Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism (91 page)
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Authors: James W. Loewen
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9
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
149–50, 272–73.
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
149–50, 272–73.
10
Ellen James Martin, “Set Some Priorities When Buying in a Classy Community,” Universal Press Syndicate, in
Chicago Tribune,
9/14/2001.
Ellen James Martin, “Set Some Priorities When Buying in a Classy Community,” Universal Press Syndicate, in
Chicago Tribune,
9/14/2001.
11
Thomas Pettigrew, “Attitudes on Race and Housing,” in Amos Hawley and Vincent Rock, eds.,
Segregation in Residential Areas
(Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1973), 38; Andrew Hacker, “Sociology and Ideology,” in Max Black, ed.,
The Social Theories of Talcott Parsons
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1961), 289; Stephen G. Meyer,
As Long as They Don’t Move Next Door
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), 1.
Thomas Pettigrew, “Attitudes on Race and Housing,” in Amos Hawley and Vincent Rock, eds.,
Segregation in Residential Areas
(Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences, 1973), 38; Andrew Hacker, “Sociology and Ideology,” in Max Black, ed.,
The Social Theories of Talcott Parsons
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1961), 289; Stephen G. Meyer,
As Long as They Don’t Move Next Door
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), 1.
12
Other similar suburbs include Stamford, Connecticut; Montclair and Orange, New Jersey; New Rochelle and Mt. Vernon, New York; Coral Gables, Florida; Webster Groves, Missouri, and Pasadena, California.
Other similar suburbs include Stamford, Connecticut; Montclair and Orange, New Jersey; New Rochelle and Mt. Vernon, New York; Coral Gables, Florida; Webster Groves, Missouri, and Pasadena, California.
13
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
100–1,241.
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
100–1,241.
14
Bernard Nelson,
The Fourteenth Amendment and the Negro Since 1920
(New York: Russell & Russell, 1946), 23–24; Colleen Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth
(Kenilworth: Kenilworth Historical Society, 1990), 138, 143, her italics.
Bernard Nelson,
The Fourteenth Amendment and the Negro Since 1920
(New York: Russell & Russell, 1946), 23–24; Colleen Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth
(Kenilworth: Kenilworth Historical Society, 1990), 138, 143, her italics.
15
Newlands, senator from Nevada, honed his racism as a leader of anti-Chinese sentiment there. In 1909, he wrote “Race tolerance . . . means race amalgamation, and this is undesirable” and argued that the United States “should prevent the immigration of all people other than those of the white race.” Quoted in Loren B. Chan, “The Chinese in Nevada,” in Arif Dirlik, ed.,
Chinese on the American Frontier
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 88–89.
Newlands, senator from Nevada, honed his racism as a leader of anti-Chinese sentiment there. In 1909, he wrote “Race tolerance . . . means race amalgamation, and this is undesirable” and argued that the United States “should prevent the immigration of all people other than those of the white race.” Quoted in Loren B. Chan, “The Chinese in Nevada,” in Arif Dirlik, ed.,
Chinese on the American Frontier
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), 88–89.
16
Not all of those 18 may have been black; some may be nonblacks in an interracial family. In all, Chevy Chase had 42 African Americans, but that total includes live-in maids and gardeners. The census also showed 20 mixed-race persons who listed “black” or “African American” among their component identities, hard to classify, since the census does not reveal how they identified. Some may be mixed-race children adopted by white couples. I summed the four entities that collectively make up Chevy Chase: Chevy Chase (town), Chevy Chase Section Three, Chevy Chase Section Five, and Chevy Chase Village.
Not all of those 18 may have been black; some may be nonblacks in an interracial family. In all, Chevy Chase had 42 African Americans, but that total includes live-in maids and gardeners. The census also showed 20 mixed-race persons who listed “black” or “African American” among their component identities, hard to classify, since the census does not reveal how they identified. Some may be mixed-race children adopted by white couples. I summed the four entities that collectively make up Chevy Chase: Chevy Chase (town), Chevy Chase Section Three, Chevy Chase Section Five, and Chevy Chase Village.
17
Marc Fisher, “Chevy Chase, 1916: For Everyman, a New Lot in Life,”
Washington Post,
2/15/1999;
washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/2000/chevychase0215.htm
, 1/2003.
Marc Fisher, “Chevy Chase, 1916: For Everyman, a New Lot in Life,”
Washington Post,
2/15/1999;
washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/2000/chevychase0215.htm
, 1/2003.
18
Fisher, “Chevy Chase, 1916.”
Fisher, “Chevy Chase, 1916.”
19
Mt. Auburn Cemetery web site,
mountauburn.org/history.htm
, 8,2004.
Mt. Auburn Cemetery web site,
mountauburn.org/history.htm
, 8,2004.
20
Unlike sundown suburbs, sundown cemeteries rarely forced out existing black “residents.”
Unlike sundown suburbs, sundown cemeteries rarely forced out existing black “residents.”
21
“Denial by Cemetery Company of Burial Space for Colored Person, Held Not to Be Violation of a Civil Right,” 258 IL 36, in Illinois State Archives.
“Denial by Cemetery Company of Burial Space for Colored Person, Held Not to Be Violation of a Civil Right,” 258 IL 36, in Illinois State Archives.
22
David Charles Sloane,
The Last Great Necessity
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 188, 268.
David Charles Sloane,
The Last Great Necessity
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 188, 268.
23
Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth;
Michael Ebner,
Creating Chicago’s North Shore
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 230, 314; Harry Rubenstein, 9/2000; “Housing: How High the Barriers,”
ADL Bulletin
16, 1 (1959): 2.
Kilner,
Joseph Sears and His Kenilworth;
Michael Ebner,
Creating Chicago’s North Shore
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 230, 314; Harry Rubenstein, 9/2000; “Housing: How High the Barriers,”
ADL Bulletin
16, 1 (1959): 2.
24
The Ku Klux Klan did target Jews and Catholics verbally in independent sundown towns in the mid-1920s, but rarely did they actually drive them out or keep them out.
The Ku Klux Klan did target Jews and Catholics verbally in independent sundown towns in the mid-1920s, but rarely did they actually drive them out or keep them out.
25
Grosse Pointe did not completely bar Jews but required them to amass more points on Grosse Pointe’s notorious “point system” than any other permitted group. See pages 262–64.
Grosse Pointe did not completely bar Jews but required them to amass more points on Grosse Pointe’s notorious “point system” than any other permitted group. See pages 262–64.
26
I don’t think many whites really believed Jews were genetically less intelligent. The attacks on Jews, whether by Nazis in Europe or by real estate developers in the United States, were more subtle than those on African Americans. Jews were considered “crafty” rather than intelligent—a distinction wholly in the mind of the beholder.
I don’t think many whites really believed Jews were genetically less intelligent. The attacks on Jews, whether by Nazis in Europe or by real estate developers in the United States, were more subtle than those on African Americans. Jews were considered “crafty” rather than intelligent—a distinction wholly in the mind of the beholder.
27
Some are listed at
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown
.
Some are listed at
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown
.
28
We shall see in the next chapter that this perception has some validity.
We shall see in the next chapter that this perception has some validity.
29
Laura Z. Hobson,
Gentleman’s Agreement
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1947); “Housing Discrimination Against Jews,”
ADL Reports
2, 5 (1959), 41; Graham Hutton,
Midwest at Noon
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1946), 48; Mary Ellen Stratthaus, “Flaw in the Jewel: Housing Discrimination Against Jews in La Jolla, California,”
American Jewish History
84,3 (1996): 190.
Laura Z. Hobson,
Gentleman’s Agreement
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1947); “Housing Discrimination Against Jews,”
ADL Reports
2, 5 (1959), 41; Graham Hutton,
Midwest at Noon
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1946), 48; Mary Ellen Stratthaus, “Flaw in the Jewel: Housing Discrimination Against Jews in La Jolla, California,”
American Jewish History
84,3 (1996): 190.
30
Memorandum on Specific Methods for Promoting Good Will Among Racial Groups in Illinois
(Illinois Interracial Commission, 1943), #4, 2; Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
241; Levitt & Sons, ad taken out after murder of Martin Luther King Jr., 4/1968, in exhibit, “Levittown,” Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg, 11/2002; Geoffrey Mohan writing in
Newsday,
quoted by Kevin Schultz, e-mail, 6/2002.
Memorandum on Specific Methods for Promoting Good Will Among Racial Groups in Illinois
(Illinois Interracial Commission, 1943), #4, 2; Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
241; Levitt & Sons, ad taken out after murder of Martin Luther King Jr., 4/1968, in exhibit, “Levittown,” Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg, 11/2002; Geoffrey Mohan writing in
Newsday,
quoted by Kevin Schultz, e-mail, 6/2002.
31
Donald Cunnigen, “Myrdal, Park, and Second Generation African American Sociologists,” in Bruce Hare, ed.,
2001 Race Odyssey
(Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 42; Arnold Hirsch,
Making the Second Ghetto
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 63; James Hecht,
Because It Is Right
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1970), 8.
Donald Cunnigen, “Myrdal, Park, and Second Generation African American Sociologists,” in Bruce Hare, ed.,
2001 Race Odyssey
(Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 42; Arnold Hirsch,
Making the Second Ghetto
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 63; James Hecht,
Because It Is Right
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1970), 8.
32
Thomas Sugrue,
Origins of the Urban Crisis
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 43; Jack Star, “Negro in the Suburbs,”
Look,
5/16/1967; Brian Berry et al.,
Chicago
(Cambridge: Ballinger, 1976), 30; Troy Duster, “The ‘Morphing’ Properties of Whitness,” in Birgit Rasmussen et al., eds.,
The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2001), 119; Mike Davis,
City of Quartz
(London: Verso, 1990), 167.
Thomas Sugrue,
Origins of the Urban Crisis
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 43; Jack Star, “Negro in the Suburbs,”
Look,
5/16/1967; Brian Berry et al.,
Chicago
(Cambridge: Ballinger, 1976), 30; Troy Duster, “The ‘Morphing’ Properties of Whitness,” in Birgit Rasmussen et al., eds.,
The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2001), 119; Mike Davis,
City of Quartz
(London: Verso, 1990), 167.
33
Abrams quoted by Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
214, cf. 208, 213, 229–43; Lawrence J. Vale,
From the Puritans to the Projects
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 169–70; Lockwood quoted in Newman,
Protest, Politics, and Prosperity,
163.
Abrams quoted by Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
214, cf. 208, 213, 229–43; Lawrence J. Vale,
From the Puritans to the Projects
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 169–70; Lockwood quoted in Newman,
Protest, Politics, and Prosperity,
163.
34
W. A. Low and V. A. Clift, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Black America
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981), 449; “Outline of Protective Covenants for Mayfair Park,” supplied by Elise Guyette, 4/2003.
W. A. Low and V. A. Clift, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Black America
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981), 449; “Outline of Protective Covenants for Mayfair Park,” supplied by Elise Guyette, 4/2003.
35
Palen,
The Suburbs,
58; Cohen,
A Consumers’ Republic,
196; Nancy A. Denton, “Segregation and Discrimination in Housing,” in Rachel Bratt, Chester Hartman, and Michael E. Stone, eds., reader on housing (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, forthcoming), ms. pp. 23–24; cf. Thomas W. Hanchett, “The Other ‘Subsidized Housing,’ ” in John Bauman et al.,
From Tenements to the Taylor Homes
(University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2000), 166.
Palen,
The Suburbs,
58; Cohen,
A Consumers’ Republic,
196; Nancy A. Denton, “Segregation and Discrimination in Housing,” in Rachel Bratt, Chester Hartman, and Michael E. Stone, eds., reader on housing (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, forthcoming), ms. pp. 23–24; cf. Thomas W. Hanchett, “The Other ‘Subsidized Housing,’ ” in John Bauman et al.,
From Tenements to the Taylor Homes
(University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2000), 166.
36
Low and Clift, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Black America,
451–52.
Low and Clift, eds.,
Encyclopedia of Black America,
451–52.
37
The first and fourth chapters of
Because It Is Right
by James Hecht bring to life the process by which white suburbs ignored 1968 and stayed overwhelmingly white through the 1970s (and some to this day), with examples of African Americans who could not buy even though they were doctors, lawyers, or famous professional athletes.
The first and fourth chapters of
Because It Is Right
by James Hecht bring to life the process by which white suburbs ignored 1968 and stayed overwhelmingly white through the 1970s (and some to this day), with examples of African Americans who could not buy even though they were doctors, lawyers, or famous professional athletes.
38
Douglas Massey, talk at the Fund for an Open Society (OPEN), Philadelphia, 12/2000; Michael N. Danielson,
The Politics of Exclusion
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), 12; David M.P. Freund,
Colored Property,
15, typescript, 2001; cf. Hecht,
Because It Is Right,
chapters 1 and 4.
Douglas Massey, talk at the Fund for an Open Society (OPEN), Philadelphia, 12/2000; Michael N. Danielson,
The Politics of Exclusion
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), 12; David M.P. Freund,
Colored Property,
15, typescript, 2001; cf. Hecht,
Because It Is Right,
chapters 1 and 4.
39
Western shore native, e-mail, 11/2002; state worker, 9/2002.
Western shore native, e-mail, 11/2002; state worker, 9/2002.
40
Margery Turner et al.,
All Other Things Being Equal
(Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2002), executive summary, i-v; Shanna Smith, in panel discussion, “A Foot in the Door? New Evidence on Housing Discrimination,” Urban Institute, Washington, DC, 2/4/2003.
Margery Turner et al.,
All Other Things Being Equal
(Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2002), executive summary, i-v; Shanna Smith, in panel discussion, “A Foot in the Door? New Evidence on Housing Discrimination,” Urban Institute, Washington, DC, 2/4/2003.
41
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
283. By 1990, most of Baltimore’s sundown suburbs had relented, and the proportion of African Americans in Baltimore and Baltimore County (not quite the same as the metropolitan area) who lived in Baltimore County was 16.4%; by 2000, it was 26.6%.
Jackson,
Crabgrass Frontier,
283. By 1990, most of Baltimore’s sundown suburbs had relented, and the proportion of African Americans in Baltimore and Baltimore County (not quite the same as the metropolitan area) who lived in Baltimore County was 16.4%; by 2000, it was 26.6%.
42
For a list, see
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
.
For a list, see
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown/
.
43
Harold M. Rose,
Black Suburbanization
(Cambridge: Ballinger, 1976), 5, 7, 9, 29, 31, 47–48, 84, 158.
Harold M. Rose,
Black Suburbanization
(Cambridge: Ballinger, 1976), 5, 7, 9, 29, 31, 47–48, 84, 158.
44
Michael Powell, “Separate and Unequal in Roosevelt, Long Island,”
Washington Post,
4/21/2002; Joe T. Darden, “African American Residential Segregation,” in Robert D. Bullard et al.,
Residential Apartheid
(Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Afro-American Studies, 1994), 88–89.
Michael Powell, “Separate and Unequal in Roosevelt, Long Island,”
Washington Post,
4/21/2002; Joe T. Darden, “African American Residential Segregation,” in Robert D. Bullard et al.,
Residential Apartheid
(Los Angeles: UCLA Center for Afro-American Studies, 1994), 88–89.
45
Camilo Jose Vergara,
American Ruins
(New York: Monacelli, 1999), 92; Danielson,
The Politics of Exclusion,
8–9; Arthur Hayes, “Managed Integration,”
Black Enterprise,
7/1982, 44; Meyer,
As Long as They Don’t Move Next Door,
217.
Camilo Jose Vergara,
American Ruins
(New York: Monacelli, 1999), 92; Danielson,
The Politics of Exclusion,
8–9; Arthur Hayes, “Managed Integration,”
Black Enterprise,
7/1982, 44; Meyer,
As Long as They Don’t Move Next Door,
217.
46
Jeff R. Crump, “Producing and Enforcing the Geography of Hate,” in Colin Flint, ed.,
Spaces of Hate
(New York: Routledge, 2003), 227.
CHAPTER 6: UNDERLYING CAUSESJeff R. Crump, “Producing and Enforcing the Geography of Hate,” in Colin Flint, ed.,
Spaces of Hate
(New York: Routledge, 2003), 227.
1
John C. Boger, “Toward Ending Residential Segregation: A Fair Share Proposal for the Next Reconstruction,”
North Carolina Law Review
71 (1993): 1576.
John C. Boger, “Toward Ending Residential Segregation: A Fair Share Proposal for the Next Reconstruction,”
North Carolina Law Review
71 (1993): 1576.
2
My web site,
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown
, lists these towns.
My web site,
uvm.edu/~jloewen/sundown
, lists these towns.
3
Therefore I use “all-white” to refer to towns that admit Asian, Native, and Mexican Americans, while barring African Americans.
Therefore I use “all-white” to refer to towns that admit Asian, Native, and Mexican Americans, while barring African Americans.
4
John Ogbu,
Minority Education and Caste
(New York: Academic Press, 1978).
John Ogbu,
Minority Education and Caste
(New York: Academic Press, 1978).
5
Jews and Mexicans
are
“white,” of course, by the definitions of 2005. Jews weren’t exactly, between 1900 and about 1950, and Mexicans weren’t exactly, between 1930 and about 1970. Later chapters comment on this issue.
Jews and Mexicans
are
“white,” of course, by the definitions of 2005. Jews weren’t exactly, between 1900 and about 1950, and Mexicans weren’t exactly, between 1930 and about 1970. Later chapters comment on this issue.
6
“His Flight to Save Prisoner,”
Carbondale Daily Free Press,
11/13/1909; Darrel Dexter,
A House Divided: Union County, Illinois
(Anna: Reppert, 1994), 73–75.
“His Flight to Save Prisoner,”
Carbondale Daily Free Press,
11/13/1909; Darrel Dexter,
A House Divided: Union County, Illinois
(Anna: Reppert, 1994), 73–75.
7
Dexter,
House Divided,
75.
Dexter,
House Divided,
75.
8
Jerry Poling,
A Summer Up North
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 10.
Jerry Poling,
A Summer Up North
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2002), 10.
9
Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute web site,
campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/Kyv.htm
, 10/2004; Robert Parker, “Robert Parker Discusses Afro-Americans in Boulder City,” interview with Dennis McBride, 11/9/1986, Banyan Library web site,
banyan.library.unlv.edu/cgi-bin/htmldesc.exe?CISOROOT=/Hoover_Dam&CISOPTR=56&CISOMODE=1
, 11/2004; “A Northern City ‘Sitting on Lid’ of Racial Trouble,”
US News & World Report,
5/11/1956, 38–40; Michigan Advisory Committee on Civil Rights,
Civil Rights and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, v. I: Livonia
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1975), 6; George Hunter, “Booming City Has Home to Fit Every Need, Price Range,”
Detroit News,
2/2/97.
Forrest C. Pogue Public History Institute web site,
campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/Bill.Mulligan/Kyv.htm
, 10/2004; Robert Parker, “Robert Parker Discusses Afro-Americans in Boulder City,” interview with Dennis McBride, 11/9/1986, Banyan Library web site,
banyan.library.unlv.edu/cgi-bin/htmldesc.exe?CISOROOT=/Hoover_Dam&CISOPTR=56&CISOMODE=1
, 11/2004; “A Northern City ‘Sitting on Lid’ of Racial Trouble,”
US News & World Report,
5/11/1956, 38–40; Michigan Advisory Committee on Civil Rights,
Civil Rights and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, v. I: Livonia
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1975), 6; George Hunter, “Booming City Has Home to Fit Every Need, Price Range,”
Detroit News,
2/2/97.
10
Chairman, Illinois Inter-Racial Commission, 11/19/1943, minutes in Illinois State Archives.
Chairman, Illinois Inter-Racial Commission, 11/19/1943, minutes in Illinois State Archives.
11
Sociologist Gordon Morgan suggests that African Americans left some Ozark counties in the early decades of the twentieth century because they lacked the critical mass necessary to maintain community. This is an aspect of social isolation and at first blush seems reasonable. In
The Mississippi Chinese
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), I myself wrote, “There will come a time of ‘critical mass,’ when a Chinese community in any sense of the word will prove unmaintainable,” and went on to predict a rapid drop in the population of Chinese Americans in the Mississippi Delta. The prediction came true after 1975. But the Chinese case was different: economic and educational upward mobility led to geographic mobility for their children, while at the same time, the end of racial segregation in Mississippi eliminated the peculiar niche for Chinese Americans as a middleman minority, leaving no particular reason for new immigrants to enter the Delta.
Sociologist Gordon Morgan suggests that African Americans left some Ozark counties in the early decades of the twentieth century because they lacked the critical mass necessary to maintain community. This is an aspect of social isolation and at first blush seems reasonable. In
The Mississippi Chinese
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), I myself wrote, “There will come a time of ‘critical mass,’ when a Chinese community in any sense of the word will prove unmaintainable,” and went on to predict a rapid drop in the population of Chinese Americans in the Mississippi Delta. The prediction came true after 1975. But the Chinese case was different: economic and educational upward mobility led to geographic mobility for their children, while at the same time, the end of racial segregation in Mississippi eliminated the peculiar niche for Chinese Americans as a middleman minority, leaving no particular reason for new immigrants to enter the Delta.
To be sure, when the African American population falls below a minimum, it becomes difficult to date or marry another African American or support a black church. Until Missouri’s schools desegregated (well after 1954), fifteen African American children were required before a school district had to provide a “colored school,” and eight of high-school age before it had to provide a high school. In the absence of a school for their children, some parents will certainly move. Morgan’s hypothesis doubtless explains why some African Americans left, especially families with children seeking marriage mates. He believes it explains Huntsville, Arkansas, which had 15 blacks in 1940 and just 1 in 1950, and it may.
Critical mass also helps explain the departure of most of the remaining African Americans from Maryville, Missouri, after the 1931 lynching described in Chapter 7. Most blacks fled immediately, and enrollment at the “colored school” fell from sixteen students to six. Two years later it closed entirely, causing the black population of Nodaway County to decline still further. But the root cause of Nodaway as a sundown county remains the lynching and subsequent threats to the black community, not critical mass. (See Patrick Huber and Gary Kremer, “A Death in the Heartland,” presented at Missouri Conference on History, St. Louis, 3/1994, 10.) Similarly, critical mass theory does not explain why black newcomers no longer entered counties across America after 1890, as they had earlier. If numbers alone could explain why a group leaves an area, then no new group would ever enter unless they could do so en masse.
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