Sundown

Independence Day on the eve of destruction

It's hard to think about anything but politics and the future of the United States this week, as we light fireworks and eat hot dogs on the eve of a pivotal election and our democracy limps to what might be its conclusion.

The above picture is a Goodyear Tire store in Cullman, Alabama.  Folks I know who live down there refer to it as a “sundown town” – still, today, in 2024.  We tend to think of this stuff as ancient history, the idea of a place in our country whose enforced policy promised harm to a person who dared rest or dine without the protection of daylight.  But these towns are still here, their lunch counters replaced with Chipotle and Five Guys franchises, their shacks replaced with cul-de-sacs.