Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of Segregation in America »

James W. Loewen is the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me (with combined hardcover and paperback sales of 600,000) and Lies Across America, both from The New Press, among many other books and articles. He is a regular contributor to the History Channel's History magazine. He is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Vermont and lives in Washington, D.C.

Loewen (emeritus, sociology, U. of Vermont) exposes the history and persistence of "sundown towns," so-named for the signs often found at their corporate limits warning African Americans and other minorities not to be found in the town after dusk. He historically situates the rise of the sundown town movement in the years following the Civil War; describes the mechanisms of violence, threats, law, and policy that were used to force minorities out of Northern and Western towns into the big cities; and charts the continued existence of such communities. In considering the sociology of sundown towns he investigates the causes that underlie the existence of sundown towns and discusses why the phenomena has remained largely hidden. The social costs of sundown towns on whites, blacks, and the social system are then detailed and recommendations for fixing this blight on the body politic are proffered. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The Washington Post - Laura Wexler

… for its meticulous research and passionate chronicling of the complex and often shocking history of whites-only communities, Sundown Towns deserves to become an instant classic in the fields of American race relations, urban studies and cultural geography. After reading it, you'll view your own community, and the whole of the American landscape, more suspiciously -- and rightly so.