[blockquote type=”left”]”When one member of the black community was lynched, all African Americans took that as a threat to their continued well-being. Often they were right…..A lynching by definition is a public murder. Those who carry it out do not bother to act in private, since they believe the community will support them. Thus a lynching becomes a community event to which all whites participate, at least vicariously, because the entire white community decides not to punish the perpetrators.” (97)[/blockquote]

What, or who, does the white community support today? Who goes unpunished in white society? Who does white society hold accountable and who is given the benefit of the doubt?

[blockquote type=”left”]”In 1886, for example, after whites rioted and drove out African Americans from Comanche County, Texas, nearby residents picked up on the idea, so a broad area of about 3,000 square miles in north-central Texas drove out their African Americans at this time, including all or part of at least four counties…We have seen that whites rioted and drove out African Americans from county after county in northern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri around 1900, and in northern Georgia around 1910…I suggest that future investigations may unearth similar epidemics wherever a chain of all-white towns or counties nestles nearby.” (181)[/blockquote]

Where do you live? Look up your town on Wikipedia. What are the demographics? What are the demographics of surrounding towns?

Loewen says that white people usually vastly over-estimate the numbers of black people in their areas. I looked up a few towns that I had grown up thinking disparaging things about, and I know a lot of that was rooted in class, but I also know some of it was rooted in race. I was shocked to see that most of those towns that we grew up sneering at were well over 90% white.

What assumptions have you held about the cities in your area, and has part of that been based on demographics?

Listen to Act Two of this episode of This American Life, about Kankakee, Illinois and how people see it.

I immediately went online, because I didn’t know about Kankakee. And I discovered quickly a lot of people thought it was bad, poor. There were blogs about it. People would say, oh, it’s Skankakee. It’s the worst place ever.

They make it like it’s a jail yard or something. Especially there’s a street here called Hobby. And everyone’s like, you can’t go out at night. You shouldn’t even drive down it. Well, I drove down it when I came here. And what I saw was families. They were black families. So I was like, well, so this must mean something.

I’ve been out, and they were like, I would never go to that side of the town. Well, why? Well, it’s dark over there. What do you mean dark? You mean like dark at night? And they’re like, no, you know, dark, you know.
 

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This series is available in a handy 40 page pdf that includes journaling space for the personal questions.

Buy now

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An Integrated Life

a series studying the book Sundown Towns by James Loewen

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Part 1 – A Series
Part 2 – Our Racist Foundations
Part 3 – What Are We Taught Is Normal?
Part 4 – All Whites Are Responsible
Part 5 – What Are You Known For Supporting
Part 6 – What Makes You Stay Silent?
Part 7 – Gravitating Towards the Comfortable
Part 8 – Social Exclusion
Part 9 – Restrictive Covenants and Governments
Part 10 – Do You Live in a Sundown Town? Before You Say No…
Part 11 – Still Forming Sundown Towns Today
Part 12 – Sundown Suburbs = NIMBY

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