zhivi
Today's #TopicOfConversation SUNDOWN TOWNS! Do you know what they are? Have you had an experience in one? If so please share. Check my respond to this post. This website has a list of sundown towns. https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundown-towns/using-the-sundown-towns-database/state-map/
#BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter #BlackFediverse #BlackFedi
#BlackAcademics #BlackDiaspora #BIPoc #black #blacklivesmatter #blackisbeautiful #diversity #DiversityEquityInclusion #dei #mastodon #racism #antiracist #asian #indigenous #indigenousPeople #mena #history #native
Sundown Towns by State - History and Social Justice

Historical Database of Sundown Towns Select a state from the map below to view a list of sundown towns FL MI ME NY PA VA WV OH IN IL WI NC TN AR MO GA SC KY AL LA MS IA MN OK TX NM KS NE SD ND WY MT CO ID UT AZ […]

History and Social Justice
Nov 22, 2022 at 4:51pmWeb
Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
Sundown Towns are all-white communities, neighborhoods, or counties that exclude Blacks and other minorities through the use of discriminatory laws, harassment, and threats or use of violence. Yes they still exist today. If you travel by car, know the cities you travel in. #BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter #BlackFediverse #BlackFedi
#BlackAcademics #BlackDiaspora #BIPoc #blacklivesmatter #diversity #DiversityEquityInclusion #dei #mastodon #racism #antiracist #asian #indigenous #mena #history
Show threadThatAuntieNov 22, 2022
@zhivi So true! I've had a few conversations with the Waze app, explaining to the nice voice that they had me effed up if they thought I was going to divert through certain neighborhoods at night. Not fearing the residents, but the police.
Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@ThatAuntie exactly but for me this brings light to the people. I heard someone say they stopped at a gas station and the clerk whispered mot to be there after dark. That isn't the police.
Show threadThatAuntieNov 22, 2022
@zhivi Agreed. Systems are unfailingly "yes, and" situations.
Show threadphytolipideNov 24, 2022
@zhivi @ThatAuntie The scary bit is especially in a small enough town there is little separation.
Show threadzhiviNov 24, 2022
@phytolipide @ThatAuntie very true. Someone posted that a town she is from still rings the bell.
Show threadFreedomNov 23, 2022

@ThatAuntie @zhivi

Some of my medical drivers insist on taking me through #Militia Territory, #Michigan. I am a white. Even so, I take off my distinctively Muslim headcovering whenever I see any cops out there.

These people have no concept of how much danger they expose me to.

#SundownTowns
#Racism
#discrimination

Show threadThatAuntieNov 23, 2022
@Freedom2B @zhivi It hurts my heart to know that you're enduring a multilayered battle, Freedom2B. Praying your courage and that you'll have what you need. 🤲🏾💖
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@ThatAuntie @Freedom2B it crazy that has to happen.
Show threadJeff Shaffer CBET, retNov 22, 2022
@zhivi Minden, NV was one, and though not now, I remember the city council was involved in a controversy a few years ago regarding the whistle that blows when dusk hits and which was used to warn the mainly indigenous folks to leave. They wanted to keep it going for “tradition”, which I guess is code for hate. Wife and I took a day trip there when we lived in Reno, but after hearing about that I never returned. Hate stems from fear and can be used to manipulate the weak minded and ignorant.
Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@CivilityFan thank you for sharing. That’s terrible.
Show threadJeff Shaffer CBET, retNov 23, 2022
@zhivi IMHO It’s just history repeating itself. Sociopaths find ways to turn the fearful against the vulnerable. Sometime skin color, sometimes religion, sometimes national origin but it’s always something that can makes us “different”. That’s why the fearful can be convinced that diversity is threatening. The Other. Them
The solution can only be to resist fear, not give in and hopefully that proves to be contagious. Otherwise we’re screwed
Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@CivilityFan great point. There is always something.
Show threadphytolipideNov 24, 2022
@CivilityFan @zhivi I've heard - if someone can confirm it would be great - that well into the 20th century St. Louis was still ringing the curfew bell that had been used to call back enslaved people hired out for the day. People were habituated to it and didn't think of its origins. But then again Missourans waged guerilla warfare on Kansas over the right to enslave.
Show threadzhiviNov 24, 2022
@phytolipide @CivilityFan I'm sure they may have.
Show threadphytolipideNov 25, 2022
@zhivi @CivilityFan I had no idea until recently just how strongly pro slavery Missouri was until recently. They razed some Kansas towns to the ground and killed all the men and boys in them because they were anti-slavery. Can only imagine the misery of being enslaved in Missouri.
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@phytolipide @CivilityFan our history, when you really dig deep is shameful. This is what people want to whitewash.
Show threadphytolipideNov 25, 2022
@zhivi @CivilityFan Or it's normalized like the bell and the whistle. I'm going to guess that in the town mentioned they didn't want to get rid of the whistle because everyone was used to it, it's traditional blah blah blah. Sounds aren't a great example but generally when something needs to go I think it needs to be replaced with a plaque that explains what was there, the history and why it had to go. Otherwise, it does get whitewashed.
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@phytolipide @CivilityFan I agree.
Show threadMike MorpheusNov 22, 2022

@zhivi this is a pretty amazing book by a true ally.

Sundown Towns https://g.co/kgs/bRTh6k

Before you continue to Google Search

Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@Mike_Morpheus thank you. Which book is it?
Show threadOlivia Guest · Ολίβια ΓκεστNov 23, 2022
@zhivi @Mike_Morpheus I think it's this one https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/sundown-towns/
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism - Zinn Education Project

Book — Non-fiction. By James Loewen. 2018. 592 pages. Documents the history of towns across the United States that exclude African Americans (and other racial/ethnic groups) after sundown.

Zinn Education Project
Show threadMike MorpheusNov 23, 2022
@olivia @zhivi Dr. Loewen went to my church. Unfailingly nice man.
Show threadMike MorpheusNov 23, 2022
@zhivi I think it’s the same book, different covers.
Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@Mike_Morpheus ok when I clicked the link you provided it went to a Google search page with a list of different items. I think I know which book.
Show threadMike MorpheusNov 23, 2022
@zhivi I’m sorry this ended up being more confusing than illuminating. 🤭😂
Show threadMattias BengtssonNov 23, 2022
This is revolting. :(
Show threadBovaryCeeNov 23, 2022
@zhivi We still have quite a few Sundown Towns in NJ. It’s surreal. I drive through them, shop in some of their major businesses, but I know living there is off limits. #BlackTwitter #BlackFediverse #BlackMastodon #BlackFedi
Show threadJeff MarkelNov 23, 2022
@TlanetteRoget @zhivi
I am not Black, but I do live in NJ. If you’re willing to share, I would really like to know which towns you mean (so, at the very least, I can be sure to do all my spending elsewhere)
Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@TlanetteRoget thank you for sharing. Have you ever been warned not to be there after dark?
Show threadBovaryCeeNov 23, 2022
@zhivi Yes, plenty of times for other towns. The one I drive through and go their businesses, I only heard about this year from a ⚪ colleague.
Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@TlanetteRoget oh. We're you surprised?
Show threadBovaryCeeNov 23, 2022
@zhivi Nope. It made sense. I had a feeling because there's a bar that I drive past on my way home. Not too many cars outside, but I had a feeling it was one I should never visit. That same co-worker confirmed that I wouldn't be welcomed.
Show threadDee GardnerNov 23, 2022
@zhivi My hometown of Tacoma has a shameful history of mistreatment of Blacks and Asians dating back to at least the 1880s.
UW’s Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium compiled maps that illustrate the slow pace of desegregation in Washington.
In the absence of anecdotes, these data illustrate how slowly these cities have desegregated during the last 50 years.
https://depts.washington.edu/labhist/maps-race-tacoma.shtml
#TacomaHistory #DiversityEquityInclusion
#integration
Mapping Tacoma Race and Segregation

This interactive map tracks race and segregation patterns in Tacoma and Pierce County from 1950-2019 …

Show threadvegangsterNov 23, 2022
@zhivi @glacierpique "history"
Show threadCaliban64Nov 25, 2022
@zhivi there are many places in the US where black people are made to feel uncomfortable, especially at night. These may be considered de facto sundown towns.
But sundown towns no longer exist as legal entities. They are unconstitutional & illegal since the 1968 Civil Rights Act. If you are saying they exist today as legal entities that is not correct.
There are also many places in America where Asian, white and other Americans are made to feel uncomfortable, especially at night.
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@Caliban64 I understand they are no longer legal but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist and people need to be made aware. A lot of truck drivers have experience. Even in this post, there are towns that still ring the bell at dusk.
Show threadStuartGNov 25, 2022

@zhivi

Gosh I didn't even know that term existed, just checked and my brother lives in a listed Sundown town in NY, yep it is rather privileged but crikey that's not good. ps I am a white hetro male brit living in Scotland so possibly a tad sheltered!

Show threadNoGodsUnderStarsNov 22, 2022

@zhivi

I live in Richmond, VA. We have some towns with that history. One particular area south of the city (it may not have been one by definition, I would have to refresh myself) called Colonial Heights was once colloquially known as "Colonial Whites" and saw vigiantilism to defend it in that way.

Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@Oli_Son thanks for sharing. According to the website. We have them in NC.
Show threadPugthugNov 23, 2022
@zhivi @Oli_Son We have them here in Illinois too unfortunately. One town in this area still has their sundown law on the books. While they don’t enforce it, they don’t remove it either and that speaks volumes about their racism. I hate it here but my family is here and I need their help now that I’m getting up in years. I miss my home in Michigan.
Show threadJeff and 838 othersNov 22, 2022
@Oli_Son @zhivi yep yep, I went through Colonial Whites as a teen. Stopped in some place that seemed like a modern general store - EVERYONE in the place stopped to star at me angrily while I purchased a soda. It was one of the most movie-like experiences I've had
Show threadzhiviNov 23, 2022
@Oli_Son @IAmJeffsLiver how did you feel as a teen when it happened?
Show threadJeff and 838 othersNov 23, 2022
@zhivi @Oli_Son Uneasy, unnerved. I didn't fully realize what was going on at the time, being 16 or 17. It wasn't until later in life, thinking back on the event, that I realized what had happened (racism)
Show threadpoxonus Nov 22, 2022

@zhivi

Me: clicks on the state of Wisconsin.

Still Me: "that's just a list of the cities in the state"

Me: ...

Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@poxonus I did the same for NC and IL. We don't know what we don't know.
Show threadnonstickNov 23, 2022
@poxonus @zhivi My ex’s fam is from northern Wisconsin. I’m Chinese. We went there a couple of summers. Every place I walked, I was stared at. Not with hostility. More curiosity. Like I was a circus freak.
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@poxonus @nonstick glad it wasn’t out of hostility. Could you imagine how you would feel if it was?
Show threadnonstickNov 25, 2022
@zhivi @poxonus I would have wanted to change flights and leave immediately. Especially now. My ex-FIL calls corona “Chinese virus”. And I would have been there without any of my family or friends. Just ex and his white family and white neighbors.
Show threadzhiviNov 25, 2022
@nonstick @poxonus people can be soooooo ignorant.
Show threadDr. ZekeNov 22, 2022
@zhivi 🔥
Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@ZekeMD thanks. Have you had any experience or heard stories
Show threadDr. ZekeNov 22, 2022

@zhivi
Fortunately, no. I remember reading about this a bit when I was younger, but I hadn't thought about it in awhile.

Just very glad you are sharing this relevant part of American society along with your other excellent toots.

Show threadKevin MakiceNov 22, 2022

@zhivi I grew up in McHenry County, IL. Specifically Woodstock, where the almost complete absence of a Black community probably avoided any codification of Sundown rules. Many off the key stops on the route to Chicago from there, however, is on that list.

Media portrayal and American Dream jingoism filled the information gap, and it wasn’t until much later in life, starting in New Orleans and mostly through Twitter, did I start unlearning how much I had wrong.

Show threadzhiviNov 22, 2022
@kmakice as long as you learned it. What is jingoism? It's amazing what we learn when we are exposed to the truth.
Show threadKevin MakiceNov 22, 2022

@zhivi jingoism is extreme patriotism. I remember a lot of that, and the “if you work hard enough, you will succeed” mantras that were never true. Believing that, however, implies that failure is due to laziness.

Unlearning is a lifelong practice.