James W. Loewen Quote

The 27 candidates for whom I could readily distinguish the racial policies of their hometowns, one-third were identified with sundown towns. Starting at the beginning of the century, these include Republican William McKinley, who grew up in Niles, Ohio, where a sign near the Erie Depot, according to historian William Jenkins, warned ‘niggers’ that they had better not ‘let the sun set on their heads.’ McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan, who grew up in Salem, Illinois, which for decades had signs on each main road going into town, telling the blacks, that they were not allowed in town after sundown,