Bring It On! – July 13, 2020: Surviving Hate in Monroe County

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The July 4th weekend of 2020 in Monroe County was fraught with seeming racial unrest. On Thursday, July 2, a Lawrence County sheriff’s deputy who resides in Monroe County questioned and detained a black Bloomington resident while he walked in his neighborhood in an apparent example of racial profiling. Then, most notably, on Saturday, July 4, a black man, Vauhxx Booker, was attacked by a group of white men at Lake Monroe claiming that he and his group of friends, who had gathered to watch to watch the lunar eclipse, were trespassing on private property and threatened then to “get a noose”. Sadly, the long holiday weekend was capped with another act of violence when Black Lives Matter demonstrators, gathered in response to Mr. Booker’s attack, were hit by a car on July 6.

The driver has since been apprehended and brought into custody. Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton expressed his outrage and grief over the racially motivated incidents that occurred last week. In a public statement, he wrote, “These separate incidents exemplify the persistence of racism and bias in our country and our own community!” Sadly, however, despite dozens of people witnessing the incident and multiple videos of the incident, as of yet, no arrests have been made regarding Mr. Booker’s attack. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), however, has announced an investigation into the attack on Mr. Booker.

Today Bring It On!’ will process these events. Hosts Clarence Boone and William Hosea speak with Vauhxx Booker, who is also the City of Bloomington Human Rights Commissioner. Joining Mr. Booker on the show is City of Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton, and Indiana Democratic Nominee for State Senate, Shelli Yoder.

CREDITS:
Today’s hosts are Clarence Boone and William Hosea.
Our show’s executive producer is Clarence Boone,
with help from WFHB News Department director Kade Young.
Today’s audio engineer is Kade Young.
Our original theme music was created by Jamyl Efiom,
with additional background tracks by David Baker.