The Existence Of Sundown Towns Today!

“A sundown town is not just a place where something racist happened. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was “all white” on purpose. “James Lowen

When growing up as a little black girl in Lynwood California whose parents came from the south there was always a quote, more of a creed that all black parents would say to children which is “Be in the house before the street lights come on”. This term was something that I even say today to my children it was as if it was a warning signal that if you are not in when darkness falls and those street lights glare the boogeyman would be lurking around the corner. When sitting down with elders in my community I later learned that the phrase originated from the south and was illustrated to speak of being in areas where people of color should not be at night. Sundown towns are described as all white territories, country downs where white supremacy resided over excluding people of color. Sundown towns practiced racial segregation, discrimination, and even personal injustice toward black people.

When conversing with my eldest uncle on my father’s reason to leave Louisiana I was aware that he was wandering out late at night from a party and was stopped and harassed by a white police officer. What I didn’t expect was the remark that “he was a black man out late in sundown town and for his…