Gulfport, what defines a ‘sundown town’?

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Last month at a Gulfport City Council meeting, councilmember April Thanos presented the idea that Gulfport was historically a “sundown town,” and her constituents had requested that Gulfport publicly apologize.

Britannica defines a “sundown town” as “a town that excluded nonwhite people – mostly African Americans – from remaining in town after sunset.” Generally through unwritten laws.

City Manager Jim O’Reilly immediately shut down any thought of Gulfport defined as a “sundown town,” and announced “That has not been documented.” The ensuing conversation revealed O’Reilly’s belief that there was no documentation because the city never adopted an ordinance.

The Gulfport Gabber wrote about the initial exchange and posted it on Facebook. “This council is not responsible for the bad behavior of past generations,” Gulfport Mayor Karen Love declared during a later public discussion.

Within hours of the December post, over 1,300 comments appeared, and the original article was shared 300 times. Courageous residents holding in decades of trauma shared experiences that had occurred within the confines of Gulfport – and the assaults, name calling, terrorizing, chasing, etcetera could not be lost as passing social media comments, so I captured and compiled them for preservation.

Documenting a sundown town can be accomplished in many ways – and one is by collecting stories of the Black experience within its boundaries. These sobering and shocking  comments offer that documentation – while are many, many more stories, these have been selected as examples of common themes.

Jabaar Edmond started with one short post (sic): “Its time Gulfport-its time….” He elaborated in a later post with this horrific story: “I had to fight my way out a Gulfport sundown town as a kid, being chased by a’“white group’ of Gulfport residents. Aggressive guys, you think we was on the wrong side of town or something!?!! The group had a name for their gang “The lynch Mob” they was chasing and beating up Black kids in Gulfport and they ain’t keep a record of that ether so, you may Never have heard of them but they patrolled Gulfport looking for little black kids to terrorize!!”

The theme of being chased and terrorized was repeated by TR Leverson, who related: “I was about 7 or 8 years old when my mother sent me to the Winn-Dixie in Gulfport, Florida. It was walking distance from my grandmother’s home near 43rd Street and 22nd Avenue South.

“On my way home, I was chased. Racial slurs were hurled at me – including the n-word with the hard ER.  As I ran, there were sundown warning signs posted on poles along my route. At that age, I didn’t fully understand what “Don’t let the sun set on you in Gulfport” meant.

“But I understood the fear. I understood the urgency. I understood that I was not safe.I ran as fast as I could and didn’t stop until I got home – running straight into my father’s arms.

“That moment has never left me.”

Police harassment was reported by many. Danette Reid said she was harassed with her boyfriend in 1978, and they were only sitting in a car in a parking lot talking. John Mohammad was riding his bicycle in the daylight – and was ticketed by the police for not having a light.

He also shared he and friend Elroy were looking at a car that was for sale, and police threw them down to the ground for doing nothing but looking. Elroy’s watch was crushed, along with their sense of personal safety in Gulfport.

White people knew the dangers too. Marty Brinsko shared that a Black co-worker had missed the bus, and so Marty and others offered to give him a ride home. Marty posted: “We can’t go through Gulfport with ____ in the car. So we had the man duck down in the back seat until we passed 34th Street S.”

Lisa Signorelli lived in Gulfport for 30 years, and through her work in the faith community, easily came to know that Gulfport was a dangerous place for people of color.

Hundreds of commenters simply affirmed their belief in Gulfport’s “sundown town” reputation, such as Mario Shirley who said it succinctly, “Of course it was a Sundown Town.” I’m white and have 33 years experience in the area. I knew in my first year living in St. Pete that Gulfport was a sundown town simply from the many stories I heard of mistreatment of Black people during the day and particularly if they were found in town after sunset.”

Events and work schedules were structured to ensure Black people were out of town before sunset each day. Teacher Natasha Parker-Sandman wrote “I heard many times from Gibbs football players on why the games were held at 3 p.m. instead of 6-7 p.m. Had to be on the other side of 34th by sundown.” Multiple commenters observed their African American co-workers were very nervous each day about making sure they got to their bus on time, so as not to risk remaining in Gulfport after dark.

As a historian I’ve long heard undocumented stories of a Gulfport lynching tree and photos of men hanging from trees in Gulfport. Anthony Young puts credence to lynching with his comment “Back in the days they used to have this game called hangman that still exist!!!!!!”

Gulfport is missing out economically from this era in racial history. Many stated that even today they don’t go to Gulfport to shop, attend events or for any reason especially to spend money because of the history of mistreatment. Others state they chose not to live there because of the racial history.

A number of commenters observed the deeds to their older Gulfport homes state the home could only be sold to whites.

Skeptics of the “sundown town” label often pondered that if this label was true, anyone who was affected or did damage is not alive today. Obviously the Facebook commenters are still alive, and their stories occurred in the 1970s to the 2000s. The members of “the lynching Mob” described by Edmond would be in their 50s through 70s now. They are here too, and likely never experienced punishment from their criminal behavior.

Danny E. White wisely counsels, “To acknowledge historical truth is not to dwell upon it, it is to reckon with it and make it a memory, complete with facts about what was as compared to what is the present.”

Gulfport, hear these valuable and informative life experiences that happened within your boundaries, and give further thought to the reality of your racial history. Is it predicated on one well-crafted, city approved ordinance? Or on the decades of mistreatment experienced by area African American residents?

The answer you choose will shape your city for generations to come. We all are watching.

Josette Green is a historian focused on local Black history. As a volunteer she conducts walking and biking tours through her organization St. Petersburg Black History Tours. For more information, visit www.blackhistorybiketour.com.