The tl;dr is that there were laws, like vagrancy (i.e. not having a job), that were vague and applied to "everybody" but realistically only applied to black people through legal jiu jitsu and selective blindness on the part of police. Sundown towns are known as such for that behavior. They were (are) very unwelcoming if you're not white.
Oh wow, that's some nice and cozy sounding name for such an atrocity.
The name refers to "move on before sundown" - as in, if you're a minority and caught there after sundown, you'd be beaten or killed or both.
Oh, you poor soul.
Here's the wikipedia, if you wanna read.
And here's a video about the history of slavery and its after-effects that is kind of relevant.
The tl;dr is that there were laws, like vagrancy (i.e. not having a job), that were vague and applied to "everybody" but realistically only applied to black people through legal jiu jitsu and selective blindness on the part of police. Sundown towns are known as such for that behavior. They were (are) very unwelcoming if you're not white.
Oh wow, that's some nice and cozy sounding name for such an atrocity.
The name refers to "move on before sundown" - as in, if you're a minority and caught there after sundown, you'd be beaten or killed or both.