Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

Vincent, Stephen

doi:10.17077/0003-4827.1103

Cited by 10 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…It is anything but “natural” that Black residents should internally migrate almost exclusively to large cities from small towns (Loewen, 2018). In reality, the racialized violence perpetuated against Black families and the ubiquity of sundown towns during the sundown era both forced them out of their homes and communities, and also prevented them from settling in communities other than larger metros that already had large Black populations.…”

Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study uses the census population schedules from 1880 to 1930 to observe and compare the residential outcomes of Black and White residents of Appleton, WI, a midwestern city with a known sundown history through the early part of the 20 th century (History Museum at the Castle, 2020; Loewen, 2018; Peeples, 2013). Appleton was incorporated in 1857, and today is a small (between 50,000–99,000 residents; see Raetz, 2021) city of nearly 74,000 residents, about 81% of whom are non‐Latino White (United States Census Bureau, 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The 1890s, then, mark the start of the "Great Retreat" of racial integration in towns and cities across the United States, and 1890 to 1930 is the period when violent and exclusionary racist sundown practices reached their peak (Loewen, 2018).…”

Section: Background Sundown Townsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among this sample, three were from one household where the parents both died in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, WI while one son died in Everett, WA; three were from one household where all three members died in different states: Sun Valley, CA, Westhope, ND, and Ensign, MI; and the remaining two were a father and daughter who died in the small Wisconsin towns of Rib Lake and Phlox, respectively. Far fewer people from the 1920 sample moved to a small town or city-two men from two different households died in La Feria, TX andPeoria, AZ in 1956 and1993, respectively. It is anything but "natural" that Black residents should internally migrate almost exclusively to large cities from small towns (Loewen, 2018). In reality, the racialized violence perpetuated against Black families and the ubiquity of sundown towns during the sundown era both forced them out of their homes and communities, and also prevented them from settling in communities other than larger metros that already had large Black populations.…”

Section: Moving To a Smaller Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…“Sundown towns” were communities across the United States where White residents used violence, intimidation, harassment, and local ordinances to expel Black residents and keep Black visitors from remaining within city limits past nightfall (Loewen, 2018; McConnell & Miraftab, 2009). Following the Civil War, Black migration out of the South starting in the early 1860s brought small but significant Black populations to small rural towns and larger cities in states across the country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Racial Differences in Black and White Residential Outcomes in the Sundown Era

Tobias‐Lauerman

2023

Sociology Lens

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Using publicly available census and historical records, I compare the Sundown-era residential patterns and outcomes of Black and White residents from one small Wisconsin city between 1880 and 1930 to observe how sundown violence may have affected Black residential outcomes. Census summary data shows that while the White racial group population continued to grow at the state, county, and city levels, the Black population at the city level stalled before dropping to zero, providing evidence for sundown-type violence and exclusion against Black households by White city residents. For the Black residents (N = 18) whose histories I could trace, three outcomes were observed: remaining in the city, internally migrating to an adjacent county, and moving to much larger metropolitan areas that were already known as Black residential destinations. In contrast, the residential outcomes for White residents (n = 42) were much more varied in their residential destinations, both at the state/regional levels, and in the size of community settled in. I suggest that sundown-era displacement should be further considered in discussions of Black internal migration in the early 20 th century, and that residents of formerly sundown towns and cities need to confront their under-examined histories of racial exclusion. INTRODUCTIONMany racial disparities resulting from neighborhood and inter-city level residential segregation have their roots in earlier histories of exclusion, particularly against Black families and households (Darden

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Section: Results and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background Sundown Townsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Moving To a Smaller Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Racial Differences in Black and White Residential Outcomes in the Sundown Era

Tobias‐Lauerman

2023

Sociology Lens

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Observing whiteness and Black resistance in a Midwestern municipal government: An interracial ethnography

Bohonos

Johnson

2021

New Dir Child Adolesc Dev

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Racism continues to permeate American society and brings about social injustice as it privileges whites while marginalizing people of color. The endemic nature of racism identified by critical race theorists suggests that all American organizations are plagued by this social ill, yet very little research in human resource development explores racism in organizational settings. The purpose of this paper is to use participant observations of white and Black researchers to document how white-dominated leadership deploys procedural rules and microaggressions to marginalize Black participants in a small urban municipal government setting and the ways members of the Black community work to resist racial marginalization. K E Y W O R D S human resource development, local politics, racism, small urban, whitenessRacism continues to permeate American society (Bell, 1992;Dixson & Anderson, 2018) and brings about social injustice as it privileges whites while marginalizing people of color (POC) (Bonilla-Silva, 2014;Delgado & Stefancic, 2017;DiAngelo, 2018). Human resource development (HRD) research has been critiqued for failing to adequately address issues of race (Bohonos, 2019;Johnson, 2019;Rocco et al., 2014). The endemic nature of racism identified by critical race theorists suggests that all American organizations are plagued by this social ill, yet very little research in HRD explores racism in organizational settings.Emergent scholarship is calling for a greater emphasis on social justice in HRD research (Bohonos et al., 2019;Byrd, 2018;Collins, 2019), which requires more attention be paid to the effect of racism on organizational practice. Additionally, Sparkman (2019) suggests that there is an imbalance in the HRD diversity literature in which theoretical research is much more prevalent than empirical studies and calls for an additional empirical work to aid in the development and refinement of HRD diversity theory. BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH QUESTIONSAs first-and second-year doctoral students in HRD, the researchers formed a friendship based on a shared interest in research on racial justice. As our relationship grew, we noted perspectives from our respective positionalities, Black man and white man, were lacking in the field's research about race. In response, we began a project enabling us to compare our Black and white observations about race. This approach builds on research that explores differentiated experiences between women of color and white women (Childers & hooks, 1990), and Black men (hooks

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Abortion restrictions and unlimited government in the United States today

Skidmore

2023

Sexuality Gender & Policy

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The controversy over a woman's “right to choose,” as opposed to the numerous “rights” that abortion opponents decide should be assumed to exist for “unborn children,” has always struck me as incomplete. Two missing elements of the argument seem obvious, yet they remain almost completely overlooked. The first is that there is virtually no consideration whatsoever for the pregnant person herself. Her rights, if she is even assumed to have any at all, do not in any way enter into consideration, unless possibly if the pregnancy appears to threaten her life (to be sure, some more humane anti‐abortionists do concede, often grudgingly, that no one should have to carry to term a pregnancy caused by rape, but the point remains). Second, and most paradoxically, opponents of abortion appear also generally to be opposed to “big government,” yet all the while they refuse to recognize any rights at all that belong to the person who is pregnant and to be comfortable with complete control over her. The opponents seem oblivious to the clear fact that stripping pregnant adults of all ability to determine their future requires an enormously powerful, virtually totalitarian government. So, I argue that it is not correct that the United States has had a tradition of abortion prohibition while simultaneously being a “free country.” The association of anti‐abortion policies with right‐wing authoritarianism is definite. Whether there is a cause‐and‐effect relationship is irrelevant. All repressive and dictatorial policies need to be opposed. The Republican Party now continues its merry way to suppress votes, subvert democracy, and attempt to ensure that women are stripped of their autonomy and serve only as incubators for the preservation of the human race and for male pleasure. I conclude that looking at abortion from the viewpoint of informed common sense is long overdue. This article provides that overdue look, along with my apology for not having given the warning sooner.

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Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

Cited by 10 publications

References 0 publications

Racial Differences in Black and White Residential Outcomes in the Sundown Era

Racial Differences in Black and White Residential Outcomes in the Sundown Era

Observing whiteness and Black resistance in a Midwestern municipal government: An interracial ethnography

Abortion restrictions and unlimited government in the United States today

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