The Disturbing Legacy of California’s Sundown Towns
Surprisingly, there were many such towns in liberal California
A few years ago, I remember driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles taking a direct route on the main highway. Somehow, I lost my way in the dark and stumbled onto some small roads that seemed to lead to these tiny little towns in the middle of nowhere.
Despite being in California, I remember the feeling of horror as I hoped and prayed that my car wouldn’t break down. I really felt aware then and there that I was very vulnerable as a dark-skinned Indian woman. Subconsciously, I was thinking of sundown towns.
In the history of America, sundown towns conjure up a feeling of dread, horror, and acute discomfort especially for those who are black or non-white.
Sundown towns are all-white neighborhoods that purposefully exclude non-whites through practices of discrimination in their local laws, intimidation and even violence.
The term came from signs posted that “colored people” had to leave town by sundown. — Wikipedia
During the day, black people could move around, go shopping, or go to work but when it came to nightfall, they had to be gone. If they were found after…
