Sundown Towns

Many things are not mentioned in history. Sundown towns are a part of history that are rarely discussed and may be one of America's best kept filthy secrets. Sundown towns are racist communities that do not allow African Americans to remain in town after dark. These towns varied in size. Thousands of them could be found throughout the nation. The communities consisted of white individuals. The towns forced segregation by restricting non-whites into their neighborhoods after dark. Some places even passed laws to keep them from entering after dark. If someone that was not white was found in one of these towns after sundown they would be harassed, tortured, beat, or even killed.

Sundown towns resulted in growth of segregation throughout the country. The author of the book "Sundown Towns" states that these towns "redraw the map of race relations, extending the lines of racial oppression through the backyard of millions of Americans—and lobbing an intellectual hand grenade into the debates over race and racism today." These towns perpetuated the problem occurring in America. The way the non-whites were treated for being in a town is horrifying. Many innocent people were beat or even killed as a result of their skin color. Although these sundown towns may have decreased, some still do exist today (hiding their actions from the rest of the world).