• • To public

    Hello Dr Carl, I so enjoyed your blog on Black & Blue about the hijacking of the BLM protest by anarchist. Here in Indy, I lost a dear friend and associate in the Hospitality Industry, Chris Beaty, who was shot 10X’s by troublemakers here to rob & steal during the protest/chaos Downtown Indy. Chris Beaty known as “Mr Indianapolis” because of his achievements as businessman, Nightclub owner, Restaurant Mgr and Civic Leader, was gunned down when he left his downtown apartment to help stop 2 young ladies from being robbed. He tried reasoning with 2 fellow black men to stop and let the women go, instead they emptied their guns killing him. Chris, like other black men he grew up with, were aware 24/7 about the statistics of violence/death, incarceration, drug addiction and racism to often dished out & served to young men like him. Not sure if Chris & his friends ever thought about young men who look like them would be the very ones to make him an unfortunate statistic of violence & death. At his viewing, in Pan Am Plaza, all of Indianapolis, IN from the Governor, Mayor and City Dignitaries showed up to pay respect. Among those I met there were childhood friends, family and business associates. As I expressed how these 2 troublemakers came to Indy to take advantage of the protest march and subsequent chaos with guns to rob, steal, kill, destroy and “get theirs” .... several Chris’s “friends” said I was wrong to blame the 2 killers of Chris, because it’s NOT THEIR FAULT !! They said “it’s the white racism and power structure that made things so hopeless in the black community, that young black men have little to no opportunity to survive or achieve w/o resorting to selling drugs, robbing, stealing, killing and other criminal activity to “get theirs”. My point to them is & was, that racism exists now, but is nothing like what my mother & grandmother had to endure in 1900 - 1943 in Indianola, Mississippi .... yet they rose up from there to achieve success in Gary, IN and raise a family of 6 on 25th & Jefferson. Hi Carl it’s been ages since I’ve “laided eyes on you” as my grandmother “Grand” Bliss would often say. This is Sonny from the block, best friends with Bob & Joe. So happy to see your doing well and achieving life’s dreams .... as most of us have who grew up on 25th & J.

    1. It's a fallacy to believe that racism doesn't exist now as it did in the early 1900s. There are some minor improvements, but racism hasn't really diminished; it simply exists in different forms.