True that, there’s still “sundown towns”.
Back in 1963, my family and I made a road trip from Oklahoma to Florida. That was, of course, prior to the Civil Rights Act, and it was also before most of the Interstate system was in operation.
But back then, we had to drive on state highways through the center of every single town on the route from Oklahoma through Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and into Florida. Frankly, every town was a sundown town when you're unfamiliar with them.
So, whenever we had to stop for gas or food or whatever, my father would get out first to see if we would be served. Most often, he came back shaking his head and we drove on.
I remember him saying that he was looking for a Howard Johnson's restaurant, which were common in the larger cities. For many years afterward, I gave HoJo's mental credit for being progressive for integrating their restaurants. It was years later that I discovered HoJo had only just then been forced to integrated because they'd lost an FTC lawsuit. Being an interstate corporation, the feds had jurisdiction over them. We had found one HoJo on the way, and ate there...but I did notice their "Black Sambo" restaurant motif.
My wife's story is a little different. They were a husband, wife, and four girls. When they traveled those roads and towns, he drove primarily at night to avoid as much contact with white people as possible. When they found a place for food, they stocked up so that they wouldn't have to stop any more often than necessary. They stopped at the side of the road (this was at night) to urinate. Otherwise...just got constipated.
Today on the Interstate, a "sundown town" is just an exit that I zoom past at 70mph.
