RACISM blamed for Indiana residents being without power after storms — ignoring that thugs are shooting at utility workers

Some residents of Gary, Indiana, have been without electricity for weeks, and many in the black community are rushing to blame racism and discrimination.

Deadly storms knocked over electricity poles and brought damaging flooding to northeast Indiana, including Gary, and initially knocked out power for about 300,000 residents.

'It's full of black people. We the blackest city out here, so they don't want to check on us.'

While the Northern Indiana Public Service Company has been working to return power to customers, it has been hampered by violence targeting utilities workers.

On Aug. 14, restoration efforts were paused after a utility truck was damaged by gunfire. No injuries were reported.

"These aren't simple repairs,” said Melody Birmingham, an executive at the parent company of NIPSCO. "These are lines that ordinarily take us, and systems that ordinarily take weeks or months that we are trying to accomplish in days or weeks."

She rejected accusations that NIPSCO was neglecting the city because a majority of its population is black.

"We have areas that are probably affluent where we still have customers out as well. ... This has nothing to do with race or any type of division," said Birmingham, who is black. "It’s really a matter of where the storm hit."

Among the most prominent voices blaming racism are Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of the late Martin Luther King Jr.

"What is happening in Gary, Indiana, raises a deeper question about whose communities are treated with urgency," she wrote on social media Monday.

"Black communities have too often been expected to endure neglect, absorb the consequences, and keep surviving," she added. "No community should have to prove that its families are worthy of immediate care. Our communities deserve more than survival. Black communities deserve to be valued."

Others are speaking out to the media.

"We know why they not coming out here though. I mean it's obvious, you know, it's obvious" said one resident named Amara to BreakThrough News.

"It's full of black people. We the blackest city out here, so they don't want to check on us."

RELATED: Black man blamed racism for arson at his home that killed 2 — until an accomplice speaks up

Some residents signed onto a class-action lawsuit against the company for allegedly neglecting the area and setting up the conditions for far worse damage from the storms.

Six adults and one boy were killed as a result of the storms, according to the state Department of Homeland Security.

NIPSCO indicated that it was close to returning power to most Gary residents sometime this week.

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