sundown town

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English

Etymology

After signs posted at town entrances warning that “colored people” (among other terms) were required to leave town by sundown.

Noun

sundown town (plural sundown towns)

  1. A place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people, typically a certain race or ethnicity, from living there or remaining there after sundown, or, in some cases, from visiting during the day.
    Synonyms: sunset town, gray town, sundowner town
    • 1946 August 8, J. D. Stosz, “Jay Dee's Column”, in The Marysville Advocate‎, Marysville, Kansas, via Newspapers.com, page 11:
      Beattie is a sundown town for tramps since the fire.
    • 1957 November 11, Joseph Ator, “Firm Hand of the Law Stifles Nashville's Strife by Racial Segregation”, in Chicago Daily Tribune‎, via Newspapers.com, section 1, page 2:
      Cousin Paul said: "Of course, this is a sundown town [no Negro residents tolerated], but if Ike sends in the paratroopers, we can always integrate with the bears."
    • 1960, The National Conference and the reports of the State Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights‎, page 330:
      However, according to old-timers, there is a time-honored tradition extending back at least two generations that "this is a sundown town."
    • 1968 August 25, Doug Walker, “Integration Moving on Peaceful Feet”, in Dayton Daily News‎, Dayton, Ohio, via Newspapers.com, page 4-C:
      A dandy example is Fairborn, up until recent years a "Sundown Town" where community forces worked in concert to keep Negroes out.
    • 2016 July 11, Miller Jozwiak, “From 'Go Home' to 'Welcome Home' for local man”, in The Sheboygan Press‎, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, via Newspapers.com, pages 1A–2A:
      [James W.] Loewen compiled an online map allowing people to find out more about the racial history of their towns, identifying thousands of likely and confirmed sundown towns across the U.S.

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