Why does Indianapolis get a bad rap as a boring city? (Gary: prestigious, celebrities)

[Serious Conversation]

I think the KKK thing is beyond overblown. As someone who has lived in both IN and TN, I've never had any dealings with the KKK, nor known anyone who has and admitted it, nor ran into Klan activities randomly.

In the South, you are likely to see a lot of Confederate flags. For many of these folks, it's a symbol of Southern pride - for others, a symbol of rebellion against the federal government. I've seen plenty of Confederate flags in rural areas everywhere, though admittedly, it's bigger in the South.

I haven't seen much in the way of racial problems in the city proper, though I also don't spend much time there. I went to the Jordan Y for about a year and a half and had lots of racial discussion - everyone was respectful and no problems.

I have seen a ton of disrespectful behavior here in Carmel. There are several patrons at a bar I frequent who are openly racist, and openly discuss these views with people they don't really know. It is really striking.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Serious Conversation

I think the KKK thing is beyond overblown. As someone who has lived in both IN and TN, I've never had any dealings with the KKK, nor known anyone who has and admitted it, nor ran into Klan activities randomly.

In the South, you are likely to see a lot of Confederate flags. For many of these folks, it's a symbol of Southern pride - for others, a symbol of rebellion against the federal government. I've seen plenty of Confederate flags in rural areas everywhere, though admittedly, it's bigger in the South.

I haven't seen much in the way of racial problems in the city proper, though I also don't spend much time there. I went to the Jordan Y for about a year and a half and had lots of racial discussion - everyone was respectful and no problems.

I have seen a ton of disrespectful behavior here in Carmel. There are several patrons at a bar I frequent who are openly racist, and openly discuss these views with people they don't really know. It is really striking.

I would agree.

While having experienced the KKK stuff, it was some years ago. My point in mentioning it was more to establish that it was present well into the 1970s at least.

The Confederate flag thing is a real mix of things. You have the rednecks with "the South will rise again!" while they play the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. These are usually younger people who have little or no understanding of the historical significance of the flag or its meaning.

You have the older people who are more in tune with the racial aspect of it and see it as a representation of the Old South, complete with cotton plantations and Jim Crow laws. These are also the ones who see it as a secession sort of thing, too.

I find the recent sensitivity to the "Stars and Bars" to be sort of silly. While people might still display it, the meaning has no real (current) historical significance. If we went back through history and pointed out the symbols and other things that represented what is now considered inappropriate behaviors we would be overwhelmed.

Your bar patrons sound like my former employees. They took real pride in espousing their views on racism, government, and other matters. While I respect other people's opinions, when they're socially abhorrent on any level I'll distance myself from that person as much as possible. They're usually too ignorant and/or closed minded to have a civil conversation about the issue.

RM

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Outside the cities over about 50,000 population, the Midwest is virtually an all white region. Somebody could spend a week in a place like Columbus, Indiana, about 4% black, and not have a single interaction with a black person.

There are just alot of white people in the Midwest who have never been around any black people, and basically all they know about black people are stereotypes and what they see on the tv news, and a good portion of that is negative news that reinforces the stereotypes.

I think they mean well. They just don't know any different. It's changing though as the country continues to become less and less isolated from one another.