The Shadows After Sundown: From Virginia’s Past to Missouri’s Present

From secret warnings to public plans—America’s racial divide isn’t just history. It’s happening again.

Some of us were raised on whispered warnings.

“Don’t stop in that town after dark.”

“Keep driving through there, no matter what.”

“Make sure your phone’s charged before you get on that highway.”

For Black families like mine, those weren’t just suggestions. They were survival guides.

These weren’t urban legends—they were echoes of a truth too many Americans still refuse to face: sundown towns are real, and many of them were right here in Virginia.

Towns like Vienna, Culpeper, Falls Church, and Franklin County where Black people were either silently excluded or violently reminded that their presence after dark was not welcome. Even today, some of these places still carry that energy—a quiet warning passed down from one generation to the next.

But here’s the part that’s hard to swallow:

We’re not just talking about the past.

We’re talking about right now.

The New Face of the Old Fear

There’s a white nationalist group called Return to the Land that’s actively building a whites-only community—not in 1955, but in 2025. Their current base is in northern Arkansas, where they’ve secured 160 acres of land with plans to build a society based on “European ancestry.” Jews are banned. So are all non-white people.

According to The Hill, they now have their eyes set on Springfield, Missouri—with ambitions to spread this model to all 50 states.

Let me be clear: this isn’t a fringe idea. This is a white supremacist land grab. It’s a sundown town 2.0—but this time, they’re not hiding. They’re promoting it on Telegram and screening applicants based on race, bloodline, and politics. And it’s happening loudly, proudly, and out in the open.

Who Gave Them the Audacity?

You don’t have to squint to see the connection between these movements and the Trump era.

When a president says there were “very fine people on both sides” after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville…

When books about Black history are being banned…

When immigrants are criminalized…

When politicians code their racism as “heritage” or “border control”…

…it sends a message. And that message is: You can be openly racist again. And you’ll be rewarded for it.

A Modern Green Book for a Modern 'Merikkka

Back in the Jim Crow era, Black travelers relied on The Negro Motorist Green Book to know which cities they could safely stop in, sleep in, or even get gas.

And guess what? We still need it.

There’s now a modern app called Greenbook—available on the App Store and Google Play—that helps Black people navigate America safely, especially when traveling long distances at night or through unfamiliar areas. It flags sundown towns, tracks safe spaces, and serves as a digital lifeline when Google Maps alone won’t cut it.

Let that sink in.

It’s 2025, and we still need a digital version of the Green Book.

We Have to Name It to Fight It.

It’s easy to dismiss sundown towns as relics of the past.

It’s tempting to believe that racism is dying out.

But when white-only compounds are breaking ground in Missouri, and Black drivers still need apps to know where it’s safe to stop for gas—we can’t afford denial.

If you’ve never had to check your skin tone against a map before traveling…

If you’ve never worried about what would happen if your car broke down in the “wrong” town…

If you’ve never had your entire family recite which exits you’re not allowed to take…

Consider yourself lucky. And please, don’t be silent.

Final Thought

The past isn’t gone—it just changes zip codes.

But so does resistance.

Whether we’re tracking sundown towns in Virginia, exposing racist land schemes in Missouri, or downloading apps to stay safe on our journeys—we are fighting. We are aware. And we are not going back.

Check out my TikTok video and Substack: Apples to Oranges the Podcast.