History books tell us the Jim Crow era is long gone and people of all colors live in peace and harmony.

Our summer road trip says otherwise:

What the hell is this? We just a few months shy of voting in a black president and these backward-thinkers are still drawing race-based residential boundaries.

I can just hear the backyard conversations now: “Brownsburg has great music and food … but if I need open heart surgery or an office job I’m staying here in Whitestown.” Maybe even “Those folks in Whitestown, they run all the red lights cos they know a black man invented the stoplight. That’s all.”

Do idealistic yuppies from Whitestown go across the border to find a deal on real estate and get some “culture,” at least until their friends follow and push old Brownsburg residents to the suburbs? -and where do mixed-race couples live?

All we know for sure is, Brownsburg is where the white people used to live. Not unlike the Black Mall.

(Sorry the sign’s a little blurry. It was taken at highway speeds. Being a multicultural vehicle — me, the khaki-sporting white guy with the camera with his black driver — we figured our presence in this area might cause some trouble with the locals.)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 04:30:46 and is filed under General. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.