Sundown Towns: The Hidden Danger of Travel in California

Has the Tourism Industry Forgotten About Sundown Towns?

In the past few months, several news outlets and influencers alike have been hyping “quaint” little Gold Rush towns complete with kitschy miner gear and creepy-but-aesthetic saloons. But they’re not including some essential context: California is full of “sundown towns.”

Sundown towns are places where it isn’t safe to be after sunset, particularly for Black people and people of color. They dot the quilt of America, marking our unavoidably horrific past. You can find a map of suspected and likely sundown towns, but it isn’t guaranteed to be complete. 

While some travelers might brush this off and assume that it’s a bygone thing, the reality is that this country still has dangerous pockets where white supremacy is fully on display in addition to being covertly threaded throughout our founding documents and governing practices. Keep in mind that even if a town doesn’t formally have any discriminatory laws on the books or a Klan chapter in the county, the townspeople (especially police encharged with motorist monitoring) might still carry strong internal biases that could endanger a traveler.

Still Traveling

Travelers who are Black or Asian still get out there. We spoke with a few who describe the precautions they have to take.

“I love sightseeing and visiting all the instagrammable spots,” explains content creator Neena P. (@neenaevangelista on social media). “ I can’t let fear hold me back from exploration.” She learned more about sundown towns when she attended an HBCU and noted that there are several movies and books “that highlight the African American struggle to travel or seemingly escape racism/classism in the south.”

In the 1940s, a series called the Green Book helped Black and African American travelers plan routes to visit family, take in the sights, and avoid the imposed curfew. 

Safety First

One Black woman who travels but requested anonymity for safety shared, “My family and I did limited road trips growing up, in part because of this risk. As an adult, I have done limited road trips but I make it a rule to not stray from ‘the plan.’” She explained that this often meant adjusting routes and planning ahead, even avoiding stops. “I always drive straight through from Houston to New Orleans because there are sundown towns along the way. This means I’m accustomed to driving for 6 hours without a break to have a stronger feeling of safety.” 

“I’ve passed through many sundown towns since I’ve moved from the East Coast to the West Coast several times,” Neena explains. “I can assure you the terror of passing through the mountains of West Virginia isn’t for the faint of heart. Rows of wooden shacks, rusty pickups in heavily wooded areas with every single one hanging a confederate flag felt like terrorism and my own personal hell.”

Neena documents her experiences for lifestyle blogs, which are colorful and relaxing. But there’s the omnipresent fear she has to compartmentalize when making content. “My thought is always, ‘If we have an emergency we will rot in this car because we aren’t supposed to be around here after dark,’ especially since we don’t have cell phone service in these areas.”

“I wish non-black counterparts could experience blackness from a 1st person POV. W.E.B DuBois states that Black people have a double consciousness due to us existing in a world of anti-Blackness that non-Black people could never imagine or experience,” Neena explains. 

California, Too

California is not immune to the uniquely American racism that fueled everything from segregation to lynchings. The Red Book: Sundown Towns in California, has been mapped with Arc-GIS for better access. When travelers are encouraged to pop over to tiny towns in the Sierras without this important context, it could end badly. There’s a real risk to ignoring the recent past. 

“It’s infuriating,” Neena explains, “But I deserve to experience this life and world in a way that isn’t connected to fear of being harmed. I just try to stay mindful when traveling in specific areas – especially with my kid.”

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