Sunset city

During the Reconstruction, thousands of cities became "sunset". In some cases, the exception was the official policy of the city or promoted by agents selling homes through restrictive covenants that governed whom property could be sold or rented out. In others, policies were carried out by intimidation, which could be expressed in various ways, including police harassment ^[2] .

In 1844, . Those who did not leave were subject to flogging under a law known as the Peter Burnett Lash Law , named after California first governor, . Not a single person has been flogged according to this law; it was quickly amended to replace flogging with forced labor, and then canceled the following year after changing the composition of the legislative assembly ^{[3] [4]} . However, additional laws aimed at African Americans entering Oregon were ratified in 1849 and 1857, the last of which was not repealed until 1926 ^{[5] [6] [7]} .

Since the start of the black civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and in particular with the introduction , prohibiting racial discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of real estate, the number of sunset cities has decreased . But, as sociologist writes in his book on the subject, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (From English - “Sunset Cities: The Hidden Dimension of American Racism”; 2005), to accurately calculate the number of “sunset cities” at any time it is impossible, since most cities did not keep records of decrees or signs that reported the “sunset” status of the city. According to him, hundreds of cities in the USA were “sunset cities” at some point in their history ^[8] .

Additionally, Lauen notes that the "sunset" status not only prevented African Americans from living in these cities. Virtually all African-Americans (and sometimes other racial groups) who entered or were found in the “sunset cities” after sunset were harassed, threatened, and abused, up to and including the Lynch trial ^[8] .

The United States Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education case found school segregation unconstitutional in 1954. Sociologist Lauen argues that the decision in the case caused some areas in the South to become "sunset cities." The states of Missouri , Tennessee and Kentucky experienced a drastic decrease in the number of African Americans living in them after this decision ^[9] .

Cities that experienced a serious decline in black populations between the two censuses can be classified as “sunset” if the absence of blacks was a deliberate result. Researchers must make sure that the absence of blacks in the city was the result of a systemic policy, and not a demographic change ^[10] . To confirm the status of the “sunset city”, serious research and reliable sources, such as tax records and censuses, newspaper articles, history of the district and files of the Public Works Department , are necessary ^[11] .

African Americans were not the only people who were expelled from their cities. One example of this, cited by Lauen, is that in 1870 the Chinese made up one third of the population of Idaho . After a wave of violence and an anti-Chinese gathering in Boise , by 1910 almost none of them remained ^[8] . According to Lauen, in the city of ( Nevada ) every day they whistled at 6 pm, thus telling Native Americans to leave the city before sunset ^[8] . Numerous road signs documented in the first half of the 20th century include: ^[12]

• In Colorado: “No Mexicans After Night” ( English No Mexicans After Night );
• In Connecticut: “Only Whites Only Within City Limits After Dark ”.

Jews were also prohibited from living in certain “sunset cities,” such as Connecticut ] ^[8] and Illinois ], the latter of which retained anti-Jewish and anti-African covenants until 1990 ^[13] .

In a 2010 Maryham Marulanda article in the , entitled Preemption, Patchwork Immigration Laws, and the Potential for Brown Sundown Towns, she talks about the possibility of excluding blacks from cities in the United States. Marulanda claims that immigration laws and regulations in some areas can create “sunset cities” like situations. In this case, the aim of such a racial exclusion would probably be Hispanic Americans ^[14] .

In his memoir poet Maya Angelou describes the "sunset of the city", existing in parts of the South, Mississippi mentioning how inhospitable African Americans after the sunset staff: «Do not let the sun set on you here nigger, Mississippi " ^[15] .

• Black Codes
• Jim Crow Laws
• Orania
• US racial segregation

• Bibbs, Rebecca . Madison County communities strive to overcome 'sundown town' reputation , The Herald Bulletin (April 3, 2016).
• Byrne, Robert. Sundown Towns in the DC Metropolitan Area: a Comparative Analysis. - 2009.
• Esquibel, Elena. Performing History: Oral Histories of Sundown Towns in Southern Illinois . - 2011.
• Hallett, Vicky . Sundown towns: No blacks after dark (Interview with James Loewen) , US News . Archived March 18, 2013.
• Huber, Patrick. Race Riots and Black Exodus in the Missouri Ozarks, 1894-1905. - 2002.
• Kirk, John. Race and Ethnicity in Arkansas: New Perspectives. - 2014.
• Loewen, James W. Sundown Towns and Counties: Racial Exclusion in the South // Southern Cultures: journal. - 2009.
• Loewen, James . Guest Commentary: Sundown towns remain problem , The News-Gazette (November 1, 2015).
• Smith, Robert . An 'Occupied' Milwaukee: Part I , Milwaukee Magazine (April 28, 2015).
• Sundown Town , CNN (December 8, 2006). Article on Vidor, Texas' long time reputation as a sundown town.
• Sundown Towns (Neopr.) // Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture.
• Sundown towns (neopr.) . Tougaloo.edu .

• Information on racial proportions of towns in the United States (neopr.) . US Census Bureau .
• Loewen, James. Bibliography of Books that Treat Sundown Towns (Neopr.) . Tougaloo.edu .
• Loewen, James. Book Talk: Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (Neopr.) . C-SPAN Book TV (October 23, 2005).
• Map of Sundown Towns in the United States (Neopr.) .
• The Negro Travelers' Green Book . - Interactive. - The University of South Carolina Library, Spring 1956.