Research Symposium

BIO

Ella Osweiler is a second-year Political Science and Criminology student at Florida State University, originally from New Port Richey, Florida, with a strong interest in law, policy reform, and equal access to justice. Ella is excited about her future and plans to pursue a career in law and politics. She has developed a strong interest in criminal defense and its role in protecting individuals' rights and upholding the integrity of the justice system. Her research with Jack Mills has further strengthened her passion for justice and ensuring fair representation and meaningful defense for those navigating the legal system. She currently serves as a full-time Investigative Intern with the Law Offices of the Public Defender for Florida's 2nd Judicial Circuit, where she conducts client intakes, reviews body camera footage, and observes trials, hearings, and jury selection. In addition to her experience, Ella is actively involved in campus leadership, serving as Philanthropy Chair for Phi Alpha Delta, where she leads fundraising efforts benefiting the Legal Aid Foundation, and as a High School Associates of Arts Degree mentor, where she guides students as they transition to FSU. She is committed to pursuing a career centered on justice, advocacy, and public service. 

Sundown America Today: Understanding Public Experiences of Modern Racisms in Historical Sundown Towns

Abstract

Sundown towns were, by definition, communities which systematically excluded non-White inhabitants. To date, the primary shepherd of knowledge on sundown towns has been James W. Loewen, who was a public scholar and historical sociologist. Throughout his research, he repeated central claims that sundown towns in America had not necessarily integrated at pivotal Civil Rights landmarks for racially marginalized communities (e.g., the Fair Housing Act of 1968). Instead, he convincingly argued the case for sundown evolution in America and called upon the public to submit known accounts and experiences of racism—broadly conceived—to his data collection project. Building on this foundation, the current project explores data submitted in response to Loewen’s call alongside systematic open-source searches documenting modern experiences of racism in historical sundown towns from 2000 to 2026. Broadly, this analysis affirms Loewen’s notion of sundown evolution into the present day. Specifically, our project demonstrates that these lived experiences include a host of incident types, including violent racism that plausibly meets hate crime designation thresholds, despite being in policing jurisdictions which reported no such hate crimes during these reports. Taken together, these findings underscore the continued relevance of sundown towns, not only as a structural form of racial exclusion, but as communities in which policing differentially impacts racially marginalized victims of targeted violence. While our work is ongoing, our results point to a clear pattern: Sundown America continues its influence today.

Keywords: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Sundown Towns, and Diversity