Hoosiers and the American Story Chapter 11
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Indiana Statehouse Exterior The Indiana Statehouse, a grand building of Indiana limestone, completed in 1888, houses all branches of the state government. 288 | Hoosiers and the American Story 2033-12 Hoosiers American Story.indd 288 8/29/14 11:02 AM 11 Justice, Equality, and Democracy for All Hoosiers All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights. — Indiana State Constitution of 1816 From the start, our nation and state claimed the Hoosiers—a law that remained on the books until highest ideals of equality and justice for all. The pio- 1965. Such restrictions worsened in the decades before neers who wrote Indiana’s first constitution in 1816 the Civil War, culminating in the addition of Article asserted boldly that “all men are born equally free” and XIII to the 1851 constitution, prohibiting African that “all power is inherent in the people.” They believed Americans from moving into the state. that such principles were essential to true democracy. The Civil War (1861–65) and the period following, Writing such lofty words was easier than the real- called Reconstruction (1865–77), produced important ity of building and maintaining everyday democracy. steps toward equal rights. Most notable was the Four- Some Hoosiers allowed their own selfish interests or teenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which narrow prejudices to stand in the way of justice for guaranteed equal protection under the law, and the all. Many men struggled to believe that women were Fifteenth Amendment, which promised the right to worthy of full equality. Many whites thought blacks, vote to all men, black or white. Asians, and Hispanics were inferior. There were always One of Indiana’s major steps toward equality was Hoosier dissenters, people who lived outside the the Civil Rights Law of 1885. As so-called Jim Crow mainstream, who did not share the majority’s beliefs laws were being passed in many states, relegating in religion, politics, sexuality, and other contentious blacks to second-class status, Indiana’s law promised P L issues. that all Hoosiers could eat in any restaurant, sit in any KPHOTO KPHOTO C theater, ride any streetcar, or rent any hotel room “re- TO IS African American Hoosiers and Civil Rights gardless of color or race.” The law was seldom enforced, TIONS OF TIONS As Indiana became a state, the white majority in however. In fact, Jim Crow discrimination became EC Indiana insisted that African Americans were second- commonplace in late-nineteenth-century Indiana and class citizens. The 1816 constitution denied black lasted into the mid-twentieth country. As late as the OBSON; COLL OBSON; C Hoosiers the right to vote. Two years later the state 1950s, for example, some Indiana hotels still refused a legislature denied them the right to testify in courts room to a black traveler. PHOTO BY JODI JA JODI BY PHOTO and also prohibited marriages between white and black Chapter 11 | Justice, Equality, and Democracy for All Hoosiers | 289 2033-12 Hoosiers American Story.indd 289 8/29/14 11:02 AM Segregation at Riverside Park At Indianapolis’s Riverside Amusement Park in 1962, these young people point to a sign that says “Patronage Whites Only Solicited,” meaning the park only wanted white customers’ business. Legal segregation also barred African Americans from hotels, restaurants, and education facilities into the mid-twentieth century, but implicit forms of segregation continued long afterward, often visible in housing patterns. INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER COLLECTION, INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Especially troubling was discrimination in educa- in certain areas. For example, deeds for one Bloom- tion. Some communities created separate schools for ington neighborhood in 1927 stipulated that “the black children. Notable were Crispus Attucks High ownership and occupancy of lots or buildings in this School, which opened in 1927 in Indianapolis; Lincoln sub-division are forever restricted to members of the High School, which opened in 1928 in Evansville; and pure white race.” Roosevelt High School, which opened in 1930 in Gary. There were always Hoosiers who challenged All three are examples of schools built to keep black segregation and discrimination. The National Associa- students out of white schools. tion for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Housing patterns also developed along racial lines. began its long fight in the early twentieth century. In Larger towns tended to divide into black neighbor- Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Evansville, Gary, and else- hoods and white neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods where, NAACP branches worked with African Ameri- incorporated racial covenants in property deeds, mak- can lawyers to bring suits in court against businesses ing it impossible for African Americans to buy homes and organizations accused of racial discrimination. 290 | Hoosiers and the American Story 2033-12 Hoosiers American Story.indd 290 8/29/14 11:02 AM Black attorneys such as Robert Lee Brokenburr and as protest marches in the street—in their long battle Robert Lee Bailey in Indianapolis were determined and for suffrage. Finally, the Indiana legislature in 1920 courageous opponents of Jim Crow. Such lawyers ar- ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the federal gued for the rule of law to remind whites of America’s constitution, guarantying a woman’s right to vote. In ideals of justice and equality. 1921 the women’s suffrage amendment was added to Ordinary people also played major roles in bring- the Indiana State Constitution and ratified by voters at ing about change. Black veterans returned home from a special election. Hoosier women had the right to vote service in World War II believing they had earned full in local, state, and national elections. rights as Americans that had previously been denied The ballot box did not bring all the changes suf- them. Sadly, they were once again subject to racism fragists had hoped for, however. Many Hoosiers at almost every turn. In the next two decades these continued to expect women to defer to men. Jobs were veterans, joined by other Hoosiers, became the foot still designated as men’s work or as women’s work. Sal- soldiers in the fight against discrimination which, by aries and wages were generally lower for women even if the 1960s, became the Civil Rights Movement. they were doing the same job as a man. Women could generally become secretaries, teachers, or nurses. Few Women and Equality were doctors, lawyers, or heads of business. Tradition- Nineteenth-century women never had rights alists thought women should stop working outside the equal to men. Many women came to believe that the home when they married. Although a number of jobs right to vote was the most important step toward real for women opened up during World War II, the gains citizenship. In the early twentieth century they shifted were mostly temporary since women were expected to from “ladylike” protest—that is less public and more give up those jobs when soldiers returned home. It was quiet—toward more assertive talk and action—such not until the Women’s Rights Movement of the 1970s that gender equality really took center stage. Hoosier differences Hoosier pioneers prided themselves on their commitment to individual freedom. Many claimed they could do as TY E I C they pleased so long as O S AL C I they did not harm oth- R ISTO H ers. Such freedom was the heartbeat of democracy. NDIANA I However, individual free- NDIANA, I dom did not always square S OF S ER OT with majority rule. The V N ME League of Women Voters idea of majority rule was OF WO OF Two women pose by a voting booth in Hammond, Indiana, ca. 1950. In the back- widely accepted. But what E AGU ground is a poster from the League of Women Voters. The League supports voters’ if the rule of the majority LE rights and provides education about candidates and other political issues. IFT OF IFT conflicted with the rights G Chapter 11 | Justice, Equality, and Democracy for All Hoosiers | 291 2033-12 Hoosiers American Story.indd 291 8/29/14 11:02 AM During the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, some Hoosiers raised issues of separation of church and state, ob- jecting to prayers in public schools or to Christian crosses on government spaces. Sex was another dif- ficult subject for many Hoosiers. Indiana Uni- versity Professor Alfred Kinsey’s research on human sexuality re- vealed many varieties of sexual behavior, includ- ing homosexuality. While many Hoosiers supported his work, many others thought Kinsey should be fired. Twentieth-century advocates of birth control education faced strong opposition. Today, there is strong opposition for abortion—some Hoosiers Alfred Kinsey draw lines limiting when Alfred Kinsey conducts a sample interview in this photograph from 1953. Kinsey’s and how a woman can interviews with a wide range of Americans led to his ground-breaking publications on human sexuality. have an abortion; while PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAM DELLENBACK; COURTESY OF THE KINSEY INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN SEX, GENDER, AND REPRODUCTION GENDER, SEX, IN THE KINSEY INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH OF COURTESY WILLIAM DELLENBACK; BY PHOTOGRAPH others are against any or wishes of a minority that wanted to live differently abortions, as in cases of rape or when a mother’s life is from the majority? Here was a central tension in endangered. Indiana and American democracy. Indiana’s democracy has been fraught with ten- All sorts of individuals and groups found them- sions surrounding such issues as majority rule, in- selves in the minority. Often their different views dividual rights, and minority freedoms. Differences and actions deeply troubled the majority. Standing over race, gender, religion, sexuality, and personal outside the Indiana mainstream, for example, were beliefs rumble through the state’s history.