Another Black Expo, another round of shootings, more kids with guns. Unfortunately, these shootings are almost becoming an
expectation.
Much is being said about how to stop the shootings, from curfews to shutting down the event on the second Saturday night.
But those would be Band-Aids. What about the larger questions of why children even show up at an event like Black Expo with
guns, and why they join gangs? For those with long memories, it hasn’t always been this way. And, as hopeless as it
sometimes seems, it doesn’t have to stay this way.
Where did the social fabric tear? And how should it be fixed?
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Welcome to the archives for NewsTalk, an IBJ blog published from November 2007 through December 2010.
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It's also across the street from Fogo de Chao and Morton's....
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Yep, the haters are trying to make good news bad. I guess it is hard to get people to believe the series is dying when they are gaining new sponsors.
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David Copperfield! I remember watching his specials on TV when I was little.
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Don't forget this is next to an MMA gym, a pawn shop, and some abandoned spaces.
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Good project for Zionsville - A group who has owned the property for many years has waited and worked patiently to bring highest and best use development to a major corridor, and mix that in with the great downtown you have. Win Win. All the Best to Pittman Partners and Zionsville.
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This does not occur with any celebration of ethnicity. Look at any local Irish/Italian/Asian/etc festival and it's a family-friendly, safe environment every time.
I do agree it does need to be shut down however. With the expo, the violence is just going to take place right outside of this "safe zone", so it's pointless really to even bother creating one. Plus, what about the people that are in the safe zone, in say a hotel, but aren't attending IBE. Are they going to have to get patted down and checked just to get to their hotel every day?
be ashamed of hosting. Past and Present
behaviors by the Black Communities warrant that this event should be permantely disbanded. In these tough
economic times it is a complete waste of
our tax dollars to support this event.
Violent video games
Violent movies
The more our youth is exposed to violence, the more they become immune to it. It's not just the parents, it's society too. If you don't think it's a societal problem, then visit any IPS school in any neighborhhod with any racial breakdown.
My daughter works and lives downtown and sitting down to dinner Saturday night she hears 7 gunshots outside her window. Had one of those shots been aimed at her window and my baby wounded or killed would Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson take ownership of this violence?? Must she flee her home every year during IBE because it is not safe? No, that would be the fault of the Police, or the City, or white society, wouldn't it? It's ALWAYS someone else's fault, someone else's blame, someone else's problem. No outrage, no ownership, no shame. You get on camera and curse Black on Black crime....not CRIME itself! Is black on white crime acceptable, because we have no shortage of sound bite seeking Reverends to tell us that white on black crime is racism. Crime is crime!
IBE has lost its right to use our streets, our stadiums, our convention center, our police, our firemen, our patience based on the content of the character of the community it has tried to represent! IBE, you are no longer welcome here. This is not the first and only incident but it must be the last. It took only one man with a gun to end Dr. King's dream and open the eyes of a nation. It has now taken only one punk to destroy your 'celebration' and open the eyes of a city.
You just said that nothing will stop this violence at the IBE. So even if they are isolated incidents each year, they're still going to happen as long as the IBE is around for a week every summer. Seems like you've just stated that the only solution left is to get rid of the expo, since nothing else will fix the problem.
Blaming IBE for this episode is like blaming NCAA, NBA, NFL, or MLB for the crazy riots that happen after championship games.
the person responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest so that the next person will think twice about doing it again.
Why cannot the city have some guts and do this?? Atlanta banned a similar event due to increasing amounts of crime.
And moving the festival to the State Fairgrounds? Really, Einstein? Try telling that to the hotels, restaraunts, stores and parking garages downtown that get a boost from this event every year.
Anyone who claims to live downtown and really thinks this event should be shipped off to somewhere else isn't a real downtowner to begin with. WE dont want or expect our downtown to be void of the energy and excitment that make it an incredible place to live. WE welcome the diversity of the downtown community. WE understand that events like this are vital to the success of our downtown and are what make it the envy of a great many cities across the country.
There's a reason restaurants used to closed, especially on those Saturday nights, before PC pressure forced them to stay open. Expo tends to be a money loser. Regulars and tourists in the know avoid downtown during these events, because it looks and feels like an armed police state ready to blow, which it usually does, and did.
Restauranteurs, who will refuse to go on record, say they write off those Saturday nights as the price of doing business in usually prosperous and welcoming downtown Indy. Customers are either afraid, or put off by all the cops and cattle-fencing on those above-mentioned nigght.
Some downtown entrepreneurs say what business they have has far too many walkaways, and too much property damage. Believe me, they DREAD it.
I'm pretty colorblind about this, and understand most Expo events and seminars are usually peaceful affairs, I've been to some, but this kind of violence and armed encampment atmosphere has way too many negatives.
Other big events downtown this year, Final Four and AFC championship, had nothing but good vibes and booming business. Sure there were lots of cops, but nothing similar to the armed occupying force we see at Black Expo.
I live in the city, work in the city, and I totally dread these weekends for the damage they do to downtown's reputation and business. This latest incident, no matter how much it's explained and reasoned away, has done irreparable damage to downtown Indy AND Expo. There's too much chaos and fear for our midwestern tastes.
Most city leaders, cops, and downtown businesses have always walked on eggshells on this matter, but I fear too many eggshells cracked this weekend, trampled by that Expo elephant in the room. It either has to pack its trunk, or find a smaller, more civilized way to party and prosper with the rest of Indy, black, white, and various shades of brown.
I70 split Indianapolis apart in two separated cities
Would someone show me some hard numbers on what IBE brings to the City ($) in relationship to all the costs (Cops OT, lost restaurant revenue, etc) it forces us into?
You can try all you want to fix the parental and societal problems, and good luck. I hope that all works, its a mess, babies having babies, kids trying to parent, no one cares about anyone in these "families". Do yourself some research - look at Patton's Facebook page, and look at all his friends pages - KIDS with gang signs, cocaine, guns, and stolen merchandise - braggin about it in the open. And not one of them can write a complete sentence. How embarrassing. Now just listen to his Mom speak on TV. This all tells me this is going to be a loooooong process. So in the meantime, take the thugs off our streets until IBE can get their act together and stop wasting all our tax money on cops' overtime and other nonsense.
Can we have our city back please?
I've never heard of anyone being shot at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and I've been to every race since the mid 1980's. I'm not going to say it's never happened but you've got to be kidding about "frequent" or have never been to a race there. Please provide proof of these "frequent" shootings in the infield.
You are correct sir. I know many downtown business owners/managers and every single one of them would prefer to just close during the Expo weekends. Especially the second one. Steak n' Shake did just that last year but got a pr nightmare out of it so that's why most places don't close.
The businesses down there deal with a lot these weekends. Extremely rude patrons, lots of walkaways on checks, extremely poor tips, property damage, fights, etc. It just isn't worth the hassle.
Without fail, downtown businesses love events like the Big Ten tourney, the races, etc. I've yet to hear a single business owner, manager, server, etc. with a good thing to say about Expo. Actually, they pretty much all hate it but avoid saying that in the press so they don't have Rev Al marching in front of their place.
What a complete waste of parent. Lady, you should go to jail too.