Black History Month: Examining La Crosse's past – news8000.com

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COPYRIGHT 2025 BY NEWS 8 NOW/NEWS 8000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
LA CROSSE, Wis. — As part of Black History Month, News 8 Now is examining a troubling chapter from La Crosse’s past when the city may have operated as what historians call a “sundown town” — a place that purposefully excluded Black Americans from living there.
Research indicates La Crosse’s Black population began declining in the early 20th century during a period of national racial violence and rising segregation across the country. Some researchers argue the city fit the definition of a sundown town during this era.
“A sundown town is a place that purposefully kept out people of color, often Black Americans, from living in that place. And there are many strategies used to do that,” said Jenny Derocher, a librarian researching the topic. “The head sociologist who has published a book that widely read, his name was Doctor James Loewen. And he had a pretty broad definition of what sundown towns were. And it’s working with his definition that La Crosse could be argued to be a sundown town.”
While no confirmed city ordinance officially declared La Crosse a sundown town, historians point to documented examples of racial exclusion that support the classification.
In the 1940s, Black soldiers stationed at Fort McCoy were barred from entering the city after an alleged incident. Historical records also show discriminatory business practices were common, and a Ku Klux Klan chapter operated locally during this period.
Librarians say these incidents reflect broader national racial tensions and violence happening during that era across the United States.
“Because of national politics, this time period is when Black Americans in La Crosse were targeted. There was an increase in violence against Black Americans all over our country. And so there is reason to believe that the white residents in La Crosse also followed that national trend, just like any other Midwestern city,” Derocher said.
The exclusionary practices contributed to the decline of La Crosse’s Black population during the early to mid-20th century, part of a broader pattern seen in communities across the Midwest and other regions of the country.
Current city leaders emphasize that understanding this history isn’t about rewriting the past, but rather about taking ownership of it. They argue that acknowledging both progress and harm is necessary for the community to move forward constructively.
“America wasn’t always nice and pleasant. America wasn’t always welcoming. America did some really bad things to groups of people. And the reality is we have to own that history and acknowledge it and say, how do we make sure that we never do this again?” said La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY NEWS 8 NOW/NEWS 8000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
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