For every white student suspended from school, four black students are pushed out. The sun sets over a field outside of Anna, Illinois. Even today, most municipalities are unlikely to change by themselves, which is why residential segregation remains our nations most intractable civil rights problem. We really lost the community memory of Black presence, The history of 'sundown towns' in Wisconsin. ", An excerpt from the Appleton Evening Crescent from Aug. 2, 1915. On this website is a small article, How to Confirm Sundown Towns, with ideas to help you. For hundreds of years, white parents and society taught white children that blacks had, by nature, an inferior intelligence and character. Which group was targeted in a specific place often depended on the ethnic makeup of a particular region. Sometimes entire counties went sundown, usually when their county seats did. Fortunately, with the rise of camera phone videos and social media, some white people are questioning the bias built into our criminal justice system. Berrey and volunteers continue to update the database today. Berrey said the rise of sundown towns came at a time when there was growing labor competition between American and Chinese workers, and a growing number of Black people moving North to flee racial violence as part ofthe Great Migration. These towns openly discriminated against Black residents and visitors, and violence was a common tactic. This has been in conversation for a long time, not just recently, said DeRocher. Ask a question, Wisconsin: What are you curious about? For example, if you hear that your town once had a black or interracial neighborhood and learn its location, check land ownership documents and deeds of sale. Rob is the Resident Historian at Americas Black Holocaust Museum and co-curator of Lynching: An American Folkway, a recently published digital transmedia anthology. Another 21 communities in Wisconsin are considered "probable" sundown towns, including Ashland, Wausau, Sturgeon Bay, Port Washington, South Milwaukee and Evansville. Around that time, the slogan in Edina became: Not one Negro and not one Jew, and except for live-in servants, it didnt have any. The name comes from signs that used to be posted telling minorities to be gone before the sun set for the day. These super-stressed children often receive harsh punishments for petty misbehaviors, like throwing a lollipop (battery), tapping a pencil on a desk (destruction of property), and talking back (disturbing the peace). A sundown town is a community that for decades kept non-whites from living in it and was thus all-white on purpose. "While we have seen some progress, we have current-day practices going on," Robins said. Students at UWL circa 1920. So long as such towns appear to be accidentally white, they avoid this difficulty. With racial segregation, most white Americans get their only exposure to black American life through the distorted lens of many television news programs. A sundown town is not just a place where something racist happened. This category has the following 24 subcategories, out of 24 total. Still, there was a greater opportunity for family-supporting jobs and a better life outside the South, so millions of blacks left in one of the largest immigrations in history. There were an estimated 10,000 communities across the U.S. that qualified as sundown towns at their height in 1970, Loewen said. Begin gently, maybe by asking what the towns major employers used to be. We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began. Some Exhibits to Come NOW: Free At Last? As a result, since 1968 no town (or neighborhood) states openly that it is all white on purpose. When asked to think about the history of racism in the United States, many people think first about slavery and segregation in the South. Not only did that story get me thinking, and the research I had to do around that story because I was looking at arrest rates in La Crosse, and I was looking at all this other research, around this story, but then the communitys response, we got backlash at about publishing, was the only two stories with black narrators. Image courtesy James Loewen. They were far less common in the South, in part because the South had its own racial system of Jim Crow segregation,Stephen Berrey, a professor ofAmerican culture and history at the University of Michigan, saidin arecent interviewon WPR's "Central Time.". White families possess ten times the wealth of black families. There were an estimated 10,000 communities across the U.S. that qualified as sundown towns at their height in 1970, Loewen said. They are so named because some marked their city limits with placards like the one a former resident of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, remembers from the early 1960s: Nigger, Dont Let The Sun Go Down On You In Our Town. The term itself was rarely used east of Ohio, but intentionally white communities were common in the East, indeed throughout the nationexcept in the traditional South, where they were rare. What many also avoid are the economics of segregation, a set of easily calculated mathematical equations. Berrey and volunteers continue to update the database today. Sharp drops in the black population are of course suspicious. Welcome to the worlds only registry of sundown towns. Many other sundown towns and suburbs used violence to keep out blacks or, sometimes, other minorities. Across America, at least 50 towns, and probably many more than that, drove out their African American populations violently. His books include the American Book Award-winning Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong and Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. Instead, they were allowed to settle in only the oldest, most rundown neighborhoods in industrial cities. In other communities, the rules were common knowledge, with law enforcement, business owners and everyday citizens taking enforcement upon themselves. In fact, black Americans were the targets of racial violence and discrimination in the North, East, and West as well. This allowed maids and workmen to provide unskilled labor during the day. Most, however, were still unable to leave the South. For example, in 1970, 71% Illinois towns with over 1000 people, for example, had been all-white in census after census. If a sundown town now has black residents living there in at least >10.0%, then I no longer consider that town a "sundown town". Yes, the clerk replied. Sundown towns are communities in which Black people were not welcome. All blacks need to go back to Africa where they belong. virtual.museum@abhmuseum.org, ABHM On-Site Meanwhile, a Black man named James Davis said that he was taught about sundown towns growing up, an experience that a majority of white people may not have had. This made home ownership affordable for millions of average Americans. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was "all white" on purpose. Ferguson, MO, was a sundown town between 1940 and 1960. African Americans were among the earliest residents of what became Edina, for example, the most prestigious suburb of Minneapolis, but in the years after World War I they were barred from its newer subdivisions, and by 1930 they had moved into Minneapolis. La Crosse's mayor has acknowledged his . After slavery and the Civil War ended in 1865, blacks began moving everywhere for about twenty-five years. This site was created by Matt Cheney, revised by OddBird, copyrighted by James W. Loewen and heirs (Nick Loewen), and is maintained by Phil Huckelberry and Stephen Berrey. But, Berrey noted there are still places in the U.S.that actively exclude certain groups of people to this day through less formal methods. So was the median house in Kenilworth, the richest suburb of Chicago. Themes: African American, Racism & Racial Identity, Reconstruction. The term meant. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53212 USA So if you know a town was a sundown town, kindly email us telling us so, with specific data if you have it. Residents do not want to be known as excluding, especially on racial or religious grounds, because that would say bad things about themthat they are racist, for one. That racism often took on different forms, including what were known as "sundown towns," communities that didn't allow people of color to be in the municipality after dark. Usually they say nothing about African Americans or racial exclusion, but there can be surprises. Race: The Power of An Illusion, Part 3 The House You Live In. "I was shocked," Lambries said. Between 1890 and 1954, thousands of independent communities across the United States drove out their black populations or took steps to forbid African Americans from living in them. A sundown town is a community that for decades kept non-whites from living in it and was thus all-white on purpose. Data for 1990 and 2000 is at census.gov via Census 2000.. Sundown communities exist today. How many deaths have been documented from sundown towns? That coupled withlegal changes like the federal Fair Housing Actmade it harder for more explicitly racist policies to continue. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened. 2023 by Wisconsin Public Radio, a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I resolved to write a book about the Sundown Town phenomenon. They uncovered what Robins termed a "Black aristocracy" of successful business owners, social workers and educators who lived in the city at the time. Select a state from the map below to view a list of sundown towns, History and Social Justice Website Copyright 2023, Using Lies My Teacher Told Me and Teaching What Really Happened, Resources for Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Teachers Corner: Teaching with Lies My Teacher Told Me, Contact Jim Loewen to Speak to Your Group, Causing Change With Lies My Teacher Told Me, Works Inspired or Influenced by Lies My Teacher Told Me, Useful Quotations about History and Social Justice, Native American Issues, Including the Explorers, Teaching Slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, Civil Rights Movement to Modern Times: c. 1945 Now, Alphabetical Map of Sundown Towns by State, How to Research and Teach About Sundown Towns, Using Research Information to Help a Sundown Town Overcome Its Past, Loewens Work on Standardized Testing Used by Others, Embarrassing Questions about Standardized Tests. Sleeping while Black you have members of white communities confronting Black teens and others (asking) 'Why are you here?' Sundown towns are communities that for decadesformally or informallykept out African Americans or other groups. Oral history is fine, so long as it is solid. . then ask, How do you know that? Ask for details and look for written sources, such as some ordinance about keeping out blacks (or another group). First, it must admit it. Among the 58 sundown counties in Wisconsin, there are 15 that are especially small and isolated, with total populations of less than 20,000. She co-curated Lynching: An American Folkway, a comprehensive digital transmedia anthology published by Biblioboard for libraries and tablet users. Sundown Towns on the above map represent a tentative listing of those found in Wisconsin because research is ongoing. They are protesting activities of Father James Groppi, the white priest who has led Black open housing demonstrations the last 16 consecutive nights. In other places, the restrictions were less formal. The 2014 Gathering for Racial Repair and Reconciliation Live! If, for example, a black family tried to move in, encountered considerable hostility, and left, that would qualify the town as sundown. Note that some sundown towns kept out Chinese Americans, Jews, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, even Mormons. There were also race riots in which white mobs attacked black neighborhoods, burning, looting, and killing. Usually,universities add to the diversity of thetown,but UWL doesnt do thatfor La Crosse., Saying goodbye to local La Crosse coffee shop Cool Beans, Student Association hears from student leaders speaking out about SOE iPad requirement, UWLs Earth Day celebration: Earthapooloza, They havent done anything: Student leaders speak on the UWL School of Education, We can still build a better future: Climate Expert Jonathan Foley presents at UWL, UWL ALANA hosts annual Phenomenal Womens Dinner, Student Association president and vice president candidate Q&A before upcoming election, UWL students showcase research findings in State Capitol, UWL student opinions after voting in the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, The student news source of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Your email address will not be published. Always recall that the overwhelming whiteness of a town or neighborhood might be an accident, that perhaps no African Americans ever happened to go there. Independent sundown towns range in size from hamlets like Alix, Arkansas, population 185, to large cities like Appleton, Wisconsin, with 57,000 residents in 1970. Please reschedule your visit if you are not feeling well. Low numbers of African Americans, decade after decade, are also suspicious, especially if blacks are hardly absent from nearby towns and counties or if the towns total population was increasing. Sometimes no specific act of violence or formal policy oftentimes African Americans were made to feel unwelcome.. How racial restrictions were enforced Then interview (in person) that person or persons. Two historians answer a For questions or comments, contact WPRs Audience Services at 1-800-747-7444, email listener@wpr.org or use our Listener Feedback form. Robins was struck by how many people said they didn't know Appleton was a sundown town and had no idea Black people lived there at earlier points in the city's history. "I was shocked," Lambries said. Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, and violence. That racism often took on different forms, including what were known as "sundown towns," communities that didn't allow people of color to be in the municipality after dark. These towns openly discriminated against Black residents and visitors, and violence was a common tactic. If you enjoy our perspective on travel and Black culture, please sign up for our newsletter. Its Vidor Texas. Keep updated on the latest news and information. We equate these words with the Jim Crow South but, in a . Erik Daily, La Crosse Tribune. Dr. Bruce Mouser, who taught history at UWL,passed away in December 2019. She said that eventually, Loewen changed his mind. A sundown town is not just a place where something racist happened. Dr. Loewens awards include the American Sociological Associations Spivack and Cox-Johnson-Frazier Awards for scholarship in service to social justice; the American Book Award; the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship; and, the National Council for the Social Studies "Spirit of America" Award. DeRocher said she decided to research what in La Crosses history built such a racist environment and was directed to Loewens book by a history professor. Their rise also coincided with growing labor competition between white American and Chinese workers, and widespread anti-Chinese sentiment across the U.S. After World War II, suburb after suburb required all its residential subdivisions to have restrictive covenants stating, in the words of a California example, No negro, japanese or chinese or any person of african or mongolian descent shall own or occupy any part of said premises.. In an article published by UU World, Loewen wrote that sunset towns ranged in size from small populations of less than 200 to large cities with 57,000 residents, like Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1970 . Anna and Jonesboro are twin towns, population 7,000, in southern Illinois. Eleven Montana counties had no blacks at all. Here are the sundown towns we currently know of in America. An editorial cartoon archived at the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia in Big Rapids, Michigan. And of course, a town may have been sundown once, but now is not. Growing up, I knew these towns were all white, but it never occurred to me that this might be on purpose. If you know of a town that has gotten over its past, also tell us so, with specific data if you have it. Time Periods: 20th Century. Theyre still with us. The evidence we have shows that in the present, some places remain sundown towns through reputation (people hear that they should avoid), through local policing efforts (such as pulling over someone who looks like they 'dont belong' in the town), and through zoning, such as restricting a neighborhood to single-family units, restricting mobile homes, etc. If your respondent says yes, then ask how they heard it, from whom, about when (year), etc. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, Visiting Professor of Sociology at Catholic University in Washington, DC, and Visiting Professor of African-American Studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign. 401 W. North Avenue In other words, lets stay connected! Sundown Towns was named Distinguished Book of 2005. This pattern of racial segregation in America has serious consequences for the well-being of millions of children. This system became known as Jim Crow. Under Jim Crow, blacks could not vote. They would not be accommodated at restaurants, parks, hotels, or schools used by whites. This video explains the government programs that created this situation. This History Has Been Hidden in Plain Sight. In 1909, after a spectacle lynching, Anna and Jonesboro expelled their African Americans. By 2014, when racial conflict famously erupted there, it was 67% black, so it was certainly no longer a sundown town. Together, Robins and a team of researchers documented Black life in the Fox Valley after the period known as Reconstruction which was itself controversial in Wisconsin following the Civil War. Historians in sundown communities do not discuss this, because it would reflect badly on their communities. Another 21 communities in Wisconsin are considered "probable" sundown towns, including Ashland, Wausau, Sturgeon Bay, Port Washington, South Milwaukee and Evansville. -Joe McCarthy (Appleton, Wisconsin)-Emily Post (Tuxedo Park, New York) Numerous inventions were created in Sundown Towns: . But What is it, Really. Between 1890 and the 1930s, however, all this changed. ), live-in servants (in white households), and black or interracial children (in white households) do not violate the taboo. How Does a City Choose to Remember its Past? Celeste Headlee and Camila Beiner. Copyright 2023 Distractify. To see a sample of such an agreement, click the link on "covenant" to the left. Even though sundown towns were everywhere, there was almost no information on the topic until sociology professor Jim Loewen researched and wrote about it. Youngsters from this school are taken daily to three other schools because of overcrowding in second, third and fourth grades. Most white people in this country live in all-white communities, attend all-white churches, and do not know a single black person well. | Opinion, Castle for sale in SC has it all gargoyles, lions heads and even a sword in stone, Bad weather postpones NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover. Dusk settles over Anna, Ill., on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. So long as their communities remain overwhelmingly nonblack, however, it is unclear whether African American families can prudently live in them. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was all white on purpose. The history of 'sundown towns' in Wisconsin By Rachael Vasquez Air Date: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 4:00pm Thursday, May 19, 2022, 5:30pm Share: Listen Download When people think about the history of racism in the U.S. they often think of slavery and segregation in the South. If not, according to Robins, "we repeat the same mistakes.". You should consider joining our travel club, too. How Sundown Communities Were and Are Maintained. Often as a suburb formed or shortly thereafter, it got rid of black residents who lived there prior to incorporation. If so, attend its next meeting, after talking with its leader. Sundown towns are rare in the South but common in the rest of the country. Image courtesy James Loewen. Hosted by Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS, 39174 and facilitated by Pantheon. And Black Americans in particular have a unique relationship to the prejudices in this country today. Sundown town ordinances peaked in the 1970s in part because of the impact of the Civil Rights Movement, Berrey said. Plenty of Northern and Western towns and cities had Sundown laws stating that no black person could be found within the city limits after [], [] only signs were posted on bars, motels, and restaurants. This was "Until the '60s, even the late '60s." Another resident also confirms that Appleton is a sundown town. For questions or comments, contact WPRs Audience Services at 1-800-747-7444, email listener@wpr.org or use our Listener Feedback form. Some communities had signs posted at the edge of town using racial slurs or other overtly racist language, warning people of color tonot "let the sun go down on you in our town. He was also an invited scholar/expert for the North Carolina Humanities Council. began life as sundown towns. Those [], [] Sundown ordinances were imposed across the U.S. during the Jim Crow era, which legalized racial segregation. Review: AP Program Undermines Humanities, Devalues College, and Cheats Students of Learning, SCOTUS's Stay of Mifepristone Ruling a Win for Abortion Rights, but Shows Dangerous Power of "Shadow Docket", How the Reagan Administration Used "A Nation at Risk" to Push for School Privatization, Ned Blackhawk Unmakes the American Origin Story. That racism often took on different forms, including what were known as "sundown towns," communities that didn't allow people of color to be in the municipality after dark. Sign up now! Her current position as the coordinator of Americas Black Holocaust virtual Museum draws on her experiences as a researcher, writer, teacher, filmmaker, and organizational developer and community organizer. Many towns drove out their black populations, then posted sundown signs.
