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I think what people are commenting on are the site's labeling towns as "still sundown" with the flimsiest proof imaginable.
I read many (granted not all) of the things there by following the links within the site. I didn't see anything saying "still." Must have missed it.
ETA: I did some more digging and found some pretty detailed info about each town on the list. Much of it is incorrect or rumor. Many of the comments were gleaned from internet posts from anonymous posters.
What I did find quite interesting is that Illinois leads the list with over 500 "supposed" sundown towns and
Quote:
...—except in the traditional South, where they were rare.
The list is relatively recent. It comes from a book published in 2005 written by James W. Loewen. It is a book about the history of Sundown Towns. I live in one of the towns on that list and the non-white population here is 38%, according to the latest census.
That certainly puts it in context and makes more sense. However, it didn't present that way from the OP or really even the site itself. Context is key in this case.
Weird -- Petosky, Michigan is listed as a "sundown" city because the people there don't know too much about Judaism.
Yeah, imagine that. The worst part is is that they say that Jews are not allowed there. Better tell the Jews that live there AND the Rabbi of Temple B'nai Israel the Synagogue that has been there for 100 years.
I Know one town which is 100 % white. It also only have like 1700 people in the entire town. The reason why there are no black living there is because they chose not to live there. It's an old farming town with very few jobs available unless you are a farmer. People are leaving this town, not moving there. There use to be one black family and they left with everybody else. The town used to be three times as large.
There is no real sundown towns anywhere in the USA in 2013.
Last edited by glass_of_merlot; 11-07-2013 at 09:55 PM..
Having lived in South Georgia, Atlanta, and then Charleston, even the idea of a town without black people seems odd to me. When I went to boarding school up North in Connecticut and then the Berkshires of Massachusetts, it felt so odd to me and then looking around the town it was in, I realized why it was. There wasn't any black people. I do not mean not a lot, I mean none. I've always lived in mixed race places. I can't imagine living any other way. Based on some of these cities in the list, times sure have changed a lot!
A sundown town is an area that is purposely all-white. It comes from signs that were allegedly posted stating that people of color (non-whites) had to leave the town by sundown.
Do you agree with the definition of a sundown town? Do you live in a sundown town?
I have heard this expression one time from a person talking about a middle Tennessee area. The mountains of North Carolina does not have a huge black population but I don't think they would be in danger.
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