Oscar Robertson and his nine surviving teammates from the 1955 Indianapolis Crispus Attucks High School basketball team -- the first all-black team to win a state title in any sport, anywhere in the country -- will be honored this Saturday, May 23, as Grand Marshals of the Indianapolis 500 Festival parade. And they will be celebrated in a manner denied to them 60 years ago.
Prior to 1955, the team that won the state basketball title took a ride on a fire truck around Indianapolis landmark Monument Circle, and then celebrated downtown.
Because Indianapolis officials did not want to honor a black team in such fashion -- their excuse was that they feared rioting would break out – the 1955 Attucks champions were driven once around Monument Circle and then hustled out to the black neighborhood for a bonfire and pep rally.