Show Of Force

All over the news but I picked this one:

Police, Black Expo Plan Show Of Force
Officers To Clog Downtown For Summer Celebration

In part:

Indiana Black Expo and Indianapolis police plan a dramatic show of force this weekend for Summer Celebration downtown.

Police and expo officials outlined safety and security plans as they try to avoid a repeat of last year's event, where several people were shot.

It's good practice for the police so they can prepare for the massive show of force necessary to keep the peace at the White Expo, AKA the Indiana State Fair. . . What, there's no need for such a police presence at the Fair? I smell me some racism. I think the police should back off and stay out of the downtown and not hassle folks attending the Black Expo.

Racial Reflections

Friday night Mrs. Shomes and I joined friends for some dinner at the Rathskeller and then went to the second show of Bob & Tom's Comedy All-Stars. We had a pleasant time and there were a few jokes that I laughed out load at (it takes a really really good joke to make me do that). What I found interesting was that after getting seated I looked around at the crowd, leaned over to one of our friends who also teaches at IUPUI and said, "Damn, this crowd is white!" And indeed it was. It was the most white people I've seen in one place (with the exception of the State Fair, AKA the White Expo) than any other time I've been here. It seemed. . .abnormal. I think this perception comes from the circumstances in which I commute and my work environment. The Indygo bus line seems to be used by mostly African-Americans: I usually find myself one of five Caucasians amongst twenty African Americans on the ride to and from work. At IUPUI we have a large number of African American, South Asian and East Asian students with a growing number of Latino-s. It's nice.