayGravesReport!
1) Dun: noun – the person in question, dude, guy, etc. It’s whoever I’m talkin’ about and its non-gender specific.
2) Put it where the goats can get it: verb phrase – to make it as elementary as possible. To put it at ground level so everyone can understand it.
3) Ole boy: noun – the person that I’m currently talkin’ about.
NOTE: The G is excluded from the endings of all words because the G is near and dear to my heart because I’m from “The G” which is Gary, Indiana. So I only use the G when I’m talkin’ about “The G!”
The caption under the photo isn’t real but its real talk!