Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by James W. LoewenMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I have been meaning to read this book since Chris Lahr brought it to my attention four years ago. I finally managed to get it on inter-library loan, and I was instantly wary because it was about 500 pages long and 10 lbs - not exactly ideal for the crowded subway, where I do most of my reading. But in a way, the book's physical size is a reflection of the ideas its pages contain: this is a heavy subject. I don't blame Loewen for refusing to skimp on the details, though - these truths have been suppressed long enough. So I persevered, and made it to the end, and I entreat everyone in America to do the same.
The premise is this: many of our basic assumptions about race in America are false. For one, race relations have not followed a linear trajectory of improvement since the end of slavery. After the Civil War, things got drastically better for blacks in this country: they were given opportunities for good jobs, owning land, playing major league sports, and holding political office. Then, due to a complex combination of factors, things turned sour, and between 1890 and 1940, most of the ground gained by Lincoln, the 13th-15th amendments, and Reconstruction was lost. America plunged deeply into racism once again, and this time the tactics were a lot more subtle.
The second major assumption that Loewen cuts down is that racism in this country is rooted in the South. Almost all of the book's 500 pages are about places north of the Mason-Dixon line - places that, in the collective (white) memory have been friendly to blacks all along. Though they may not have kept slaves, these cities and towns still viewed African Americans as inferior beings, and they resolved to keep them as far away as possible. Sundown towns are towns that had policies, written or unwritten, that said blacks could not let the sun go down on them there...or else. I'll let you read the book to see the many forms that "or else" has taken as well as the varied renderings of the sundown rule, most involving the word "nigger".
And what will blow your mind is the sheer volume of these towns. Just as racism is not limited to the South, it is not confined to rural "hick" towns, either. Just for starters, Loewen suspects that Illinois, where I grew up, has 472 sundown towns. And they extend to the suburbs, too. These are towns that are, or were for a significant part of their history, all white on purpose. These are towns that all of us have lived in, or visited, or know someone from. People in these towns decided that blacks were "the problem," and they resolved to steer clear of "the problem" at all costs, and this is the reason our country looks the way it does today. If you have heard of redlining in urban neighborhoods, this is redlining on a macro scale. African Americans congregated in cities not because they wanted to be around folks with a similar taste in music and cooking, but because there is strength in numbers. The more of you there are, the harder it is to burn all your homes and drive you out of town.
I cannot begin to touch on the gravity of the truths that Loewen uncovers in his meticulous research. The statistics were too numerous to highlight, the disturbing anecdotes were crammed two or three to a page. Yes, in many ways the book was too long - only in the sense that its intimidating size will keep all but the most determined from picking it up. But I'm so glad I finally did. I will never look at society the same way again, and I will do everything in my power to reverse the century or more of damage that sundown towns and suburbs have done to American race relations. Thank you, Mr. Loewen, for lifting yet another veil from my eyes.
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