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Book Review/ Notes: Sundown Towns By James Loewen / 02.19.10, 05:55 PM
Chapters 1-2
Sundown town (SDT) is any organized jurisdiction that for decades kept African Americans or other groups from living in it and was thus “all-white on purpose.” (p4)
Between 1890- 1968 white Americans established themselves in SDTs across the USA. (p.4)
Between 1890- 1940s race relations in America grew worse. After the abolishment of slavery steps were being taken to make things better for ex-slaves. Republicans were actively involved in improving their lot shortly after the civil war. Between 1865 (when slavery ended) and 1890 there was an anti-racism vibe in the North. It was patriotic to be anti-racist, in fact the Republicans added the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to give the ex-slaves “equal rights.” During this time AAs moved everywhere throughout the North. During this time AAs voted, served in Congress, received some spoils from the Republican Party, worked as barbers, railroad firemen, midwives, mail carriers, and landowning farmers, and played other fully human roles in American society (p.29).
The “Fusion” Period, 1877-1890
“With the increasing tenacity and Ku Klux Klan violence, Democrats fought the interracial Republican coalitions for control of each southern state (p.30). The Democrats had control of the southern states, more or less. AAs still voted during this time, though not freely.
“In 1890, trying to get the federal government to intervene against violence and fraud in southern elections, the Republican senator from Massachusetts, Henry Cabot Lodge, introduced his Federal Elections Bill. It lost just one vote in Senate. After its defeat, when Democrats again tarred Republicans as “nigger lovers,” now the Republicans replied in a new way. Instead of assailing Democrats for denying equal rights to AAs, they backed away from the subject. The Democrats had worn them down. Thus the springtime of race relations during Reconstruction was short, and it was followed not by summer blooms but by the Nadir winter, and not just in South but throughout the country (p30-31).”
What caused the collapse (of positive race relations)? The three I’s
The idealism immediately after the Civil war was fading. By 1890, only one American in three was old enough to have been alive when it ended, and millions more migrated to the US long after the war’s end and played no role in it (p31). The ideology of anti-racism was further strained by three developments>> the three i’s
1) Indian Wars>> The federal government discovered gold and took away and from the Indians that had been promised to them “forever.” If it was OK to take Indian’s land because they weren’t white, wasn’t it OK to deny rights to AAs, who weren’t white either (p.31)?
2) Immigrants>> Irish, Italian, Polish immigrants tended to vote for the Democrats because of the Republicans intolerance of alcohol and Catholicism. These immigrants learned quickly that it was to their advantage to be “white,” in that AAs were in competition for the available jobs. Perhaps Republicans converted to a more racist position to win ethnic votes. Or perhaps their anti-immigrant thinking, manifesting itself in jokes, slurs, and anti-immigrant cartoons, spilled over into increased racism vis-à-vis AAs (pp.31-32).
3) Imperialism>> After 1890, imperialism led the US to dominate Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippines, Nicaragua, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands, and several other Caribbean and Central American nations. Democrats pointed out the inconsistency of denying self-government to these places on the basis of the alleged racial inferiority, while insisting on the equal rights of AAs. The Republicans had no real answer (p.32).
Other factors causing the decline of Republican anti-racism…
1) The “Gilded Age”>> capitalist amassed huge fortunes>> many Republicans made this a goal which made it hard to reconcile with the party’s former talk of social justice.
2) Decay of Idealism>> the times were changing, the civil war was in the past.
- ultimately, racism has its foundation in slavery.
In 1890 the Confederate South finally won the war. New laws outlawing interracial marriages, lynchings started happening more frequently, and Jim Crow was in full effect. No AA served in Congress again until 1929, and none from the South until 1973. In 1912, Ohioans made it clear that they wanted black voting to stop (pp.33-34). AAs started getting bad press in the newspapers, and AA’s started getting expelled from their occupations. Many AA’s were still at the bottom, and white s began to blame them as the problem (p.38). Many of the generalization white folks had of AA are still held by those living in predominantly white towns today.
From 1913-21 Woodrow Wilson became president (racist). He segregated the Navy for the first time.
______________________________________
“Residential exclusion is bad for our nation. In fact, residential segregation is one reason race continues to be such a problem in America. But race really isn’t the problem. Exclusion is the problem. The ghetto—with all of its pathologies—isn’t the problem; the elite sundown suburb—seemingly devoid of social difficulties—is the problem. As soon as we realize the problem is white supremacy, rather than black existence or black inferiority, then it becomes clear the sundown towns and suburbs are an intensification of the problem, not a solution to it. So long as racial inequality is encoded in the most basic single fact in our society—where one can live—the US will face continuing racial tension, if not overt conflict” (p17).
Chapter 3: The Great Retreat
After 1890 towns throughout the North became intentionally all-white. This happened in two waves. “First, an epidemic of attacks against Chinese Americans across the West prompted what I call the ‘Chinese Retreat,’ resulting in the concentration of that minority in Chinatowns in Seattle, San Francisco, LA, and a few other cities. The whites began forcing AA out of towns and rural areas across the North” (p 47).
“Nevertheless, by 1940 amnesia set in, and Americans forgot completely that in the 19th century, Chinese had lived in towns and hamlets throughout the West, while blacks had moved to little towns and rural areas across the North. Americans also repressed the memory of the expulsions and ordinances that created SDTs. Now Amerocans typecast AA as residents of places as Harlem and the South Side of Chicago, and Chinese Americans as Chinatown dwellers. In reality, white evictions and prohibitions provided the most important single reason for these retreats to large cities” (p54)
There were very few SDTs in the South>> they saw AAs as people to be exploited; the North did not want anything to do with them. (p70)
Chapter 4-5:
SDTs were created by violence (such as lynching, rise of KKK, the threat of violence, SDT ordinances, buyouts (some independent SDT bought out their Aas to achieve all-white status p.108).
Sundown Suburbs were created (ie. Levittown). Between 1950-70 the suburban population doubled from 36 million to 74 million as 83% of the nations pop growth took place in the burbs. By 1970, more people lived in burb than in central cities and rural areas for the first time. People moved to the burbs because it seems to be the proper way to raise the kids and it showed and secured social status (rather than a move away from African-Americans)(p.119). Many AAs moved into the suburbs initially.
Between 1947- 67 more towns were established on a whites-only basis than ever before (p127). Levitt and sons were the largest home builder corp. after WW2. They publicly would not sell to minorities.
The FHA (Federal Housing Administration) helped create SD suburbs. This was set up after the depression to help people buy homes. In 1938 they stated, “If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is necessary that its properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes” (p129).
Loan guarantees by the FHA and VA (Veterans Administration) wree the most important single cause of postwar suburbanization, and more than 98% of the millions of home loans guaranteed by the FHA and VA after WW2 were available only to whites” (p. 130). African Americans were thus not only shut out of the suburbs but also kept from participating in Americans’ surest route to wealth accumulation, federally subsidized home ownership. Federal support for home ownership not only included the FHA and VA programs but also the mortgage interest tax deduction, which made home ownership in the burbs cheaper than apartment rental in the cities—for whites. Housing prices then skyrocketed, tripling in the 1970s alone; the appreciation laid the groundwork for the astonishing 1-11 black-to-white wealth ratio that now afflicts African American families” (p130).
1968 the federal government switched sides with the passing f the Fair Housing Act. This law prohibited racial discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. Discrimination went underground. “It was understood, there was a gentleman’s agreement, so no one had to say a word. Steering, lying, stalling, special requirements imposed on blacks, missed appointments, wrong addresses—all were used to shut out AA would be home buyers (p131).
Chapter 6: Underlying Causes
European Americans systematically subjugated 3 groups: Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and African Americans, taking the land of the first two and the labor of the third. Slavery lasted from 1619-1863 in USA (p.138).
Myths leading to SDTs:
1) Myth of lack of jobs( p141)
2) Myth of social isolation (p142)>> lack of AAs was “natural”
3) Myth of class (p143)>> For all-white suburbs to result from classism is seen as defensible, because classism is ok, since we all presumably have a reasonable if not equal chance to get into the upper class. Segregation is an important part of suburbanization.
4) Nonsensical causes (p145)>> myth of weather (AAs don’t like the cold…); myth of “backwater town> no one would want to live here
Chapter 7-14
Look at further causes, how SDTs are a hidden phenomena; how they were enforced; exceptions to the rule>> when AAs were allowed in town to live.
Three great chapters looking at the effects of SDTs on whites, blacks, and the social system. He also looks at SDTs today.
Chapter 15: The Remedy
1) Investigation>> most white Americans do not see racism as a problem in their neighborhood. We need to know about SDTs to do something about them.
“Awareness of unfairness undercuts unfairness. People who perceive that the scoail system discriminates against racial minorities are more likely to support policies to reduce that discrimination. Racists know this. That’s why denial of racism is a time-honored tactic” (p. 422)
2) Publicize>> Publicizing a town’s racist actions can bring shame upon the community, but recalling and admitting them is the first step in redressing them (p.424).
3) Apology>> preferably by an official of the SDT
4) Reparations>> paying back families that were driven out. ( p.426ff for examples)
5) Local institutions>> “Every SDT or county should announce officially that it intends to become more diverse and should set up a human relations commission to accomplish that end. The town should then send a letter to every real estate agent in its area informing them that housing in the town is open without regard to race, requiring them to state their intent to show, rent, and sell property to all, and inviting them to contact the human relations commission in case of any problem. Schools and city departments should also state their intent to welcome and hire nonwhite employees to overcome their town’s history of exclusion and should drop any requirement that prospective employees must live within their boundaries before employment” (p431).
6) White families can dismantle SDTs:
a. Move to a diverse neighborhood
b. If stay in white neighborhood>> challenge the paradox of exclusivity by asking “why.” Begin to reverse the status hierarchy>> “But don’t you hate to send your children to such an overwhelmingly white school system?” (p.435)
c. Move your town towards diversity.>> ie. Persuade the school system that it cannot be competent without a seriously interracial faculty…
d. Sometime you need a good ol’ fashion protest
7) African American Challenges to SDTs:
a. Even well-meaning whites cannot desegregate a SDT without the help of black households (p.436).
b. Move in… this is very difficult if they are the first AA family. Historically there have been AA folks who have done so and have been pioneers in bringing change to a SDT.
“America should not have white neighborhoods or black neighborhoods. It should have just neighborhoods” (p450). We must strive for beloved community.
Check out this link. Dag my home town of Huntington, IN is a historic sundown town… http://www.uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundowntowns.php
How To Confirm Sundown Towns
What we seek is information confirming that a given town did keep blacks out [if it did!], either through the use of restrictive covenants throughout the town, violence or threats of same, bad behavior by white individuals, an ordinance, realtor steering, bank redlining, or other formal or informal policies.
While we are only interested in exclusion, such exclusion need not be total. The book, Sundown Towns, has a chapter telling how a town may have driven out its blacks, even posted the traditional sundown town sign, yet allowed one family to remain. Larger cities have even allowed more than one, in a way. Cicero, IL, for example, when burning out a would-be black apartment renter, had some 40 blacks in town — probably as servants in white households, in such institutions as jails, hospitals, colleges, etc., or as renters in large apartment houses not really located in residential neighborhoods and hence below the radar of whites. Since Cicero defined itself as all-white and took steps to keep out the next black would-be household, it certainly qualifies. Therefore, while doing census research, take care to notice non-household blacks. Their existence does not take a town off the roll of suspected sundown communities. Also, although in the past many sundown towns kept out other groups, such as Mexicans, Asian Americans, Jews, etc., today most sundown towns have accepted all but blacks. However, we are still interested in them because they kept out (and may still keep out) blacks. Finally, some towns have given up being sundown, usually between 1970 and today, yet we are still interested in them owing to their past.Census research
A first step, then, is to look up the census information on racial composition in various years. Data at census.gov provide the racial proportions of every town in the country with more than a few hundred inhabitants for 1990 and 2000. Included is information as to age and sex in the black population and number of households with black adult householders. This information is particularly useful because it allows us to avoid misattributing residential status to African Americans living in institutions such as colleges or prisons or within white households as servants. For 1860-1980, the racial composition of your town will be in the printed census in the bound volumes of the census, probably at your local library and certainly at your nearest university library. Get the actual census figures, decade after decade. They are also online at census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/index.htm. However, in some years breakdowns by race are provided only for towns larger than 2,500 and in one decade only for towns larger than 4,000. For smaller towns, you can count the number of blacks listed in the “manuscript census,” described in the next paragraph, for 1930 and prior decades. For small towns, the census in many years, especially before 1940, does not list population by race, but you can amass it yourself from the “manuscript census” for any decade between 1860 and 1930 inclusive (except 1890, most of which was destroyed by fire). This is the raw data of the census; much of it is on the web at various sites, usually by state. Large libraries and genealogical collections also have it on microfilm. You may find sharp drops in black population, which are of course suspicious. If you only find low numbers of blacks, decade after decade, that too is suspicious, especially if blacks are hardly absent from nearby towns and counties or if the town’s total population is increasing. A website at the University of Virginia, fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/, provides the racial proportions of every county from 1790 through 1960. Local histories, newspapers Then go to the local libraries (in person) and read (skim) any local history books, such as centennial histories and county histories. Usually the local library has a local history room (or local history shelf, in small libraries). Probably you will find NOTHING about blacks, but sometimes there are surprises. If there are notes on file from the WPA Federal Writers Project (c.1935-40), skim those. Also, see if there are vertical files (newspaper clippings) on “blacks,” “Negroes,” “segregation,” “Ku Klux Klan,” or other related topics. Then you can scan local newspapers for the decade between two adjacent censuses that show a sharp decline in black population, to see if it describes any actions whites took to cause the decline. Sometimes the nearest newspaper outside the town in question will be more forthcoming. Oral history Then ask the librarian in charge of the local history collection if s/he knows anything about the absence of blacks. Has s/he ever heard it might have been on purpose? Does s/he know of any stories (oral history) about anything bad that happened to a black family that tried to move into the town in the 1920s, 1970s, or any other decade? Follow up by asking the librarian, “Who knows the most about the history of the town?” Every town has an expert. Then interview (in person) that person or persons. Ask, “who else should I talk with?” Is there a genealogical society? If so, attend its next meeting, after talking with its leader. Begin softly, maybe by asking what the town’s major employers used to be. Eventually ask, “Have you ever heard that [name of town] used to keep out blacks?” Maybe mention that some nearby towns (by name) used to keep out blacks, and follow by asking if this community had the same policy. If folks say yes, then ask how they heard it, from whom, about when (year), etc. Oral history is fine, so long as it is solid. Thus, if a person says “Blacks were not allowed…” then s/he should be asked, “How do you know that?” Also, seek details: “Did you ever hear of any family that moved in, then left?” etc. Do also seek written sources, such as some ordinance about keeping out blacks (or another group). The “ordinance,” however, may be nothing more than a motion voted on in a city council meeting on a Tuesday evening in 1911, perhaps not even noted in the minutes of that meeting, and certainly almost impossible to find now. Repeat this process with the City Clerk and the head of the local historical society. Bear in mind, however, particularly with a local history society, that this usually does not work UNLESS you are there in person. Usually these folks just don’t want to say anything bad about their town if they can help it. In person, however, they don’t want to lie. And of course, you flatter them by telling them (correctly) that they are the expert on the town’s history. Another good idea: go to the local nursing home, or to places where seniors live or hang out (community center, SRO hotel). Interview elderly people. Take good notes, including “quote notes” (with “”) when you actually capture the phrase verbatim. Old folks love to hold forth on the long-ago past. Also talk with long-time realtors, minority group members in nearby towns, and other likely sources. Always we must recall that a community’s overwhelming whiteness might be an accident, that perhaps no African Americans ever happened to go there. We cannot classify an “all-white town” as a “sundown town” unless we have evidence about its racial policies. Moreover, one must use common sense and historical and sociological knowledge in this work. Lemhi County, in northern Idaho, all-white in 1930, appears less suspicious than Garrett County, in western Maryland, which had 24 African Americans in that year, because 13 other Idaho counties also had no African Americans, while other Maryland counties all had more than 1,000. But then, a historian whose parents were born and raised in Lemhi County wrote that according to her relatives, “Black people were ‘run off’ in some distant past.” Meanwhile, several sources, including Henry Louis Gates Jr., confirmed that Garrett was a sundown county. So, suspicion is appropriate in both cases, and additional sources have solidly confirmed Garrett.0 Comments
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