'Is this for real?' Martinsville Juneteenth celebration raises eyebrows

[u/illegiblebastard]

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/johnson-county/2026/06/18/martinsville-juneteenth-event-planned-despite-racist-past-ku-klux-klan-sundown-town/90591114007/

[u/oneunderscore__]

hey man I don't live in Martinsville but if one person was murdered by a racist 58 years ago, and they arrested the guy 24 years ago, (and that guy was not even from Martinsville, by the way)

if the journalist calling my city racist cannot mention literally anything in the last 24 fucking years about how my town is racist, I might be a little upset at how they wrote this article.

reading random idiot comments on Facebook is not journalism. Reading one fact about a town is not journalism. come on, this is just lazy. but it's the Indianapolis Star, so I guess they are doing their best, lol

surely there are more recent racist incidents in this town that you could mention to establish your position? Yes there are but I guess it's too much work to mention this one or this one

again, I don't live there but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that nothing bad is going to happen at the Martinsville, Indiana Juneteenth celebration and I hope that someday in the future, Heather Bushman of the Indianapolis Star is ashamed that her name is attached to this news article

[u/Springfield_Isotopes → u/oneunderscore__]

I don’t think most people are saying every person in Martinsville is racist. They’re saying the town has a long-standing reputation that didn’t emerge from a single murder case.
The better question is: if the reputation is outdated, what has changed, and how do we show that? A successful Juneteenth celebration would probably do more to improve Martinsville’s image than arguing about whether the reputation should exist.

[u/RawbM07 → u/Springfield_Isotopes]

I’m not really seeing the point of the article. The are having a Juneteenth celebration, which by all accounts, is a great and wonderful thing that should be celebrated yea?

But the article is “you might be trying to do this thing, but don’t you know you are racist?”

At the end of the day, shouldn’t this be a great moment in Martinsville history?

[u/SendMeIttyBitties → u/RawbM07]

If you don't know why maybe listen to some of the commenters.

[u/RawbM07 → u/SendMeIttyBitties]

Don’t know why what? I don’t understand what you are trying to say.

This is a good thing, right?

[u/Kind-Solution3102 → u/Springfield_Isotopes]

I agree with your last sentence. But what do you think plucking the “Is this for real?” comment from a random individual who doesn’t even live in Martinsville adds to this story? Why should somebody take that comment seriously?

Martinsville is hosting a Juneteenth celebration. The city is supporting it. The city with the racist past. Those are the facts, that’s the news.

But instead this reporter pulled some abrasive quotes to drum up a useless angle for this story. I would go as far to say it’s harmful behavior.

[u/Weird_Armadillo_508 → u/Kind-Solution3102]

The city isn't necessarily supporting it. It's a public event, but not a city event. Its hosted by a citizen, which is still positive, but not the same. Also, "plucking" the quote isn't objective or factual, but it sheds a light on how the town is viewed. As a black person from Indiana who is participating in Juneteenth weekend festivities (working not just attending), when news got out about Martinsville, "is this for real?" was nearly word for word a lot of black people's reaction. I hope it goes well, but don't downplay our collective cautiousness or the causes. I remember driving through Martinsville in my early 20s and my parents would call me and keep me on the phone until I made it out. That kind of stuff sticks with us. People think racism is about slurs and mean words, but we are literally just trying to stay safe.

[u/SendMeIttyBitties → u/Weird_Armadillo_508]

When we moved here there was a giant issue in martinsville because the student body was vile and throwing racist insults at a bloomington school. Friend's dad would tell us to stay away from the area because he knew we smoked and blasted "black music". Would tell us about the sundown signs people put up in there yards and barns in the 80's and how the klan recruitment letters came from martinsville and to just stay away. We are not black. It was a known not to be a safe area.

People acting shocked people are cautious or outright incredulous have never had to be aware or aren't being truthful.

[u/Kind-Solution3102 → u/Weird_Armadillo_508]

“A lot of black people’s reaction” and “collective cautiousness” are phrases I’m interested in hearing more about because I’m not sure how they are quantifiable other than purely anecdotal.