Nineteen-year-old Mya Hammons was spurred by the summer racial justice protests to volunteer with a grass-roots organization of 10 young Black Hoosier women advocating for an end to bigotry and racism in Indianapolis.
She and other members of Black Women in Charge have focused on social justice and public policy issues affecting underrepresented communities. It felt like they were making progress.
And then she learned Republican lawmakers in Indiana were booing and shouting down their Black colleagues at the Statehouse, arguably the last place that sort of thing should happen.
“Is there going to be a conversation with the other side to understand that our needs need to be met and there are other opinions that are qualified to be heard?” Hammons asked. “A lot of us hope to one day become judges and become lawmakers and policy makers so things like that are disheartening. Because even when you reach that point, there’s still that sector of a community that is continuing to hold you back and make you feel like your opinions are less than or not worthy of being heard and shared.”
The fight for Black Hoosiers:Black community leaders rally at Statehouse
To understand why this happened is to understand the dynamics with race and the Indiana GOP at the Statehouse. Time and time again, Black Hoosiers have felt ignored as Republicans have declined to even hear bills designed to help their communities, have advanced bills Black Hoosiers have directly opposed and have refused to implement implicit bias training despite repeated instances where Black lawmakers have felt marginalized.
The governor himself waited nearly a week to publicly respond to the blow up at the Statehouse, saying everyone should follow the “golden rule” but doing so only when specifically asked at an unrelated news conference.
IndyStar reached out to all 14 members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus to discuss their frustrations. They described a toxic work environment. They say challenges stem from that lack of diversity, gerrymandered districts, incivility spurred by former President Donald Trump and an unwillingness to engage with communities of color.
Black lawmakers say a major part of the problem is the Republican party has become monolithic in Indiana state government, and that Republicans often represent communities they don’t live in or have little in common with. The Republican supermajorities at the Statehouse include no lawmakers of color. All 71 Republicans in the House and 39 in the Senate are white. Every elected Republican in state government, in fact, is white.
Black lawmakers, often the ones who advocate most for Black Hoosiers, told IndyStar that some of their Republican colleagues aren’t even listening anymore.
“When I go to the microphone and speak out and look at all those listening intently, I don’t see too many eyes looking back at me,” said Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis. “Do they listen? Do they really hear me?”
The Indiana Republican Party has begun an effort to increase diversity within its ranks, hiring a director to reach out to marginalized employees, but so far has fallen short.
“We always look to include more diversity among our membership and efforts are being made, especially at the state level, to expand our reach to communities of color and encourage civic engagement at all levels of government,” House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, told IndyStar in a statement. “It is a personal goal of mine to make sure our caucus better reflects the diversity of Indiana in the future.”
Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor, the first Black lawmaker to lead a caucus at the Statehouse, said Republicans need to do better.
“The lack of lawmakers of color leads to the kind of dialogue that has gone on for so long,” said Taylor, an Indianapolis Democrat. “They’ve got 110 members in the Republican party in the General Assembly and not one person of color. I don’t get it. People of color are not…
Read More: Black lawmakers say booing is part of a bigger Indiana General Assembly problem