A RESOLUTION ACKNOWLEDGING THE RACIALLY EXCLUSIONARY PAST OF GOSHEN, INDIANA, AS A 'SUNDOWN TOWN'
WHEREAS the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America and the Pledge of Allegiance to the U.S. Flag establish liberty and justice for all in this nation;
WHEREAS the U.S. Census reported that the “Negro” population of Goshen in 1890 was 21, but by 1910 it was 2;
WHEREAS historical studies by multiple independent researchers confirm that Goshen was a “sundown town” for approximately the first two-thirds of the 20th century;
WHEREAS such towns excluded—often by social and cultural means, including police profiling—members of non-white racial and ethnic groups, particularly African Americans, from living in said jurisdictions or even being inside the city limits after sundown;
WHEREAS the Goshen City Utility, the Goshen Mayor’s Office, and the Goshen Chamber of Commerce put the City’s exclusionary reputation in writing in a number of publications from the mid-1930s to the late 1970s;
WHEREAS some real-estate developers and residents of Goshen subdivisions used and reinforced restrictive language in property deeds and covenants that kept African Americans from purchasing property and living in those subdivisions for several decades in the 20th century;
WHEREAS there is written, oral, and pictorial documentation that some Goshen residents did not support Goshen’s exclusionary attitudes and practices, but there also is written, oral, and pictorial documentation that a pro-white mentality prevailed among some of Goshen’s citizenry and leadership for many decades in the 20th century;
WHEREAS the Goshen Ministerial Association (GMA) in 1964 issued a public statement expressing dismay regarding residents’ fears of “Negroes” moving to Goshen—and called for open and fair housing;
WHEREAS healthy individuals and healthy communities are able to recognize past mistakes (“sundown town” activities in Goshen were and remain unacceptable and contrary to our U.S. Constitution), admit when they have been wrong, and resolve to make improvements in the future;
WHEREAS Goshen already has made significant progress in promoting racial equality—as symbolized by establishing in 1996 an annual Diversity Day and the Human Relations Commission (which had been part of the GMA), approving in 2000 the placement at Goshen’s City limits of welcoming signage that said “We Promote Tolerance” and “Embracing Diversity,” and instituting in 2004 the Community Relations Commission as part of City government;
WHEREAS the City of Goshen, Goshen Chamber of Commerce, Goshen Community Schools, Goshen College and others are working together to tell the compelling stories (past and present) of our increasingly diverse community—all for the good of Goshen;
AND WHEREAS Goshen residents are justifiably proud of how we seek to work toward the common good of everyone in the community—and in pursuing that goal the City of Goshen would be uncommonly great in acknowledging our community’s “sundown town” past.