Abstract
Lancaster provides a historical and sociological account of racial cleansing in the state of Arkansas from the post-Reconstruction era until the post-World War I period. Its historical account examines the racial politics and violence of the period and employs the concept of racial cleansing, the use of which provides the sociological basis of the work. The term ‘sundown town’ refers to a town or community that employed tactics to remove African Americans, often by force, from the area or to keep them from inhabiting that area. These settlements were often found in the American South, but away from the agricultural regions where the labour of Blacks was needed to sustain the local economies. Lancaster feels the term ‘sundown town’, while capturing its historical significance, is inadequate in that it fails to explain the rationale behind the motivations that created these spaces; therefore, the term ‘racial cleansing’, a derivative of the more widely used term ethnic cleansing, is used. Although similar in many respects to lynching, lynching was normally used to punish a target offender and functioned as a visible reminder to others in the community of the horrendous consequences of challenging the White power structure. Other vigilante actions such as nightriding and whitecapping were attempts to terrorise, but not necessarily extirpate, whole communities. Therefore, though normally not as violent as lynching or vigilantism, racial cleansing had the effect of changing the demography of a region, with its long-term social, cultural, political and economic effects.
The Democratic Party gained state political control of Arkansas politics due to a series of manoeuvres that ended up protecting the interests of the moneyed landowners. At the same time, German immigrants began entering the state, escaping both religious persecution and a tenuous economy, to work on Arkansas’ newly completed railway system in the 1870s. Blacks outside the region also entered the state, often enticed by bogus claims of hospitality and abundant job opportunities in a fertile agricultural region. The political administration of counties with growing Black populations was initially maintained through a series of ‘fusion agreements’, in which Blacks and Whites shared in local governance. These arrangements soon deteriorated due to White fears of Black domination, fears which were often fuelled by a few instances of racial conflict. Certain politicians took advantage of this conflict to cement racial segregation and maintain White hegemony.
Not only were Blacks driven away or repulsed from the railroad industry, terroristic threats and attacks were made against African American workers in other occupations in the developing timber and mining industries and in the well-established field of agriculture. Many poor White farmers, fearing Blacks would take over their jobs, became involved in whitecapping and nightriding activities; however, some large landowners thwarted these terroristic activities through legal action. As the vigilantes were arrested, the cases proceeded through the legislative system, eventually making their way to the US Supreme Court. The highest court in the land ruled that decisions on these racial cleansing activities would be left to the states, basically clearing the way for various forms of racial oppression to continue in the state of Arkansas. The pretence of criminal behaviour on the part of African Americans was often used as justification to rid large populations of Black citizens, even if the alleged offenders numbered only one or a few.
The work is a good analysis of racial cleansing in Arkansas in the period between Reconstruction and the end of the First World War. The concept of racial cleansing is a valuable conceptual framework in which to analyse the events of this place and time, and the concept itself is well defined and adequately frames the discussion of sundown towns. Less well defined are the terms nightriding (the words are often separated in other works) and whitecapping, although they were featured prominently in the work; a more comprehensive elaboration of these terms, specific to the region and time under review, would have provided more insight into racial cleansing strategies. Although the work was not specifically an analysis of these two activities, they are a major part of this investigation, as the author advocates understanding racial cleansing as existing on a continuum of activities that resulted in the removal of African Americans.
The analysis describes an area in which sundown towns were more likely to exist and racial cleansing was more likely to take place, the part of Arkansas which was outside of the cotton belt region (the ‘traditional South’). The cotton belt towns and communities did not experience the phenomenon of racial cleansing since the population of African Americans was important for the local economies. For those unfamiliar with the state of Arkansas, a map of the region in the text would have provided more clarity in understanding the geographic factors in the development of sundown towns.
The descriptions of numerous cities and communities labelled as sundown towns, which were obtained from local newspapers of the era, provide us with a better understanding of these areas and their inhabitants. Also, the author’s decision to integrate perspectives other than history to explain the existence of these communities – among them sociology, anthropology and political science – provided valuable insights into racial cleansing. Several intriguing ideas were generated, including the notion of racial cleansing as being a ‘future driven act’. The position is that racial cleansing not only reflects the historical nature of in-group/out-group behaviour and relations but also exists as a condition that is intended to be passed down to future generations. This cleansing process is conceptualised as being a requirement for racial purity, with segregation as its primary means, and must be a ‘forever’ endeavour – echoing the famous call by former Alabama governor George Wallace not just for ‘segregation now’ but for ‘tomorrow and forever’. This work makes a significant contribution to the study of race relations, not only historically, but sociologically, by providing insights into the consequences to an area’s culture due to efforts to retain social, economic and political advantage.