Sundown town
Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States and Canada that were most prevalent before the mid-20th century, which practiced a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence. The term came into use because of signs that directed "colored people" to leave town by sundown.[1][2]
Entire sundown counties[3] and sundown suburbs were created as well. While the number of sundown towns decreased following the civil rights movement, some commentators hold that certain 21st-century practices perpetuate a modified version of the sundown town.[4][5]
Discriminatory policies and actions distinguish sundown towns from towns that have no black residents for demographic reasons. Historically, towns have been confirmed as sundown towns by newspaper articles, county histories, and Works Progress Administration files; this information has been corroborated by tax or U.S. census records showing an absence of black people or a sharp drop in the black population between two censuses.[6][3][7]
Function[edit]
Ethnic exclusions[edit]
African Americans were not the only minority group not allowed to live in white towns. One example, according to Loewen, is that, in 1870, Chinese people made up one-third of Idaho's population. Following a wave of violence and an 1886 anti-Chinese convention in Boise, almost none remained by 1910.[24]: 51
The towns of Minden and Gardnerville in Nevada had an ordinance from 1917 to 1974 that required Native Americans to leave the towns by 6:30 p.m. each day.[26] A whistle, later a siren, was sounded at 6 p.m. daily, alerting Native Americans to leave by sundown.[24]: 23 [26] In 2021, the state of Nevada passed a law prohibiting the appropriation of Native American imagery by the mascots of schools, and the sounding of sirens that were once associated with sundown ordinances. Despite this law, Minden continued to play its siren for two more years, claiming that it was a nightly tribute to first responders.[27][28][29][30] An additional state law in 2023 led Minden to end the siren.[31]
In Nevada, the ban was expanded to include Japanese Americans.[32]
Two examples of the numerous road signs documented during the first half of the 20th century include:[33]