Racism is still alive in towns across America, said author James Loewen.
Loewen spoke Tuesday in Pruis Hall about his most recent book "Sundown Towns" and about America's history of racism and prejudice.
Loewen spoke about a high point of racism in America from 1890 to 1940 and explained historical examples of the efforts of groups of white people to drive black people out of communities.
The most common example of this is a sundown town, or a town where black people were explicitly not allowed in public after dark, and implicitly not allowed in the town at all, he said.
"Sundown towns were all-white on purpose," he said. "If you didn't have black people in your town, you passed an ordinance to make sure you didn't get any."
Some sundown towns had whistles or sirens that sounded at 6 p.m. to let black people know it was time to go inside their houses, Loewen said.
There are 501 sundown towns in Illinois with implicit racism, according to his research, he said. He estimated that the same amount, or more, are in Indiana.
Sundown towns no longer have laws restricting access, but the prejudice remains, he said.
"There are sundown towns all over Indiana," he said. "This is not a southern phenomenon."
Junior costume design major Amanda Goodwin said she thought the lecture was enlightening.
"I'm from Indianapolis and I went to a multicultural high school," she said. "We didn't see color differences, so I was surprised to hear that racism like this is still being practiced and reinforced."
Melinda Messineo, co-director of the Freshman Connections Program, said it was important for Loewen to speak about these issues at Ball State University because the history of Indiana is linked to sundown towns.
"A lot of our students came from these communities," she said.
The lecture also relates to the 2007 Freshman Common Reader, "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother," by James McBride, she said.
Loewen said despite the presence of racism in America, he hopes racial relations improve in the future.
"I hope telling the truth about the past will bring justice in the future," he said.
Racial tensionLoewen listed three steps for a sundown town to redeem itself:
1. The town members must admit they participated in the racist practices. 2. They must apologize for it. 3. They must promise not to do it anymore.
Loewen received a doctorate in sociology from Harvard University and taught race relations at the University of Vermont for 20 years.
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