The racial composition and issues concerning the city of Indianapolis, Indiana will be discussed in this article. How has the minority population changed over time, and why? What is the employment and housing situation for minorities in Indianapolis? We will discuss these topics below.
Indianapolis is the capital of the state of Indiana, which is a state in the United States within its central heartland, the Midwest. Over the years, it has developed into the largest city in the state. The population of Indianapolis is roughly around 879,000 people, making it the 12th largest city in the United States, and the second-largest state capital after Phoenix, Arizona. The population of the city grew rapidly during the last century or so, due to the growth of the manufacturing sector of the economy, as well as the pharmaceutical industry due to the well-poised Eli Lilly, which is headquartered in the city. An interesting thing about the growth of the population of Indianapolis is that the city has grown in population in every decade since they started to keep track, except for one decade – in the 1970’s, the population actually shrank, and right after the decade of the 1960’s, in which the population grew by over 50%, making the only shrinking decade in its history come on the back of the fastest-growing decade in recent Indianapolis history.
As for the racial composition of the city, there are some things that need to be noted. During the period known as The Great Migration, between the 1920’s and the 1970’s, the African American population of the city grew rapidly, as it did most other major cities in the northern states. Of course, there was the normal segregation between them and the whites that occurred before the time of desegregation. If you talk to many older people of European decent, who grew up in Indianapolis, they will tell you about how they remember going to Crispus Attucks High School in their high school years, which was where African Americans went to high school before desegregation, in order to watch some of their basketball games. Even back then they thought they were the best basketball players.
What are some of the things that caused racial tensions within the community? Of course, the increasing African American population during the Great Migration caused some tension among the whites living within the community. After World War II, when there was increased migration of the white middle class from the central city to the quickly-growing suburbs, leaving behind the poorer blacks, this helped to increase racial tensions. So did the construction of the interstate highways through the middle of the city – these highways were always strategically placed to disrupt the continuity of black communities. The introduction of Unigov in 1970, which combined municipal and county governments under a single structure, was meant to streamline government, making it more efficient, and save the taxpayers some money, actually helped to increase tensions between whites and blacks as it caused urban African Americans to feel isolated as they soon became outnumbered by the middle class white population in traditional suburbs, which were now included in the city government, and who now controlled the workings of politics and government. As the money powers were increasingly on the outskirts of town, rather than within the central interior, this helped to lead to much urban decay, which only helped to prolong racial tensions that were, by the 1980’s starting to dissipate somewhat, at least in the opinion of some people.
Desegregation programs, starting in the 1950’s and 60’s, particularly within Indianapolis schools, have helped to decrease racial tensions, by allowing people of different racial backgrounds to have more connection with each other, which has helped to spur on increased understanding between people, particularly the African Americans and those of European decent. Urban regentrification programs started to take place in the 1990’s and the first decade of the 21st century, which has helped to stimulate more connection between people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Desegregation programs must have taken their course and done their job, as recently the superintendent of the Perry Township public schools was heard speaking at a local south side church (the Reformed Presbyterian Church) and stating that desegregation, or the bussing of students from other districts to Perry Township schools, was being phased out, which could mean several things. Unfortunately, when students from Center Township (Indianapolis Public Schools, or IPS) are not bussed to Perry Township schools because this program is being phased out, and at the same time the school statistics report less cases of violence, bullying, and harassment, and grades having gone up, it doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together.
According to the 2023 census report, the racial/ethnic composition of the city of Indianapolis consists of the following: 55.7% white, with most being non-Hispanic, or 51.9% of city’s population, 28.8% African American, 10.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.2% Asian, 6.3% are two or more races, and only 0.3% are Native American Indian (Go to census.gov’s page for Indianapolis for more information). We find that the minority population is changing over time, as the city is seeing the rise of the Latino community, in places such as the neighborhood known as Haughville on the near west side, the Asian community, and the rise of people being born who had parents from two different races. Within the Asian community, we can see the rise in their population; in Indianapolis, we see Korean churches on the north side, a Buddhist temple that caters to the Vietnamese community, and a thriving Burmese or Chin community on the south side (tribal minorities that left the mountainous regions of northern Myanmar because of political oppression and religious persecution by the junta military government).
As for how segregated or integrated the city is, it has been claimed that it is number 8 as the least segregated, and most integrated, city in the northern United States, with upwards of 25% of the population living on city blocks, or neighborhoods, within the city, that have both white and black residences. This is based on a study that was done by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee entitled “Racial Integration in 100 Largest Metro Areas”(no longer available). As for churches, they still seem to be mostly segregated, with white people going to their churches and African American people going to their churches, although you may occasionally see a white person at a black church and vise versa – kind of ironic given the fact that it seems to have been Christianity, and its moral sentiments, that were the driving force behind anti-slavery movements in the first half of the nineteenth century, and the civil right movements in the mid-to-late 20th century.
As for the employment situation for minorities in Indianapolis, it seems that the Hispanic and Asian populations have made great strides, becoming highly educated, or taking risks to start new businesses, and have become successful, allowing them to be just as likely to hold good jobs that require more education or skill, and to build roots in the middle class neighborhoods that were traditionally the domains of the white population. The African Americans, on the other hand, still lag behind, being less educated, and as such, being less likely to hold the good jobs held by members of other races, and as a result of the lower incomes they generate, are less likely to live in those good middle class neighborhoods, and are more likely to live in poorer housing. If you talk to people in the Indianapolis area, many state that they don’t hold racial prejudices and unfairly treat blacks, and that the reason for the average African American being on a lower socioeconomic level has much more to do with something within African American culture that holds them back than anything else – for example, the Jewish segment of the population is quite minuscule, yet they hold a higher than average influence on American society, culture, and politics; perhaps the African American population could learn some things from how the Jewish community are doing things, and apply those principles to their own community culture.
All in all, there are still some disparities between races, with the African Americans lagging behind in some areas, although these disparities are diminishing over time. Also, the African American minority is finding that it is stepping aside as other minority groups, such as the Hispanics, the Asians, and multi-racial people start making more of a headway into the city of Indianapolis.
