Sundown Towns
A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
by James W. Loewen · first published 2005
67% recommend33% neutral
Investigates segregation practices in the northern sections of twentieth-century America revealing how racial exclusion and oppression persisted into the contemporary era, in an account that challenges modern beliefs about race and racism.
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…racism, is there reason to think something makes it absent in a given case? A couple of the books that turned me around here: Kendi's "Stamped from the Beginning", a history of racist ideas. And Loewen's "Sundown Towns", a look at the wave of ethnic cleansing during the Nadir that happened across America. I had known about the Tulsa Massacre, but what I didn't know was how common smaller-scale events were for decades.
on “The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)” ↗…based on race was not racist? If so, I don't think there's much point in a discussion here. For those more reasonable who want to know about what anti-racism is opposed to, I'd suggest reading Loewen's Sundown Towns, Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning, and Mills's The Racial Contract as beginner-friendly looks at the system of racism, its historical and intellectual roots, and how it all played out historically.
on “Genders.wtf” ↗Wow, so many people all over the US with basically the same experience. For those interested in the history of this phenomenon, I strongly recommend the book "Sundown Towns": https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Towns-Hidden-Dimension-Americ... My hazy understanding of American racism, which I now know to be wrong, was that it's always been getting better. Sure, slavery, but…
on “NextDoor Says Users Who Share Posts with Reporters Could Be Kicked Off the Site” ↗…exist if one focuses, as here, only on the white experience. But both currently and historically, there are huge differences that aren't much talked about. For those up for a read, I recommend Loewen's Sundown Towns: https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Towns-Hidden-Dimension-Americ... It covered a lot of history I was unaware of.
on “Talent Is Everywhere, Opportunity Is Not” ↗Not who you’re replying to, but two books that stood out to me in that regard, especially as an American, and left a lasting impression are: (1) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, and (2) Sundown Towns by James Loewen
on “Education Is a System of Indoctrination of the Young (1989) [video]” ↗…sort of ethnic cleansing was common across the US, and it was part of the Nadir's broader pattern of rising white supremacy. Having never heard a peep about this in school, I was skeptical. But Loewen's "Sundown Towns" convinced me with its mix of document-driven, narrative, and data-driven history: https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Towns-Hidden-Dimension-Americ... It's been a valuable reminder to me lately that progress…
on “Tulsa Race Riot of 1921” ↗…all. I grew up in Michigan thinking that racism was mainly a southern thing. It's true we didn't have Jim Crow up north, but white racism, including violent ethnic cleansing, was rampant. See Loewen's "Sundown Towns" for excellent documentary proof of that.
on “The history that James Baldwin wanted America to see” ↗…sweepingly declare there's absolutely no evidence isn't so much a claim of fact as a declaration of willful ignorance. Which, unfortunately, is part of why racism is still endemic. See, for example, Loewen's "Sundown Towns", where the later chapters show how America's ongoing de-facto segregation, which was born out of the Nadir, both depends on and creates the sort of refusal to see the obvious that you engage in here.
…for sure, and the evidence you personally need will depend a lot on you. Perhaps take an online African-American Studies course and go from there? Just from what I've read, I'd again recommend Loewen's Sundown Towns. He covers the post-Reconstruction past in the early chapters; latter chapters bring it to the present day. The combination of historical data with historical testimony was very convincing to me. The…
on “The Strange Case of Dr. Ho Man Kwok (2019)” ↗…good place to start: Who were the perpetrators of those crimes? If you can sit with that question for as long as 30 seconds, you might be ready to read Kendi's "Stamped from the Beginning" or Loewen's "Sundown Towns".
on “New evidence that British workplaces are losing viewpoint diversity” ↗…read, for example, Foner's "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery". It covers quite well how even Lincoln was quite racist in a way typical of the time. You might also read Loewen's "Sundown Towns" which shows these attitudes not just persisting, but leading to ethnic cleansing across the US during the Nadir (circa 1870-1920). That includes New England: https://thenewpress.com/books/sundown-towns…
on “Can computers cope with human races? (1989)” ↗…some sign up? Sure. But it's fewer. And they talk less. The more Nazis you have, the more active they are, the less their targets will be around. If you're up for learning something, go read Loewen's "Sundown Towns". He documents how after the civil war for a number of decades, many places all over the US were and stayed ethnically cleansed. The peak of this was things like The Wilimingon Insurrection and the Tulsa…
on “Cognitive ability is related to supporting freedom of speech (2020)” ↗…is political choices, but it's not primarily on a city level, or a year-to-year level. The problems in San Francisco are generations in the making and often national in cause. You might read Loewen's "Sundown Towns" for a good look at a key factor to understanding American cities. The "mentality" here is one appropriate for the person and the circumstance. As you say, his neighbors weren't aliens, they were people.…
on “Arrest made in Bob Lee case. Alleged killer also worked in tech” ↗…race, I'd suggest you haven't studied the topic enough. There is an ocean of history and rivers of current evidence that in America race drives a lot of this. For example, you could go read Loewen's Sundown Towns, [1] which demonstrates that America had a major period of violent ethnic cleansing circa 1890-1930 known as the Nadir. That peaked with white people destroying America's most prosperous black district,…
on “Talent Is Everywhere, Opportunity Is Not” ↗…very bad at covering America's racist history. But you're still basing your estimation of "likely" not on real data, but on what you'd like to be true. If you'd like to learn more, start with Loewen's "Sundown Towns", which describes how hundreds and possibly thousands of towns across the US were turned and kept white: https://www.amazon.com/Sundown-Towns-Hidden-Dimension-Americ... These were known as "sundown…
on “The Machine Fired Me” ↗