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CHAPTER TWO:  Talkin’ ‘Bout Revolution?: The Political and Cultural Moderation of Indianapolis’ African-American Community

            Indianapolis’ African-American residents watched in dismay and horror in the mid-sixties when cities such as Newark, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Watts burned and fellow blacks destroyed neighborhoods, residences and businesses.  Indianapolis was fortunate, as there was no organized violence in the city until 1969.  Indianapolis was different than other major metropolitan areas because the majority of the black population was not crammed into massive public housing projects or high-rise apartments.  Although most blacks were confined to the Indiana Avenue corridor, Representative William Crawford believes it was the horizontal nature of the city that prevented widespread violence and strife.  Crawford said,

Looking at Indianapolis, we’re not a vertical city, we’re a horizontal city. We’re not stacked on top of each other.  Everybody, rich or poor, had some green space that they could access.  There was not that kind of tension that would arise out of places in more urban communities with a high population density and a high concentration of underprivileged people.[1]

Furthermore, most African Americans came from strong, intact families where the father went to work everyday.  Most had decent jobs and a strong work ethic, and if one needed a job, there was usually one available in the automotive industry, state government, or one of the many packing plants in the city.  The unemployment rate in Indianapolis was the lowest it had been since the early 1950s, so there were few people out of work, hanging out on street corners and looking to make trouble.[2] 

After 1968 tensions within the African-American community began to grow.  Disdain for the mayor’s office, apprehension over interstate construction and downtown development, and a rise in poverty, violent crime, and drugs all took their toll on the local black community.  Black angst came to a head in June 1969 with a riot in the Lockefield Gardens area at the north end of Indiana Avenue.  Although small, the riot indicated growing dissent and anger in the black community.  African Americans made several small gains in the community during the 1960s, including the removal of restrictive housing covenants allowing blacks to move into nicer neighborhoods.  But housing desegregation, combined with interstate construction, downtown development, and rises in poverty, drugs, and violence nearly pulled the community apart at its seams.  By 1968-69, the African-American community was spread throughout the entire city rather than in isolated areas, yet the community’s identity held together. 

            To argue that Indianapolis soul music was modest in message because of the moderation of Indianapolis’ black community, it is necessary to discuss the state of Indianapolis’ black community from 1968 to 1974 from a political and social perspective.  Despite perceived injustices on behalf of local government and construction projects that ripped apart the Indiana Avenue neighborhood, Indianapolis’ African-American community remained remarkably calm.[3]  The Black Power Movement, including the Black Panthers and other militant groups, did not gain a strong foothold, and that is one reason why Indianapolis remained relatively tranquil.  Indianapolis soul music was moderate in message because its black community was moderate in its political stance despite the tensions it faced.

Institutional Changes in Indianapolis’ African-American Community

Throughout the twentieth century, Indianapolis’ African-American community worked diligently for respect, equal rights, and an opportunity to be successful in a city where it had long been neglected and repressed.  When African Americans first came to Indianapolis in the mid-nineteenth century, they were relegated to the swamps in the western part of the city, which is where the Indiana Avenue neighborhood eventually came to be.  Prejudice was a dominant factor in the lives of many African Americans; blacks were discriminated against in nearly every facet of life, from renting and purchasing real estate to finding jobs.  However, as the twentieth century progressed, life began to improve for African Americans.  Jobs were plentiful and pay adequate in the many automobile factories and meat packing plants during the sixties.  Gradual desegregation of housing and neighborhoods afforded blacks the opportunity to spread out in the city.[4]  Despite these signs of hope, things began to turn for the worse again in the late 1960s.  With housing desegregation in place, new problems began to arise.  A new city-county government called Unigov took away much of the political power blacks had achieved throughout the last few decades.  State and federal construction projects split the traditional west side African-American community in two, displacing hundreds of residents and eventually forcing dozens of businesses to shut their doors.  The late sixties and early seventies were times of great turmoil in Indianapolis, yet the city’s African Americans maintained their moderate political, cultural, and social views as they dealt with the problems before them.

By 1968, African Americans in Marion County were becoming the base of the city’s Democratic majority.  Neighborhoods heavily populated by African Americans were known to swing entire elections towards the Democratic side.  The population of African Americans in Indianapolis was ever-growing as well, as blacks made up 27 percent of the voter base, up from 21 percent in 1960 and 15 percent in 1950.   The improving political influence of Indianapolis’ African-American community took a tremendous blow in 1969, however, with the formation of the unified city-county government, or Unigov. [5]  

After the 1968 elections, Republicans led by recently elected Mayor Richard Lugar controlled most of the political entities in Marion County and Indiana, including the Governor’s Mansion, the Indianapolis City Council, the Marion County Council and both houses of General Assembly.  In fact, Lugar was only the third Republican mayor in Indianapolis since 1925.  With this stronghold in place, Mayor Lugar set about his plan to consolidate the legislative and executive bodies of the city of Indianapolis and Marion County, creating a single strong council and single county-wide executive.[6] 

Despite promises of equity and fairness, Unigov was met with staunch resistance from both Marion County Democrats and Indianapolis’ black population.  Democrats called the proposal “Unigrab” based on the substantial advantage gained by Republicans in shifting power to the substantially white outlying areas of Marion County.  The addition of 250,000 additional white constituents to the Indianapolis voting registers was of great concern to the African-American community.  Few blacks lived in outlying areas.  In fact 87 percent of Marion County’s African-American population lived in Center Township.  In 1969, 27 percent of the voting base within Indianapolis was black; by 1970, after Unigov came into effect, blacks made up only 18 percent of the voting public within Marion County.[7]  Although Lugar still contends today that diluting minority voter strength was not a goal of Unigov, prominent black citizens and activists such as Willard Ransom, Sr. disagree.  Ransom, head of the local NAACP in the 1960s, felt Unigov was the death knell for Indiana Avenue and markedly changed Indianapolis’ black community.  In an interview he recalled that “Lugar brought the worst curse on all of us – Unigov.  We fought him on that but he got it through.  That brought the outlying areas of the city to vote.  [Unigov] was the big thing that Lugar did that was bad for blacks.”[8]  Black political clout and blacks’ growing majority within the Democratic party, which until Lugar’s election controlled the city of Indianapolis, was gone by 1970.

After Unigov, blacks were a minority people represented by a minority Democratic party that did not return to power in Indianapolis until the 1980s.  This disfranchisement in the city led to growing malaise within the community.  Many of Unigov’s actions left thousands of African Americans wondering if their leaders cared for their needs.  In 1969, as Mayor Lugar held town meetings on the Unigov issue, black residents became livid about what they saw as his uncaring attitude towards the African-American community.  To some, he seemed more intent on solidifying his power base than being able to relate to and assist the black community.[9]  In April, hundreds stormed out of a town meeting after the mayor refused to comment on how Unigov might disfranchise the majority of the black community.  Richard Bridgewater of the Black Coalition accosted Lugar on the Unigov issue, claiming he cared more for his pet project than for the thousands of blacks living in squalor. He identified a variety of issues on which Lugar’s administration fell short.  In an interview with the Recorder, Bridgewater noted, “The city has chosen to build highways without creating or locating adequate housing for displaced people.  Slumlords, where are you now?  The city and state have rejected the need for quality education for anyone as evidenced by this past legislature.  The police continue to be reactionary and racist as demonstrated by the Shortridge [High School] incident.”[10]  The Shortridge incident, which occurred in March 1969, resulted in the arrests of several prominent black activists, including Ben Bell and the Reverend Luther Hicks, who were peacefully protesting the three-day suspensions given to a group of black students for disrupting a school concert.  The police came in and used “undue force” to arrest protesters.  An onlooker called the episode “the most brutal thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”[11]  This incident was an example of the Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) and local government overreacting to a situation involving black protest, and it added more fuel to the fire of discontent growing throughout the black community.  The discontent stemmed from the realization that their limited political power was dwindling, and they could not address issues like community loss, education, and other issues that mattered to blacks.

            Not only did African Americans see the lessening of their political power during the late 1960s, but they also witnessed the deterioration of their historic Indiana Avenue community.  One reason for the great change in the Indiana Avenue neighborhood was the desegregation of Indianapolis neighborhoods.  When Indianapolis was settled in the nineteenth century, the Indiana Avenue area was a mosquito-infested swamp deemed unsuitable for mass settlement.  However, with restrictive housing covenants and overt racism keeping blacks from inhabiting white neighborhoods, blacks were left with few options and eventually took up residence in the Indiana Avenue area.  The blacks who did live outside the area commonly paid up to 21 percent more than white residents for a comparable property.[12]  Until the early 1960s, de facto segregation was prevalent throughout the city.  This concentrated black residences and businesses in one area, making Indiana Avenue the economic, social and cultural focus of the black community.  Black-owned grocery stores, drug stores, clothing stores, and of course nightclubs, ran the entire length of Indiana Avenue.  Crispus Attucks High School graduate and NBA legend Oscar Robertson believes that the Avenue was created by the white community in order to contain local blacks.  He said, “Indiana Avenue was the center of everything for black people.  It seems that the white power structure said, ‘OK, if you’re going to do it, do it right here so we can watch you.’”[13]   

Although the segregation present in Indianapolis during the 1950s and 60s was never an official policy, it was omnipresent in the lives of most African-Americans.  The majority of African-American citizens lived either in the Indiana Avenue area or near Martindale Avenue on the east side of Indianapolis.  Several restaurants, including the Evans Restaurant on College Avenue, refused to serve blacks as late as the 1950s, while the Riverside Amusement Park allowed black customers only one day a year.[14]  The restrictive housing covenants that kept blacks out of most neighborhoods began to collapse, however, in the 1950s.  By this time, many African-Americans had well-paying jobs and were able to buy houses outside of the Indiana Avenue area. The area between 30^th and 38^th Streets, from Meridian Street on the east to Northwestern Avenue, became the new area for black houses, small businesses, and nightclubs. 

Another factor in the deterioration of Indiana Avenue was the construction of the inner loop of Interstate 65.  During the mid-1960s, there was more interstate construction in Marion County than any other county in the United States.[15]  This construction greatly altered the racial geography of Indianapolis. Despite community efforts and the involvement of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) on behalf of the local Homes Before Highway Commission, the highway split the Westside black community in two.  Indiana State Representative William Crawford, a former resident of Lockefield Gardens, believed this was the biggest generator of change within the black community.  In a 1994 interview, Crawford said, “The strain occurred when they ran the inner-loop of I-65 right through the heart of the African-American community and that disrupted and displaced a lot of people.  That was the catalyst of the deterioration process.”[16]  Not only were people displaced, but also the city of Indianapolis offered them little help.  Despite an influx of federal money, and the construction of new housing, it remains unclear whether or not the city used any money to house those repositioned from the Indiana Avenue neighborhood.[17]

            The construction of the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis campus also caused great consternation along Indiana Avenue.  Beginning in 1962, the university gradually began acquiring property in the area, and although no one was forced out, the residential community began to erode.  By 1971, IUPUI had purchased 751 parcels of land, mainly single-family houses, but also taverns, liquor stores and several churches.[18] Those in the black community appeared bitter about the land takeover, accusing the city of allowing IUPUI to expand and modernize while doing nothing to improve life for the residents of the area.[19]  Many feared that some of their local landmarks, namely Lockefield Gardens and the 11^th Street YMCA, faced elimination, while others came to the realization that they would have to leave their homes.  “They [were] not going to put 30 to 40 thousand people in the Indiana Purdue and hospital complex and leave [that] many Negroes in the vicinity,” one resident concluded.[20]  By 1970, 75 percent of Indiana Avenue inhabitants were tenants, many times transients with little interest in community preservation.  Owners of these houses rarely lived on the Avenue anymore, so when word got around that IUPUI was starting to purchase homes along the Avenue, landlords flocked to the IUPUI Real Estate Office looking for the best deal.  High renter turnover, low rate of return on rent, and lack of social supports prompted landlords to sell out.  IUPUI then took over the properties, essentially becoming the landlord for thousands of people.  Although IUPUI claimed their relocation was done in a humane way, the school was placed in an “exposed position” to take the blame for the problems caused by the displacement.  According to former university administrator Charles Hardy, IUPUI forced no one from their residence until they found alternative housing, oftentimes with help from the university.[21] 

            Socioeconomic factors of the time, along with the infringement of IUPUI, I-65, and housing desegregation, prompted many residents to leave Indiana Avenue, decreasing the population drastically.  From 1960 to 1970, each Indiana Avenue census tract lost over 2,000 residents, although the percentage of black residents in the area remained consistent since whites also left. (See Table 1.) A lack of quality housing was also an issue, as properties around the Indiana Avenue neighborhood became decrepit and many were condemned, vacated, and eventually destroyed.  Although IUPUI helped many families relocate, there were others who could not afford to do so.  Aside from Lockefield Gardens, there was little or no public housing, and nearly one-third of families were living in poverty.[22] 

Table 1

Racial Breakdown and Population Change in Indiana Avenue Census Tracts, 1960 & 1970

Source: Table P-1, “General Characteristics of the Population,” and Table P-5 “General Characteristics of the Negro Population,” Census Tracts: Indianapolis, Indiana Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, April 1962 and 1972).   Please refer to Appendix A, Map 4 for census tract locations.

A clear change became evident in the location of Indianapolis’ black population between 1960 and 1970.  A close examination of U.S. census data reveals the migration of black population away from Indiana Avenue and towards 30^th Street.  Although this neighborhood never reached the pinnacle of community pride that Indiana Avenue had in the 1930s, it became another large black settlement in Indianapolis.   

Although the percentage of black residents in the Indiana Avenue area remained steady, the 1970 census shows a drastic increase in the number of African Americans living in areas north of 30^th Street formerly inhabited by a predominantly white population. (See Table 2.)  Despite a massive influx of African Americans into these areas, population numbers remained steady or dropped because most whites moved out as blacks moved in.  Thus in some tracts, the percentage of black residents increased dramatically. 

Table 2

Racial Breakdown and Population Change in New Entertainment District Census Tracts, 1960 & 1970