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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Inglewood

California

Basic Information

Type of Place
Suburb
Metro Area
Los Angeles/San Diego
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Yes, Written Evidence
Sign?
Yes, Photo or Written Evidence
Year of Greatest Interest
1920
Still Sundown?
Surely Not

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920 3,286 2
1930 19,480 3
1940 30,114 24
1950 48,185 86
1960 63,390 29
1970 89,985 10006
1980 94,245 53,122
1990
2000 112580 21505 53060 1280 773 51829 30823
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Threat of Violence
  • Police or Other Official Action
  • Zoning

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black
  • Hispanic

Comments

When Inglewood broke in the 1960s, there was
rapid white flight out of the town. It is now racially
mixed.

“I grew up in Inglewood. The KKK was active
there in the 1920s and apparently the city had an
ordinance which placed an 8 pm curfew on blacks. The
city was certainly virtually all white when I lived there
in the late 40s and the 50s.”

“I was born in Los Angeles, and raised near
Inglewood. I strongly recall my father telling me that
his sister lived in Inglewood, and no Negroes were
allowed to own property within the area of Inglewood.
This would be about 1948 or so.”

“When my sister graduated from Inglewood High
School in 1957 there was not one Afro American, not
one. The interesting irony is that the community is
now about 90% black, maybe higher. When she was in
high school the Town had signs posted that said that
“all blacks (or maybe it said negroes) must be out of
town by sunset”. When I asked my father (who is and
was a racist) what that sign meant, he said that the
city wanted to keep “those niggers” out of this nice,
clean town. One of his favorite sayings was “you give a
nigger a inch and they will take a mile” I heard this
statement over and over during my childhood. It
upset me then, as it does now.”