The Racial Wealth Gap: Sundown Towns
Learn about the racial wealth gap, era-by-era:
Summary - Wikipedia
Black codes were strict local and state laws that detailed when, where and how formerly enslaved people could work, and for how much compensation. The codes appeared throughout the South as a legal way to put Black citizens into indentured servitude, to take voting rights away, to control where they lived and how they traveled and to seize children for labor purposes.
Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. Named after a Black minstrel show character, the laws—which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death.
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“You can’t ‘get over’ something that is still happening. Which is why black Americans can’t ‘get over’ slavery or Jim Crow.”
― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race
Articles
United States Slavery Laws and Restrictions
Constitutional Rights Foundation – Black Codes
Black Codes - Definition, Dates & Jim Crow Laws
Black Codes and Pig Laws | Slavery By Another Name
The Code Noir (The Black Code) · LIBERTY, EQUALITY, FRATERNITY: EXPLORING THE FRENCH REVOUTION
Opinion | The ‘Lost Cause’ That Built Jim Crow (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
Jim Crow Era - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States
Jim Crow laws created ‘slavery by another name’ (Erin Blakemore)
Jim Crow Laws: Definition, Facts & Timeline
Books
American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow (Jerrold M. Packard)
Jim Crow Laws (Leslie V. Tischauser)
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (Richard Wormser)
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow (Henry Louis Gates Jr.)
Life Under the Jim Crow Laws (Charles George)
The Jim Crow Laws and Racism in United States History (David K. Fremon)
Podcasts
Remembering Jim Crow | American RadioWorks
Jim Crow, Lynching and White Supremacy | Teaching Tolerance
Film/Video
Jim Crow and America's Racism Explained
History in the First Person: Living Under Jim Crow Laws
What was it like growing up in Alabama under Jim Crow?
Museum
Jim Crow Museum - Ferris State University
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- How do Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws limit Black economic progress?
- How does the threat of violence and the prevalence of lynching repress Black advancement in society?
- How did Jim Crow laws benefit white families?
- Did your white family live in the Jim Crow South? What was the economic impact of Jim Crow laws for your family?
- Research Jim Crow type laws where your parents grew up. What laws were in place?
- Are there any Jim Crow era laws still on the books in your state?
Summary - Wikipedia
"Sundown towns" were historically communities in the United States where African Americans and other minority groups were explicitly or implicitly excluded, and they were often subject to racial violence or harassment if found within the town after sunset.
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“Our governments openly favored white supremacy and helped to create and maintain all-white communities. So did most of our banks, realtors, and police chiefs. If public relations offices, Chambers of Commerce, and local historical societies don’t want us to know something, perhaps that something is worth learning. After all, how can we deal with something if we cannot even face it?”
― James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
Here are a few examples:
- Anna, Illinois
- Cairo, Illinois
- Cicero, Illinois
- Vidor, Texas
- Forsyth County, Georgia
- Harrison, Arkansas
- Cape Charles, Virginia
- Pierce City, Missouri
- Grosse Pointe, Michigan
- Gardendale, Alabama
The existence of sundown towns has played a significant role in perpetuating and contributing to the racial wealth gap in the United States. Here are a few ways in which sundown towns relate to the racial wealth gap:
1. Exclusion from Housing Opportunities: Sundown towns enforced residential segregation, preventing African Americans from living in certain communities. This exclusion denied them access to neighborhoods with better resources, quality education, and employment opportunities. As a result, African Americans were often confined to under-resourced areas, limiting their ability to build wealth through home equity and property ownership.
2. Restricted Economic Opportunities: Sundown towns restricted African Americans' ability to work and operate businesses within their boundaries. This limited their economic opportunities, stifled entrepreneurship, and restricted their ability to accumulate wealth and assets over time.
3. Property Devaluations: The presence of sundown towns and the associated racial discrimination had an impact on property values in surrounding areas. Homes in predominantly African American neighborhoods were often undervalued, leading to decreased wealth accumulation through homeownership.
4. Inter-generational Wealth Transfer: The exclusionary practices of sundown towns limited African Americans' ability to pass down inter-generational wealth. The lack of access to homeownership, higher-paying jobs, and other wealth-building opportunities hindered the ability to accumulate and transfer assets, contributing to the racial wealth gap.
5. Intergenerational Impact: The consequences of sundown towns and their discriminatory practices have had long-lasting effects. The limited economic opportunities and denied access to resources endured by earlier generations continue to affect the current wealth and socioeconomic status of African American families.
It is important to acknowledge that sundown towns were just one of the many factors contributing to the racial wealth gap. Historical and ongoing systemic racism, discriminatory policies, education disparities, and other socio-economic factors have also played significant roles. Addressing these systemic issues is crucial to addressing and narrowing the racial wealth gap in the United States.
Articles
Sundown Towns: The Past and Present of Racial Segregation (J. Loewen, F. Kaplan, R. Smith)
AP Roadtrip: Racial Tensions in America's Sundown Towns (T. Sullivan, N. Nasir)
Sundown Towns - An Introduction
Books
“Sundown Towns” (James Loewen)
Overground Railroad: The Green Book & Roots of Black Travel in America (Candacy A. Taylor)
Videos
BridgeDetroit talks with Dr. James Loewen about Sundown Towns in the US
Sundown towns: uncovering Colorado's dark past
This former sundown county expelled 1,100 black residents in a racial cleansing
The Shameful Phenomenon of Sundown Towns - YouTube
The Injustice Files: Sundown Towns
Podcasts
The Human Together Podcast Show - Sundown Towns: Knowing the past to change the future
Viewpoints Radio - Racial Segregation in ‘Sundown Towns’
Sundown Towns by State
Wikipedia: Sundown Towns by State
Sundown Towns in the United States (tougaloo.edu)
Get Involved
Get involved in researching sundown towns
More Information on Sundown Towns
Reparative Acts
City Resolution Apologizes for Past Discrimination | Outlook Newspapers
Questions for Research and Reflection:
- What was the purpose of sundown ordinances?
- What is the difference between sundown towns and demographically all-white towns? Why is this distinction important?
- List the many ways sundown towns restricted African Americans' civil rights.
- How were these ordinances enforced?
- What happened to Black people in violation of sundown ordinances?
- How did Sundown Ordinances affect Black autonomy? The ability to connect with family members and friends? The ability to work?
- Research towns and cities your ancestors lived in. What sundown ordinances were in effect?
- Are there any Sundown Ordinances still on the books in your state?
- What effect on Black net worth might Sundown Ordinances have? Why?
- How might municipalities repair the damages caused by sundown ordinances?
"It was never the case that a white asset-based middle class simply emerged. Rather, it was government policy, and to some extent literal government giveaways, that provided whites the finance, education, land and infrastructure to accumulate and pass down wealth."