Sunday, July 18, 2010

Black Expo's Black Eye

This Indianapolis Observer is horrified at the 8 or 10 shootings (nobody seems to know the exact count!) Downtown yesterday during Black Expo. (Here's the report in The Star.)

There are always shootings downtown during Black Expo. Why? In this case, the victims were all under 18 years of age. Who's shooting kids on the streets of Downtown? Why isn't anyone ever caught, charged and convicted for this public violence?

As Ruth Holladay notes in her blog today, "[T]hose who lead Expo, and the parents who permit their kids to be out on the streets late, have to 'take back the night'. They must make the Downtown safe again on the second Saturday of the 40-year-old event."

Indianapolis Downtown Inc. (who better?) needs to figure out what to do about this conundrum.

This CNN video has already gone viral on Facebook. "Hundreds of police officers patrolled the streets of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, early Sunday after three shootings within blocks of each other left 10 people injured," the story says. Great promo for Indy...NOT!

1 comment:

Christina Berry said...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of another event that occurs on a regular basis in Indianapolis where this kind of behavior is a problem.

You don't see it at either of the huge races we host. You don't see it when the Colts host play-off games or when the NCAA comes to town. You don't hear about it at the numerous conventions held in Indianapolis.

Only Black Expo. And you're right, it seems to be a tradition.

How long will the city let this go on before someone is killed?

I just think it has to reach a point where we say that whatever revenue this event brings to the city isn't worth the bad press.

Am I wrong?