Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

Sociologist James W. Loewen examines thousands of "sundown towns"—almost exclusively white towns where Black people were not welcome—that emerged throughout the twentieth century, primarily outside the South. Through analysis of American residential patterns, Loewen documents decades of hidden racial exclusion in America. The book won the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award and received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist. It sparked a nationwide online effort to identify and catalog sundown towns across the country. In a new preface, Loewen addresses current discussions of white supremacy and the Black Lives Matter movement. He notes that while the number of sundown towns has declined significantly, some exclusive all-white suburbs persist—such as Kenilworth, Illinois, which had no Black households as of 2010. Many former sundown towns are now integrated but face "second-generation sundown town issues," exemplified by Ferguson, Missouri, a former sundown town that became majority Black while maintaining a majority-white police force.