Texas city haunted by 'no blacks after dark' past

[Bustem' Down]

Vidor is a small city of about 11,000 people near the Texas Gulf Coast, not too far from the Louisiana border. Despite the fact that Beaumont, a much bigger city just 10 minutes away, is quite integrated, Vidor is not. There are very few blacks there; it's mostly white. That is in large part because of a history of racism in Vidor, a past that continues to haunt the present.

"We've been trying to live down something for 40 to 50 years," said Orange County Commissioner Beamon Minton. "Once convicted, you're a convicted felon. You can't ever put that aside."

Vidor was one of hundreds of communities in America known as "sundown towns," places where blacks were not welcome after dark. In some of these towns, signs -- handwritten or printed -- were posted, saying things like "Whites Only After Dark." But in general, sundown towns existed by reputation. Blacks knew they were places to avoid after dark.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/12/08/oppenheim.sundown.town/index.html

I've been through Vidor. It's on I-10 on the way to Houston. Maybe they aren't really a racist town, but the whole state thinks they are, and it doesn't really help having billboards for lawyers that state..."Have you been accused of a murder you think was just? Call ###-###-####.".

 

[EmnJoe]

It also doesn't help when people say thing like this.......

"Peggy Fruge told me she'd welcome blacks to her neighborhood. Then she said this:

"I don't mind being friends with them, talking and stuff like that, but as far as mingling and eating with them, all that kind of stuff, that's where I draw the line.""

 

[bcp]

sundown towns existed by reputation. Blacks knew they were places to avoid after dark.

I suppose we white folks could consider many places in DC and Baltimore as sundown towns also. If a white guy is caught in certain areas after dark in these places, the chance of death increases greatly.

I wonder how long it will be before it is recognized that the perception of sundown towns for blacks is mostly in their minds, and the reality of sundown towns for whites is still strong and alive.

 

[CrashTest]

Back when I was working for the Army at Ft. Lee in Virginia, I was walking thru downtown Petersburg, Va. and got verbally warned by a guy riding by on a bicycle that "...this is no place for a white boy after dark".

 

[Lenny]

I suppose we white folks could consider many places in DC and Baltimore as sundown towns also. If a white guy is caught in certain areas any time of the day in these places, the chance of death increases greatly.

.

:fixed:

 

[chernmax]

I'm curious on what the crime rate is in Vidor???

 

[vraiblonde]

Why is this a story?

I'm not a big fan of forced integration - nobody wants it, black and white alike. The story mentions that in many cities blacks, whites, Hispanics, etc tend to form their own neighborhoods - so what? Why is that so terrible?

 

[itsbob]

One of the most memorable instances of that was in 1993, when the federal government tried to change years of racial separation, and brought a handful of black families into Vidor's public housing. In response, the Klan marched in Vidor. Within months, the few black families moved out. And African-Americans were left with a deep impression that still exists today.

I'd be pissed if the federal gov't forced jobless people into Ridge white or black.. Maybe they should have tried to move in black people with jobs, careers, maybe give them incentives on buying a home. Move in people that would be an asset to the town not a hindrance.

 

[itsbob]

Why is this a story?

I'm not a big fan of forced integration - nobody wants it, black and white alike. The story mentions that in many cities blacks, whites, Hispanics, etc tend to form their own neighborhoods - so what? Why is that so terrible?

Dateline did a piece on this last year, about professional blacks segregating into their own neighborhoods. Asked what they would think if a white family moved in.. "Would wonder what no-good they were up to, are they trying to sell crack to my kids on the playground?"

 

[closetrebel]

Finally...

I'd be pissed if the federal gov't forced jobless people into Ridge white or black.. Maybe they should have tried to move in black people with jobs, careers, maybe give them incentives on buying a home. Move in people that would be an asset to the town not a hindrance.

...something i can say AMEN to!

 

[crazygidget21]

I hope people don’t continue to judge Vidor on its past or the select few idiots they can find to say what they want to air. John Mayer’s song "waiting on the world to change" says it all ... "when the own the information they can bend it all they want" its things like this that continues to spark hatred among the different races. They find one idiot willing to say something and air it, no matter how many others they find with more open-minded views.
I live in Vidor and have all my life, I have never had a problem with other races and have friends that are mexican , black, asain & mixed. There are blacks that come to here and shop and eat and never have problem. Klan activity is non-existant from what I see and hear, but one guy decides to write a book about our town and now its pushed back in the public eye and now a reputation we've been trying to escape from for 30yrs once again gets thrown back in our faces.
I just want to let everyone know, how CNN does bend stories to get what they want out of them. One of the city employees is a dear friend of mine and she is in NO WAY racist, she was interviewed by CNN and had only positive things to say. You however don’t get to see that, all you is one person’s close minded views of the world. Ok sorry this is so long but it gets on my nerves when things like this happen in the world and I am tired of sitting by and not saying anything.

 

[BuddyLee]

Sounds like Rosewood, Florida.

 

[vraiblonde]

They find one idiot willing to say something and air it, no matter how many others they find with more open-minded views.

Ain't that the truth.

When I was in high school, a black kid and a white kid got in a fight in the parking lot (which wasn't particularly unusual, but this one made the news). On the front page of the Lincoln Journal Star was a story about the "race riot", complete with a few quotes making it sound like an enormous deal.

The fact is that it was two guys settling a difference - race was irrelevant and there were black guys on the white guy's side, and vice versa.

But all my relatives saw this story and were like, "What the hell is going on at your school???"