Based on past reading and research, I believe sundown towns were very common. However, that seems to be a very wish-washy website - each town I checked showed “possible” for being a sundown town. I looked at three where I lived before.Originally Posted by Dog Face Gremlin
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
I suspect that a lot of people's memories of the 50's came from the tv screen, not real events. It's not too dissimilar from thinking that the late 70's/ early 80's was a mix of Sesame Street, Mr. Rodgers and Saturday cartoons because that's what my life was back then- and that includes a lot of things like mom staying home, running around unsupervised, unlocked doors and so on... in Cocaine Wars era Florida. And I actually had family in 'the business' back then.
Memory is often tainted by pleasant nostalgia, and that gets worse with age.
"You win 100% of the fights you avoid. If you're not there when it happens, you don't lose." - William Aprill
"I've owned a guitar for 31 years and that sure hasn't made me a musician, let alone an expert. It's made me a guy who owns a guitar."- BBI
I have no direct experiences with the 50s, having been born in the first half of ‘68. That said, my parents—who were in a mixed race marriage—had considerable experience with the racial ideologies of the times. There is a reason that I came to firearms and self defense early in life, and that reason is being born into a family where that shit was practical and important. There is also a reason that I was born in Washington state, and that reason is that it was the only contiguous western state that never had anti-miscegenation laws on the books.
BBI is on to something with his comments. JMO
”But in the end all of these ideas just manufacture new criminals when the problem isn't a lack of criminals.” -JRB
Mine too.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
The village near where I grew up is not on the list but I remember my grandpa telling me that the town marshal or police chief told him that his main duty was making sure there were no black people in town at night. I’m not sure if this would have been right before or after WWII.
Never mind
That list is fucked up. There are two small cities near me that were sundown towns (meaning blacks had to be in the black part of town by dark) that are not on the list. One of them had segregated beaches into the late 1960s.
On the other hand, the tiny town I grew up in is on the list, which is ridiculous. There was little to do after dark because most businesses closed early, there were no restaurants, no bars, and no law enforcement (OK, there may have technically been a cop on duty until 10-11pm, but he was at home). There were maybe 1200 kids in my entire school system, and there were only 1-2 times that we had a single black student. I don't believe that there was a conspiracy to keep blacks out, but there was no incentive for anyone of any race who wasn't born there to move there. For those of us born there, there were a lot of incentives to leave.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Holy thread drift Batman! We've gone from ostensibly talking about Joe Citizen jocking up to plug holes where government has failed, to trash-talking the bad old days when there was racism written into local laws. I commented on how it seems that in the past, people were more willing, and able, to handle whatever needed handling without looking to someone else to do things for them. I am not a historian and my views on this were shaped through direct, personal observation of my grandparents and their cohort. Generally speaking, they seemed willing, and able, (and in fact, preferred) to do things themselves rather than hire things done. From gardening and canning, to basic home maintenance and auto repair - they were largely able to do what needed to be done. As far as the 1950's, we can talk about racism being written into local laws, but I don't think that is the same conversation as whether there was the same level of street crime as there is today. For the record, I think it is ridiculous that citizens have to go out and patrol the streets at this point (that would seem to be a fundamental function that government should handle - just like roads and bridges), but good on the people willing to step up and address the problem. [The fact certain cities can't maintain a viable law enforcement organization, nor even credibly maintain roads, would be one more indicator that things now have devolved since the 1950's. [Note that our interstate system got spun up in the 50's.]
One huge difference between the 1950's and today, is the ready availability of information. I am interested in all sorts of stuff; from vehicle maintenance to woodworking, to plumbing, archery, kayaking, firearms, and well, you get the picture. My source of information for all of these interests is,... the internet. Just yesterday I discovered that on a Honda transmission there is a vent tube that can clog and cause the transmission plug to pop loose as it had on my wife's car. I can say with certainty, that I would have *never* figured that out on my own. (That vent tube was difficult to see and reach even after I knew where it was.) So with instant access to this abundance of information, we should be the most capable generation ever. Sadly, that does not seem to be the case. Certainly there are individuals who use this access to information to expand their knowledge and skill, but that is far from universal - based on my personal observation. All that being said, what blows my mind is the idea that my grandfather probably would have figured out the vent tube thing one way or another. I have some of his old reference books and with some of them, I'm like a dog looking at a ceiling fan trying to understand the content. [Yes, I hold my grandfather in high regard and yes, he was probably a standout even amongst his peers. Perhaps what I know of him is why I hold that generation in such high regard.]
Ultimately, it just does not seem to me like our society on the whole is going in the right direction, for whatever reason. Certainly there are standouts in this generation - Elon comes to mind. And I am certain that there are individuals, just regular folks, who are super smart, switched-on, and who do all the things. I'm very good friends with some of these folks. But then I go to Walmart and get the sads all over again. It may be that individuals in society are diverging in opposite directions - the smart are getting smarter and more capable, but the dumb and getting dumber and they way outnumber the smarts...
I guess I am having a hard time with the notion that society is currently in a better place that 75 years ago. Maybe I'm wrong because take in too much news...
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
No one is coming. It is up to us.
https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_king.htm
no one sees what's written on the spine of his own autobiography.
If I’m understanding that poem correctly, it largely laments advances in technology. Well, we got the technology; won’t deny that. (And I’m happy about most of the tech!) But, again, is this thread about tech, or people’s conduct? A fella might also infer from the poem that each passing generation was a little less badass than the last… - which is kind of my point.
Last edited by Tensaw; 04-06-2024 at 10:15 AM.
All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
No one is coming. It is up to us.
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