The persistent whiteness of Indiana has been an unstated but daily reality of my walk through this state. Prior to today, I could count on one hand the people of color who I have engaged with thus far–an African American police officer near Corydon, a South Asian clerk in Fulda, an East Asian clerk in Lexington. There was the extended Latino family at McDonald’s, too. I mean… it’s a pretty short list. I found myself wondering if this is an accurate depiction of Indiana, or just a reflection of the ADT’s route. The WPR projects the current demographics of Indiana as follows: 84% white, 9% African American, 2% Asian. They don’t have a separate line for Latino/Hispanic. So, while Indiana is an overwhelmingly white state, my perception is skewed, and that makes sense given how much time I’ve spent walking through rural countryside, where the population almost certainly skews white.
Things shifted substantially as I arrived in Evansville this morning. It started with a short passage around Angel Mounds, one of the most significant archaeological sites associated with indigenous communities in North America. This was a massive settlement 800 years ago, with perhaps a thousand residents, a series of large earthen mounds, and even defensive walls. One of the easy (and intellectually dishonest) ways that some Americans have dismissed the near-eradication of this country’s indigenous population is by claiming that they were far less civilized than even their meso-American peers, whether due to indolence or intellectual simplicity or whatever, and thus hadn’t made proper use of this bounty. Angel Mounds is part of a growing body of physical evidence, limited as it may be, that challenges the lie–even if we should simultaneously be interrogating the accompanying assumptions embedded in that lie, most notably that the mark of an advanced society is making permanent, indelible impacts on the land. (And, to that end, it’s worth noting that indigenous populations in North America did indeed radically alter the natural environment, through intentional fires and other refined techniques. European settlers were just largely blind to that.)
Unfortunately, even at Angel Mounds, there’s not much to see. From Google Reviews: “This was a nice place to get out and stretch your legs. Well maintained paths for kids to play and get out some energy,” “I especially liked that we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves,” “Went on a nature walk. I saw some deer very close it was amazing. I love walking the wood trails it’s so peaceful and relaxing,” “there is plenty of walking to be had outside and great views but not much else,” “You can tell funding has been rocky and not very many people go here.” You get the idea. This morning, Angel Mounds hosted a 5k fun run. Indiana’s Native American population today is 0.23%.
The ADT proceeds westward from Angel Mounds, trying to hold as closely to the Ohio River as possible as it curves toward Evansville. I ultimately bailed on this approach in order to get more time in the town center, walking through the historic core (or the “Olde Towne” as the signs announce). I was struck immediately by the sudden demographic shift, as perhaps half the people I encountered here were African American. I joined Lincoln Avenue heading west and soon paused by the Lincoln School, an august brick structure across the street from Dollar General and Cut Rate Market. A plaque outside tells the tale, further fleshed out by Lincoln’s website:
“Lincoln was the first new school built in Evansville for the black minority community. The school cost $275,000 to build. The school included twenty-two classrooms, a gymnasium, auditorium, sewing room, home economics kitchen, study hall, and manual training center. However, Lincoln didn’t have a cafeteria. The library had no books and the board refused to allocate money for that purpose… Classes were first begun in 1928. It was a K-12 school. Since Lincoln was the only black high school for miles around, black students from Mt. Vernon, Rockport, Newburgh, and Grandview were bussed to Evansville to attend Lincoln. In 1928, the enrollment was over 300. The last all-black high school class was graduated in June 1962… By September 1972, the Evansville-Vanderburgh schools began desegregating under the order of federal court Judge Hugh S. Dillin. In order to achieve integration, the inner city was cut into a pie and neighborhood children were bussed to other schools.”
Just ahead is the Evansville African American Museum. Its building is perhaps even more significant than its collection, as it is the lone surviving structure of the Lincoln Gardens housing development, the second federal housing project under the New Deal in 1938. (At the time, Evansville had the largest African American population in Southern Indiana.) When the City of Evansville decided to demolish the structure in 1997, the local community rallied to preserve one building as a historical/educational center.
While the neighborhood retains a sizable African American population, the familiar fears of gentrification have been expressed as Evansville works to reinvigorate its old downtown. And while the museum has now been in operation for two decades, it’s fair to wonder about its impact. Consider this line from a 2015 article, about key elements of Evansville’s African American past: “And though they are integral parts of Evansville’s history, most city residents have probably never heard of them.”
Meanwhile, I’m sleeping tonight in West Evansville. Restaurant chains and big box stores cluster here. There’s a WalMart, a Home Depot, a Buffalo Wild Wings, and an AMC theater. The University of Southern Indiana is just down the road. And the population has shifted again.
Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together has been cited in multiple books I’ve listened to on the trip thus far. In it, she describes the phenomenon of people–mostly young people, but families, too–all sitting in the same shared space, but all focusing entirely on their phones. Despite inhabiting the same physical space, there’s a disconnect, and an accompanying loneliness that infects those relationships. Places like Evansville feel like a phenomenon of separate together, a space shared by different groups, different communities (I even saw a group of South Asians playing cricket on a baseball field!), and yet not engaging.
Technical Notes:
- No ADT waymarks today
- Dang, Evansville is rough for hotels on weekends. If you’re here on a weekday, you can get a pretty killer rate at the Tropicana. Outside of that, though, most of the hotels are clustered on the far east or west sides. The west isn’t horrible as far as ADT routing is concerned, but it’s a bit of a pain getting here
