The Excerpt
Posted by Skrybe | Posted in Epic battles, Good ole times, Hate, I know Black people, inequality, Racial tension, The Excerpt, this just might be useful, tradition, Use of wiki encouraged | Posted on 07:53
So I've decided to start posting up bits of various sources and fun stuff that I'm reading from time to time. Hopefully someone will consider them enjoyable, or hey, maybe they'll even provoke some type of thought process. Who knows. Who cares. It's fun to share it with the world. If you don't feel like reading it all, key sentences are in bold print.
As usual I'm currently reading something that has to do with race relations in America. It's called "Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism." It's all about the (apparently large) number of towns that existed in America between 1920 to the 1980's and as late as 2000. There's lots of fact-checking and lots of firsthand accounts in this book, which is definitely needed for the subject matter. In this particular section of the book, the author discusses exactly why the hell he even decided to bring thissupposedly arguably non-issue to light. And that's something that I think every author of controversial subject matter should write about.
The Excerpt:
"Since 1969, I have been studying how Americans remember their past, especially their racial past. Sometimes audiences or readers ask, "Why do you insist on dredging up the abominations in our past?" About sundown towns in particular, some people have suggested that we might all be happier and better off not knowing about them. "Why focus on that?" asked an old African American man in Colp, in southern Illinois, in 2001, when he learned I was studying the sundown towns that surrounded Colp in every direction. "That's done with."
I thought about his suggestion seriously. After all, during the 1980s and 1990s, many communities relaxed their prohibitions and accepted at least one or two black families, sometimes many more. But I concluded there were several reasons why the sad story of sundown towns should not be kept out of view.
First - and most basically - it happened. Our country did do that. Surely the fact that since about 1890, thousands of towns across the United States kept out African Americans, while others excluded Jewish, Chinese, Japanese, Native, or Mexican Americans, is worth knowing. So is the panoply of methods whites employed to accomplish this end. I hope this book prompts readers to question all-white communities everywhere, rather than take them for granted. Whenever the census shows that a town or county has been all-white or overwhelmingly white for decades, we do well to investigate further, since across the nation, most all-white towns were that way intentionally. Telling the truth about them is the right thing to do.
It is also true that the powers that be don't want us to learn about their policy of exclusion and have sometimes tried to suppress the knowledge. The truth about sundown towns implicates the powers that be. The role played by governments regarding race relations can hardly be characterized as benign or even race-neutral. From the towns that passed sundown ordinances, to the county sheriffs who escorted black would-be residents back across the county line, to the states that passed laws enabling municipalities to zone out "undesirables," to the federal government - whose lending and insuring policies from the 1930s to the 1960s required sundown neighborhoods and suburbs - 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?
I must say, I completely agree. It's what I've been trying to explain to people for years - the specific answer that I gave to one of my bosses when asked very specifically why I bring up topics such as this. If no one ever talks about things like this, how and when would we ever deal with it? The number one reason why our nation can't get past our racially unjust history is because we refuse to acknowledge both our flaws and simply our differences. Once we've achieved acknowledgment, then we can move on to understanding. Understanding (hopefully) leads to acceptance; acceptance leads to celebration of our beautifully multicultural world. And who doesn't love to celebrate?
As usual I'm currently reading something that has to do with race relations in America. It's called "Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism." It's all about the (apparently large) number of towns that existed in America between 1920 to the 1980's and as late as 2000. There's lots of fact-checking and lots of firsthand accounts in this book, which is definitely needed for the subject matter. In this particular section of the book, the author discusses exactly why the hell he even decided to bring this
The Excerpt:
"Since 1969, I have been studying how Americans remember their past, especially their racial past. Sometimes audiences or readers ask, "Why do you insist on dredging up the abominations in our past?" About sundown towns in particular, some people have suggested that we might all be happier and better off not knowing about them. "Why focus on that?" asked an old African American man in Colp, in southern Illinois, in 2001, when he learned I was studying the sundown towns that surrounded Colp in every direction. "That's done with."
I thought about his suggestion seriously. After all, during the 1980s and 1990s, many communities relaxed their prohibitions and accepted at least one or two black families, sometimes many more. But I concluded there were several reasons why the sad story of sundown towns should not be kept out of view.
First - and most basically - it happened. Our country did do that. Surely the fact that since about 1890, thousands of towns across the United States kept out African Americans, while others excluded Jewish, Chinese, Japanese, Native, or Mexican Americans, is worth knowing. So is the panoply of methods whites employed to accomplish this end. I hope this book prompts readers to question all-white communities everywhere, rather than take them for granted. Whenever the census shows that a town or county has been all-white or overwhelmingly white for decades, we do well to investigate further, since across the nation, most all-white towns were that way intentionally. Telling the truth about them is the right thing to do.
It is also true that the powers that be don't want us to learn about their policy of exclusion and have sometimes tried to suppress the knowledge. The truth about sundown towns implicates the powers that be. The role played by governments regarding race relations can hardly be characterized as benign or even race-neutral. From the towns that passed sundown ordinances, to the county sheriffs who escorted black would-be residents back across the county line, to the states that passed laws enabling municipalities to zone out "undesirables," to the federal government - whose lending and insuring policies from the 1930s to the 1960s required sundown neighborhoods and suburbs - 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 Loewen
I must say, I completely agree. It's what I've been trying to explain to people for years - the specific answer that I gave to one of my bosses when asked very specifically why I bring up topics such as this. If no one ever talks about things like this, how and when would we ever deal with it? The number one reason why our nation can't get past our racially unjust history is because we refuse to acknowledge both our flaws and simply our differences. Once we've achieved acknowledgment, then we can move on to understanding. Understanding (hopefully) leads to acceptance; acceptance leads to celebration of our beautifully multicultural world. And who doesn't love to celebrate?
These towns still exist. Remember that guy that roomed with us in C TSB in Jackson from Illinois? On the entrance to his town it said "Don't let the sun shine on your back, N*****." *Knock* *Knock* New millennium here.
Discussions of our past inequities shouldn't stop. The former Yugoslavia is a case and point in this matter. At the point of a gun, Tito told his people that all the old quarrels were over and that they were all Yugoslavs. Well, once he died people started digging up the old drama. Century old drama!
As a counter point, I think some people over emphasize the race issue. Racial tension can't be the cause of all problems. I notice that it's a hell of a lot easier to blame the same thing for all problems than actually figure out what's going wrong.