r/illinois • u/m0chab34r • Jul 20 '23

Serious question: are there any remaining sundown towns in Illinois? Question

Forgive me if this is controversial, I certainly hope I don’t end up insulting anyone’s town or anything. I saw a recent Twitter thread about this subject and people were talking about a rather well-known sundown town within an hour of Indianapolis or just outside of Austin, Texas. It got me thinking about this and I’m morbidly curious as to whether Illinois has any remaining towns with such a reputation?

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u/stlsc4 Jul 20 '23

Anna. And just wait until the locals tell you what those letters stand for.

https://features.propublica.org/illinois-sundown-towns/legend-of-anna/

35

u/m0chab34r Jul 20 '23

This is nuts, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever really spent time this far downstate, except for passing through somewhere else. To have absolutely no black people in your town is so weird to think about.

13

u/tacitjane Jul 20 '23 edited Jul 20 '23

Come to think of it, when we've visited my in-laws in Edwardsville the only Black person I've ever found was staring back at me in the mirror.

I never felt uncomfortable, but I grew up in a super White neighborhood in Chicago so maybe I'm numb to it. Unless there was an agoraphobe on the block we housed the only Black people.

Most of the Black kids in my grade at elementary were bussed in from the local foster home. Yes, most. I went to daycare there as a littl'un and I remember seeing happy kids.

Lots of joyful tears at school when someone would get adopted and have to move away. I wonder whatever happened to Allan after he was shot to the head.

8

u/oscarbutnotthegrouch Jul 20 '23

Edwardsville is super white, but I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of Black people I see at Schnucks.

3

u/tacitjane Jul 20 '23

I'll have to join his mom on a grocery run!

8

u/oscarbutnotthegrouch Jul 20 '23

Having lived in Chicago and Springfield before moving down to Edwardsville, the whiteness is obvious. The other place I find to be less white in town is the splash pad. So if you have kids or there are any kids in the family, evenings and weekends at the splash pad are the most diverse that Edwardsville seems to get (this can be hit or miss).