Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism,   ISBN:9780743294485

Customer Rating: 

It seems like he took every other scholars work and wrapped it up in a book. It would have been better if he gave the reader so first hand knowledge. The author seemed to want to be the story. Wasted my money on this book, it sucked.

Customer Rating: 

This history needs to be known. I grew up in a town in Illinois which was highly prejudiced; though there were no signs, everyone knew African-Americans stayed south of the railroad tracks after dark. I began reading about towns I'm familiar with. And I was shocked! There is little to no actual research involved at all! The author simply takes some unidentified person's comment and reports it as fact! I checked a number of towns, both those known to me and those unknown, and the majority of them were treated in the same way! "Someone said..." No respected historian would give a moment's credibility to this author! And that is a shame. There have been "Sundown Towns," but now most readers will shrug off such things because this "authority" is so obviously unreliable. Yes, this history needs to be known, but this author has blown it big time!

Customer Rating: 

We recently had Dr. Loewen as a guest for an online meeting of the Everyday Democracy Book Club. It was interesting to hear whether he feels his book has made much of a difference (he doesn't, yet) and what needs to happen to overcome the legacy of Sundown Towns. Here's his prescription and a link to the conversation.
http://democracyspace.typepad.com/democracyspaceorg/2008/07/three-steps-tow.html

Customer Rating: 

I tried very hard to get into this book, but had to put it down after 50 pages or so. I appreciate the scholarship, but Loewen's book reads like a MA or PhD thesis. Very dry.

The author spends inordinate amounts of ink explaining how he's going to break down the topic of whites-only towns. If I had a dollar for every time he uses the term "sundown town" in just 50 pages, I could fill up my gas tank for the next six months. I get it! The book's about Sundown Towns! You don't have to say this over and over. Even this might have been manageable if he just got to the point rather than taking so much time detailing how information will be presented in the rest of the book.

I knew I was really in trouble when Loewen referred to the section of photos as the "Portfolio." The whole package is way too dry and academic for my tastes.

As an alternative, I suggest Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America. Here, the author comes right to the point. He's by a print journalist, so this is a very readable book on the same topic. Save your money and get this one.

Customer Rating: 

First off, thank you to Professor Loewen for his painstaking research. Biased or not he backs up his information and makes you think as long as your mind is open and willing to absorb.

I'm an African-American, 37, grew up in a all-black neighborhood, but it wasn't always that way. I remember and have pictures of when I was 4 or 5, my next door neighbors were white and at least half of my block had white families. My brother and sister are 9 and 10 years older than me and they remember when the neighborhood was predominately white. They as well as I went to a Catholic school for grade school. They told me stories of racial slurs yelled towards them while walking together to school, but ten years later I never heard any. They had white classmates, I did not. At least not until I went to a different school starting in 5th grade, a predominately white school(about 95%). Believe me, I'll get to my point

While in this mostly black Catholic school I received all A's all the way up until 4th grade. In the 4th grade I received my first B. My father subsequently lost his mind and took me out of the school at the end of the year. He told me he was placing me in a mostly white private school. I really didn't think anything of it until I took the test for admission and barely passed. The admissions office told me I needed to attend summer school just to be admitted in the 5th grade or else I would have had to repeat 4th grade. WHAT THE !@#$. I got all A's, get 1 B in the 4th grade and I may have to repeat? Was this white suburban private school that much tougher than my black, city Catholic school? Well anyway I went to summer school and attended 5th grade but never got all A's ever again. It wasn't for lack of effort, it was because I never had the foundation for learning or skill set for that matter. I grew up in Philadelphia. The public school system has always been a mess. My father thought Catholic school was a step up. It was until he realized in order for me to have a chance I needed to be challenged and make connections.

These white kids parents had loot. Big houses, big cars, prestigious jobs etc. They mostly came from the suburbs, areas not to far from me but not areas where black folks lived. I never knew why until I grew up. I made friends quickly, even spent the night at their houses. I remember the odd looks I received in their neighborhoods from kids who had never seen a black face up close. No one ever called me any names but I did feel tension. One of my white friends even came to my neighborhood and spent the night. He never complained but I could tell he was a tad uncomfortable. Any way the value of schooling with the majority cannot be overstated. I learned how to deal with the upper class white majority something my neighborhood friends never did because they were not exposed.

Fast forward, today I own a DJ/Wedding business and 95% of my customers are white. I know some of my potential customers see color and would never hire a black DJ for a white wedding. then again some do not and hire me. I feel the stares at all my weddings when the crowd walks in, I'm dressed in a tux and people ask me where are their seats, like Im waiting on tables. I tell them I'm the DJ and I'm not sure where they're sitting and this blank stare lasts for about 3 seconds and they just walk away. It's funny but it's not. But by the end of the night it's all good.

I say all this because this book answers a ton of my own personal questions about race relations, things I've heard from family, things I've experienced and why things(neighborhoods) are the way they are. I have been very fortunate but most African-Americans have not been afforded the opportunities I have. Then again my post could have been entirely different had I grown up in an area that was not a racially tolerant as Philly, and Philly has it's own racial issues. I have no hatred of white folks, I was taught well. I would hope this book teaches and makes all races understand what we(Americans)are up against as a society. Open your minds.