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I’m literally in tears! Years ago my car caught a flat on Christmas Eve traveling to my dads funeral and a sheriff told me to get my children together and he’d have my car towed to his father who owned a tire shop but had closed early for the holiday..When we got there his elderly father greeted us as if we were his own guest rather than customers. He offered coffee, drinks & snacks for the kids while we waited. Not only did he change the tire free of charge he gave my kids a 20 dollar bill a piece for Christmas.. Here’s the creepy part, the son( Sheriff) followed us out the town and about 5 miles before he turned around! Now I understand why🤧 I kept the dads business card and mailed him an thank you card and a appreciation token because he refused to take it in person.. There’s still angels in this world and in the town of Anna.. I’m glad I ran across this post..
Saw a comment on Reddit, searched on google to see what it meant and found this video. Less than 10 minutes into it and I already appreciate the effort you put in it.
I’m 32 a black male from Chicago. I went to college at southern Illinois university in edwardsville. A nice amount of white friends I met freshman year were from Anna and they were all great guys with a friendship that was genuine and always felt accepted amongst them all. And even though they never came off as racist to me they told me that the long time nickname for Anna was Ain’t.No.Niggas.Allowed. It was shocking when they told me and it was obvious they didn’t live life feeling that way. And always invited me to Anna and promised I would be the safest with them while there. But yea long story short after they told me that I never took a trip to Anna to visit 🤣😬. I believe they woulda made sure I was okay but I passed on it. Shout out to all my anna friends I miss those guys
They couldn't help you though especially in sundown towns you were smart for not going back even if you have some friends there since you're not friends with everyone there.
They still use that acronym. Stopped in there with a black co-worker to grab a bite to eat an a older gentleman behind us in line asked him if he knew what Anna stood for then told him. We left cause we didn't need any problems cause we'll we all know small town cops!
@Tim Cahill....the key word in your comment is [ older ] gentleman. He was probably younger during the riots in southern Illinois. So was I, but do not have the same opinion. Please, don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch. We are all equal.
@@ChrisHarden Please don't judge us ...he's one. Anna is a friendly town. We have residents from all walks of life. Much respect from Southern Illinois
I have family all over the state of Illinois, and I was born and raised in the deep South. I can honestly say when I visited family up north, I experienced more racism than you can ever imagine. The worse and the most frightening experience is when I visited my sister who lived right outside of Boston. I swore I would never return there ever again. My home town was not perfect, but I never felt afraid or threatened when out and about.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I grew up in Anna. Their bigotry was/is the norm, not the exception. When I went away to college, I had to unlearn that bigotry and replace that with morality. For over 40 years, I’ve only returned to that community for weddings and funerals.
I work with a guy from Anna. After I watched this video I asked him about it. He said it's not as bad as it used to be. If Iron Kettle was still there I would like to take my girlfriend there, but not after I saw this video.
Don't be embarrassed. Take the past with humility and grace. Never forget the chapters of our lives, even the pages we think are dark and violent. Certainly it isn't good the ignorance was rampant and you were not at fault swept in the gloom. Yet it can become a fault for having the pride to say I'm far better than those. . .egos simply can get the better of us quickly and we then become no better than what we claim to be above.
My father was from Illinois, my mother from Tennessee. I was born in the early 60's. I was raised to believe color doesn't matter and not to judge people by color. I raised my daughter the same way. Her bff from before we left the bigger city for a quieter life was a girl of color. They're both grown now. We're still in touch. She's part of our family, the girls were that close. It was heartwarming to watch them together. They were truly sisters. It's a shame everyone can't be like they are.
You were truly blessed. That’s the way it should be. My liberal parents wouldn’t allow me to have my best friend in grade school spend the night. Here was their answer. What would the neighbors think? Don’t like making anything political because it’s on both sides. With that being said everybody knows Illinois history. Read about Southern Illinois KKK and highly recommend Bloody Williamson book.
@@sealyoness Key word: Example! People complain about not enough whoopings and beat downs today, but examples are far more important. Adults today are not enough of example regardless of age.
My parents moved from Cairo to Chicago as young adults. We would visit my grandmother and extended family in Cairo over the summers. As a kid I enjoyed but didn't understand why my mom would prepare a lot of food for the trip. But learned that there weren't many places for black families to safely stop for food, gas or restroom breaks with kids. This ugly sore on American will never be healed until we have an honest dialog about our history. Chris, thanks for your contributions to the dialog.
If dialogue hasn't worked thus YET... it'll never work. No talking. It's already prophesied their will be war and bloodshed ...as it's always been inorded for another to take over or rule over the majority. Which is going to be happening very soon, if you haven't noticed the days and times were in. ⌛
Cairo used to be like some Jim Crow town in Mississippi. Then about 1969, the blacks got fed up with it and fought back. The racist whites even started their own school Camelot High, so their kids wouldn't have to go to school with black kids. Now all the white people are gone. Bye Felicia 👋!
Yea went southern Illinois university and had to drive through Anna to get to work got pulled over everyday by the same cop to the point we actually got kinda friendly I would say but it still was profiling
The same cop pulled you over everyday? Did he give you a ticket or warning every time that he pulled you over everyday? Do you have any proof that you were pulled over every single time that you passed through this town? Did this cop learn your schedule just so he could pull you over every single day? Did you start leaving early for work in order to accommodate extra time for your daily police stop? Everyday? That's a very believable story.
@@judasz1427 and there are still 2 times the amount of blacks on unemployment than whites. Yet only 13% of the US population is black. Facts, look it up.
I moved from Carbondale to a Chicago suburb halfway through high school. One of my teachers was asking me about SIL and I mentioned Anna being a sundown town. She genuinely didn’t know what the term meant and I had to explain it to her. I was about as shocked that there were people who hadn’t ever heard of sundown towns as she was that sundown towns even existed lol
Sad to say I’m 55 years old and probably learned of sundown towns only a few years ago 😔 Our education systems do not teach us the truth, which keeps us ignorant, the opposite of what it is intended to do… We can’t learn from a history that is kept from us 💔
Tbh I just found out about sundown towns on Reddit today, so here I am now investigating on RUclips. Lol Lived in California my whole life so I feel like I've been kinda sheltered from the reality of the type of in-your-face racism that exists in other states.
My maternal family is from Vienna (20 miles east of Anna), another sundown town. Growing up I heard so many stories about the local history. Like what the name Anna stood for, stories about lynchings and black settlements being burned to the ground... As a kid, I thought they were just made up town legends, turns out they were absolutely true.
I’m black and have been to Anna a ton of times. I’ve heard about its reputation but have luckily never experienced anything bad there except for maybe some weird looks and an incident where someone at their courthouse almost got my license suspended because they forgot to submit something. My parents always tell me to be careful when I go there to see friends though. I hear more stuff regarding racism coming from West Frankfort
Not worth the risk... they still the way they were in the past ,don't let tranquility fool you... once someone is spotted the whole town knows, they use technology, cell phones, I've traveled through them towns and I've seen the residents picking throughout their windows, when you think nobody is watching you there's when you're wrong...leaving the past behind "my eye"
Glad you didn't have any troubles in Anna. According to Wikipedia, Anna was 1 percent Black/African American in 2010. Hopefully this means that there is now some racial harmony in Anna.
@@jomarz1828 experienced the same,, nothing has changed it just got more sophisticated, your employees, employers, churches, schools, and regularly frequented establishment have been doing the same for a very long time.
wow I really enjoy ALL your post. These are amazing, and love them. This is the part of amreica that often for real thanks!!! Please stay safe and be careful :-)
I don't know why I love these drive through videos, but they keep me rapt. I live in southern Illinois. One of the smallest town in the middle of no where. Your Detroit stuff is cool too. I can't stop watching
I've lived in Southern Illinois since 1987, and lived in Union County through junior high/high school. Anna and Jonesboro are basically the same town. You just drive down a street in the middle of town and there's a sign that says Jonesboro city limits. Your GPS took you on scenic route! When I was in high school a Mexican family moved into town, and a certain group of people in town threatened to burn them out... in the 1990's...Having moved here from Dayton, Ohio, I just couldn't believe it.
Back in the 1960's up until about 1970 or so, the city of Glendale CA. had signs on the freeway offramps and on major streets that read: "All Negroes and Mexicans must be outside of the city limits of Glendale by sunset. Anyone found after that will be subject to arrest". Then they gave the city ordinance number followed by the names of the mayor and chief of police. I asked my Mom about that back in '67 or thereabouts, and she explained to me what it meant. Then in about 1970 the signs came down, as they were unenforceable. Now you go to Glendale and it's a mix of all races and colors, which is as it should be. Glad to have found your channel Chris. The old racist mentalities died hard in this country.
Not totally gone yet. Therefore we get a trump mentality voting still. Angry the laws have changed, determined to " make merrikka great AGAIN?". HMMMM. For WHO?
I have driven/riden through this town since the 80s when I was a kid, going to Cape Girardeau to visit my Grandmother. Not too much has changed but it has certainly been a well kept town to say the least. Thank you for the videos of the Souther Illinois and Southern Missouri. As for the town changing the name, I think if you try to gloss over what use to be, or try to cover up the past with a name change you diminish the history of those that lived it, endured its struggles, and not learn from it. To teach others in the future you have to have something to show, and a path way to educate to make better.
Thank you for saying that coolhand501. Changing things like names solves very little. We need to learn from the good and the bad from the past. Avoiding controversies makes people weak and breeds bad ideas.
@@_HellYeah ehhhhh considering this acronym I’ve been hearing if it was named solely on the premise of racism I don’t see why it couldn’t be changed...especially if it’s not racist anymore (which we know it is)
@@mimi7574 Go back and watch the video again. The town is named after a woman named Anna. In order to claim that it is still racist you would need to go over there and prove that and not just speculate. We as a people need to stop lumping things together and assigning some sort of attitude or behavior to it.
@@_HellYeah I said, which we know it still is because there’s a database of sundown towns accessible to the public and this database gets updated when incidents occur and when I clicked on Anna the last incident was someone being advised not to stay in 2014 and when they didn’t know why the acronym was said. It can be argued that we don’t know the validity of the claim or that 2014 was a while ago but racist ideology doesn’t just disappear. Even when suppressed, there’s people in that same town teaching it to their kids. To say that it’s not when we know racism has really been apparent lately would be naive. I saw the video title then looked at the database before watching, btw
Changing the name will do nothing, the name is not at fault. What is at fault are the hearts of those who bore such hate within themselves towards others, for simply being a shade or two different in pigment. And they will have the hardest time coping with such change. But it's still possible nonetheless. Thanks for the content.
9:17 So in 2020, Anna, IL, a poor town that also has a history of being a sundown town with a population of around 4000 residents, has a crime rate twice the national average? Imagine that.
This video makes me forget it's8 degrees out right now with a foot of snow on the ground and a wind chill advisory for pretty much all this week. Thank you for that.
There are quite a few towns in southern Illinois that are still living in the past.And need I say most Trump support in Illinois comes from down there.
First time we watch one of your videos we live in Illinois and we had been through Anna and 127 we are subscribed and we enjoyed how you present everything going on😊
Yeahhh... I live 26 mins from Anna... I have lived in Southern Illinois for 15 years, only been to Anna ONCE & NEVER will again! At red lights they all the cars will stare at you. People walking by will stare at you in confusion, lol. Experienced this in Benton, IL, as well. Let's just say i keep my azz in the town of SIU! You all be safe out there. ❤
I was surprised you didn't touch on the subject of the state mental institution, Choate. I was raised in Anna and our government teacher in high school had given us a brief overview of the way Anna and Carbondale had negotiated to establish either the institution in one town and Southern Illinois University in the other. Growing up we went to Carbondale (30min outside of Anna) for anything more recreational, like malls or movie theaters. Since SIL had been established in Carbondale rather than Anna, thats the city which ended up thriving more economically and in diversity. Since I left in 2018 it seems to be declining more rapidly than I would've expected. I moved to Las Vegas and most people look at me funny when I tell them, I moved to escape a toxic home environment. I understand why though. When you think of someplace lacking in toxicity I don't think most people would think of Vegas especially if you've been or live here. There's plenty of toxicity in Vegas, no doubt. For me though it was about the people I was surrounded by creating a toxic headspace and thats the unfortunate side of a small town. Young adults don't have much option for stimulation, which is why if you aren't stoned all day other people are smoking meth back home. Bored kids park their trucks in empty parking lots getting drunk and gossiping, if there's someone of a minority group in town, theyll be gossiping about them. Everyone tells everyone they know the latest crap they heard about whoever so everyone thinks they know your business and if they don't they're trying to find out. Personally, I wouldn't socialize with many people, im just not naturally gifted at things like that but because I'm a quieter person and also was one of the 3 Asian people in town, it was easy to ostracize me. All that I could handle but I realize now it put me in a guarded kind of mindset, which lead to crippling depression, and my home life was turbulent as well which the added outside negativity combined equalled three hospitalizations on suicide watch and a substance dependency I still battle. People in small towns like Anna are completely unaware how sheltered and narrow their view of everyone else and the world is. I come to Vegas and I can't believe the level of corruption and poverty I see even as we speak. I tell my mother, who still lives in anna, and she refuses to believe me. Its the people though, that make the real difference in any place you call home. Vegas, with all its flaws, I choose over living in a place where people are content settling for what they have, and closing off to the realities of the world. Thats why the BLM protest they participated in is so significant in my mind. Southern Illinoisians In general aren't okay with the injustices they see but they aren't gonna go out of their way to shake up anything. A protest like that in such a small town is so important because these kinds of towns are usually complacent in allowing social injustice to continue because they're not affected the way bigger metropolitan areas are, at least not in any immediately noticeable way. Whatever injustice you may find in larger areas can only be addressed when everyone in the nation is speaking out against it. Simple things like finding a job or getting around has been and still is a real and disproportionately difficult feat in Vegas compared to back home, and while my husband and I are struggling to survive with our first child on the way, ill take the struggle over living in a closed off community. Small towns breed a type of person with a smaller mindset in many ways. The fight to get on our feet is 10x harder out here but when we do, i know we will find more contentment for also being apart of a larger community with more opportunities for personal fulfillment.
I dislike living in small towns for the exact reason that you mentioned! I know that feeling quite well. Hope things turn out well for you in Vegas. About the mental institution, yeah, I messed up on not including that one.
I came across your comment on the video about Anna, IL sundown . You provided a lot of details of your experience. Thanks for your input. Have you thought of writing book about your experiences. You have a gift of story telling.
My family lived in Anna. I kept hoping you would drive past my dad’s house but you didn’t. I liked your videos except for your suggestion to change the name of the town an I am about as “woke” as they come. I have been a “woker” since I was ten and I am now retired. Maybe coming up with a new acronym or some just don’t change the name. That is silly plus it will never be done.
Its not like everyone is saying Its definitely not a ghetto. No gangs. Or riots.Just good country folk not looking for trouble Why is that so wrong? I do y go to areas were I do y fit on. So why can't prove live like they want. There not out victimizing people.
Your not dumb. Just want you to know that some people want people and the world should live.think.breath.smell look for dirt. That is what the left democratic party is looking for. They want to be victims and people that don't think as they do ate victimizers.
I have to admit this was my grandmother's hometown and was settled by many of my ancestors. My great grandfather was a Sheriff here and my 3rd great grandfather was a judge. My grandmother left after she married around 1920, but other family members remained in the family home on Vienna Street. Last time I checked google street view the house was still there but looked abandoned and dilapidated. I never knew the dark history of the town until I started researching the town for genealogy research.
I just found this video. It's September 24th 2022. I was raised in southern Illinois. The house that we lived in , most of my life , was the oldest house in the town. My father remodeled the house , and found a tunnel under our house. It was a big part of the Underground Railroad. We were told not to talk about it to anyone. The old man that my father spoke to that helped in building the house and tunnel, gave my father strict orders to stay out of the tunnel. My father was a policeman in the town. My father questioned that old man until all that man would say is,"it's better to let sleeping dogs lye ".
@@jtozuna when my Dad removed the coal burning furnace, he found the entrance to the tunnel. He didn't know how safe it was, so he put a bright flashlight down there and a mirror , to look how far it went out.
instead of changing names and forgetting history, maybe we should be proud that things have changed and are not like they used to be....to forget history is to repeat it!
I was born in Anna in '52 while my father was in Korea. We moved to the StL area for work when he got out in '53. Still have lots of family there that we visited often as I grew up. You drove right by my grandfather's home in Jonesboro where he lived when I was a boy, and the cemetery in Anna where he now rests. In all my 72 years, this is the first time I ever heard that 'Sundowner' reference, or the Anna acronym. A real bucket of cold water on my boyhood memories...
Watching from Northern Ireland here. Places I will most likely never see in real life. To an outsider, so many of these towns all look like they are straight out of Lanford in Roseanne sitcom. I don't mean that with any offense. I always wanted to live in that house. Although the sundown mentality would scare me off. Even though I'm white. I cannot abide racism or bigotry in any shape way or form.
@@katherinevandervort6402 What a lovely, kind and caring thing to say. Should I be lucky enough to visit Illinois, and that is a state I have always wanted to visit! It would be an honour to meet and learn more.
@@katherinevandervort6402 I really hope you get a chance to visit 'our wee place' as we say! The better half and I both did the dna thing, I'm adopted, so it was interesting to see the majority of my living blood kin residing in Canada and the US. Two of my sisters live in British Columbia, got to attend one of the weddings, it was a really special and emotional visit. Also have family in Indiana, New York state, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, Washington state and more (no Illinois yet though!)
How about the audacity to actually think you own land. It's all in the legal and banking dictionary under title and deed. We have legal title, not owner ship.not even your cars do you own. The deal sold them MCO to the DMV before you bought it. Now you know why you have to register it. Get your MCO and you don't have to register it.
I don't know how I came across your channel, but I'm glad I did. Being raised in Peoria, IlL and growing up in the projects, I've never even heard of the city of Anna. Thanks for the education and highlighting things that need to change as we evolve as people and a nation. 27 years of active duty military service will change your outlook on the color of a Man's skin. And yes I am a BLACK MAN. Thanks for the content.
NT, I saw your Cairo and Benton videos, then this one. Great stuff: informative, interesting, unique approach and becoming more refined. Really great work. Thanks for the videos!
Thank you so much for all of the work and research you put into these videos! I am a life long Chicagoland resident and its so interesting to see the history of towns I would drive past while going on road trips. As a white person its also very important for me to understand the struggles black people have went through and are still going through. The story about the BLM peaceful protest in Anna was a nice one that gives me hope.
I just learned about sundown towns I had no idea! Its crazy to know this sorta stuff still exists This little town is so cute tho (sad history) I love the houses! Thank you for sharing!
@@victordejung5675 This world is bad regardless, whether it’s a sundown town or drug infested town, hard to find anything good, honest, or safe these days!
In the early 1970s I was a photography student at SIU, Carbondale. I drove frequently to Anna to photograph buildings and streets in the late afternoon. This was where I finally discovered and was able to express the beauty of the sun lights in photographs. I snooped around, walked around the streets with a large format camera but nobody bothered me. Back then, I was a young Asian male (from S. Korea) in the 20s. Those B&W photographs taken in Anna are proudly on display in my living room.
Because your skin is closer to theirs, you probably didn’t stand out as much. Had you been a black or darker Latino person, they could’ve given you a rough time.
@@whyme3772 ?? Now that's a double stereotype. There are gradations of skin hue among both blacks and Koreans. Why can't you just take his experience for what it is?
First, I was watching world of briggs, then I came a-crossed this video talking about Anna, IL, which I thought was some normal small town. A few weeks later in school, I was reading a book about the unequal history of America when I saw Anna, IL in the book. Then I thought that Anna, IL is famous for something. So I came back to this video to watch it and learn all about it, great video!
Why did you take the long way to Jonesboro Illinois. It would have been shorter if you had gone through downtown Anna. Which is only 5 minutes a way from Walmart.
Chris you do such a great job of giving context of the town's history and explaining local landmarks. I haven't watched very many of your videos, but I really enjoy when I do. Keep up the great work man I love the videos!
I marched in the Anna protest. I live in the next city over in Carbondale. This video covered our cause in Anna’s history very well and I’m very glad to see this video presented in such a professional manner. 👏
I'm from the Chicago area... a friend of ours convinced us to move down there near the lake. We lived in Benton, and I made a friend from a town called Colpe. It'd just outside of Herrin which isn't far from Anna... he was a young black man and explained the racial history of the area and how African Americans built Colpe in response to not being able to get housing or buy homes in Herrin or "in town". Colpe is just about the size of a small subdivision. I only lasted down there about 2 years. Had a black roommate and experienced a lot of racist activity. I had to call the police once because a group of grown men were trying to mess with these young boys then tried to make it seem like the boys were being aggressive and had a knife... I genuinely feared for the kids. I walked them down the beach road and called the police for them. I couldn't deal. Moved back.
needless to say I was raised in Colp , Illinois in the mid 80s and there was something different about the place not seeing many Caucasians around until I got to Herrin, Illinois to school. It was very segregated back then .
For some of us Anna is more notorious for the Choate Mental Health Center that you passed at the end. It was founded in 1869. Alot of history around this place. Alot of people when you mention Anna in my area say, that's the place with the mental asylum.
I worked there up until a year and a half ago. Them halls do hold a lot of history. Going from there to a private mental health entity, sometimes makes me miss the amazing individuals who call Choate home. Heck even us techs call it home. Because we spend more time there than we do with family. I don’t live in Anna. The Wine Trail is home. Some bad people caused the nation to see all of us as bad. The younger generation do not tolerate racism at all. A lot know Anna by Choate ❤️
I was born and raised in Metropolis, IL (very Southern IL!) - Anna was always known in the area as the home of the several mental institutions there. My great aunt was very mentally challenged and lived in various institutions in Anna from age 18 until her death at age 75.
My hometown is Mounds, which is north of Cairo. Anna was known for it,, s mental hospital. I don't know anything about sundown; my parents raised us in the rurals where we were not exposed to things like this.
Yep, when we would get in trouble my granny would say "I'm send y'all to Anna". I never knew it was a sundown town. But now several African Americans work at the mental institution.
I never knew Metropolis was a real town until 16 years ago. Edit: Funny how the fictional Metropolis was like a big city in Kansas, but in real-life, rural tiny town in IL.
My family originally settled in Kinmundy, but my great grandfather was institutionalized in a state hospital in Anna. I was hoping you might stop to show the location. It’s nearly impossible to find any records left from those days. That’s very sad. One other interesting point if that the Annabelle hydrangeas were rediscovered in Anna (hence the name). It was thought that this variety had vanished. Nope. It survived in little Anna, Illinois.
I've lived in Illinois all my life, born and raised...not always proud of that fact for certain reasons. However, I can honestly say that I've never heard of sun down town's in my life, but racism is wrong and shouldn't even exist...no matter where you are or the color of your skin...people are people and should be equal and treated fairly.
The best music you've played on any of your videos! Being from Central Illinois, it is amazing the different cultures you encounter throughout Illinois. Demographically, Southern Illinois is basically in the southern US. Illinois could have been 3 states, north of I 80, I 80-I 64 and South of I 64
The movie Fugitive with Harrison Ford had a scene filmed in Anna. An ambulance was crossing RR tracks on S Main St then turning right onto E Vienna St 20:54
Everytime I was coming east I got gas in Iowa I just drove through illinois never slowed down until I hit Indiana. Got gas in Indiana. The amount fuel is in illinois they should pave EVERY road EVERY year. The amount of crooked deals in illinois is insane. So I always try not to stop/ do business there.
Heyyyyy! New to the channel! Go to Grundy, VA. It's where I went to law school. 🤷🏾♂️ The people in Bluefield, W. Va. Said that it used to be a sundown town.
Southern Illinois Whites are more Racist then Southern Whites and Southern Illinois Whites hate big cities more then any other Whites because Chicago impacts the rest of the State so heavily, Also I would rather live in a big city then the middle of nowhere.
Have a good friend who’s Grandfather was born and raised in Anna and the stories are 100% true. Her Grandparents didnt like me too much when I came around me being of Mexican descent but after a while they loosened up. Unfortunately its just the way some people are raised.
We have to keep in mind that there are Sundown Towns all across the United States, not just in the south. I was aware of the southern areas, but i was curious to see if there were more, and unfortunately YES!
Love this channel , great video bro, love your attention to detail and not only your historical facts , but your unadulterated opinions or commentary as well, keep going bro !! 🙏🏾… oh yeah now subscribed !!
Thank you for this video....we need more people like you, im from illinois....do more videos like this......i need to know this to protect my family....
I stopped at that same Wal-Mart in Anna in August of 2019, after escaping the mother of all traffic jams on I-57 earlier that day. I bought a Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats T-Shirt, a Dr Pepper and a Snickers. I met a delightful check out lady who said that they had moved there from Downers Grove a upscale Chicago suburb. She said they enjoyed it there very much. Perhaps it is just a matter of perspective.
i live and worked around anna all my life . i even walked in the black live matter 2020 with my daughter its not a raciest town at all. for changing there name because what people did with the A N N A wouldn't be right I imagine even all the town around where just as raciest back then why not chance there names also. the town anna wasn't name from that raciest saying it was from a woman.
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RUclips is great...the timestamps are a nice feature too! Thanks. ... channel looks really good.
Thanks for the kind words, Doug!
Grew up there. Ran far far away 20 years ago. Union co. IL is still a very racist stuck in 1950's ways.
This whers they kilt Jelani Day a few months ago
@@ChrisHarden Pekin Illinois near Peoria maybe the worst in Illinois
I’m literally in tears! Years ago my car caught a flat on Christmas Eve traveling to my dads funeral and a sheriff told me to get my children together and he’d have my car towed to his father who owned a tire shop but had closed early for the holiday..When we got there his elderly father greeted us as if we were his own guest rather than customers. He offered coffee, drinks & snacks for the kids while we waited. Not only did he change the tire free of charge he gave my kids a 20 dollar bill a piece for Christmas.. Here’s the creepy part, the son( Sheriff) followed us out the town and about 5 miles before he turned around! Now I understand why🤧 I kept the dads business card and mailed him an thank you card and a appreciation token because he refused to take it in person.. There’s still angels in this world and in the town of Anna.. I’m glad I ran across this post..
are you black?
Sheriff Brian Watkins is a great man!
Wow. Blessings to him for being a blessing to The Most Highs people.
Are you white? No disrespect
God was surely with u. Thank u Jesus!
If yall watched "lovecraft country" .. and was paying attention... they highlighted this.
Yes they did
@@dominicandream4898 facts
I watched that. It was good.
I loved that show
That's probably why it was cancelled.... To much truth
Saw a comment on Reddit, searched on google to see what it meant and found this video. Less than 10 minutes into it and I already appreciate the effort you put in it.
I’m 32 a black male from Chicago. I went to college at southern Illinois university in edwardsville. A nice amount of white friends I met freshman year were from Anna and they were all great guys with a friendship that was genuine and always felt accepted amongst them all. And even though they never came off as racist to me they told me that the long time nickname for Anna was Ain’t.No.Niggas.Allowed. It was shocking when they told me and it was obvious they didn’t live life feeling that way. And always invited me to Anna and promised I would be the safest with them while there. But yea long story short after they told me that I never took a trip to Anna to visit 🤣😬. I believe they woulda made sure I was okay but I passed on it. Shout out to all my anna friends I miss those guys
smart man 😭✊️
Smart. I trust no one. You prob would be on the news
They couldn't help you though especially in sundown towns you were smart for not going back even if you have some friends there since you're not friends with everyone there.
Good choice, you would've never returned back home.
My wife was raised and went to school there. she told me that Anna stood for what you'd said.pretty sad.
They still use that acronym. Stopped in there with a black co-worker to grab a bite to eat an a older gentleman behind us in line asked him if he knew what Anna stood for then told him. We left cause we didn't need any problems cause we'll we all know small town cops!
I would’ve left too. Maybe would’ve told him some not so nice things on the way out. I’m speechless.
I am so sorry that happened to you. Please know that not everyone feels that way. I am ashamed for the ignorance and hate that you were shown.
@Tim Cahill....the key word in your comment is [ older ] gentleman.
He was probably younger during the riots in southern Illinois. So was I, but do not have the same opinion.
Please, don't let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch. We are all equal.
@@ChrisHarden
Please don't judge us ...he's one.
Anna is a friendly town. We have residents from all walks of life.
Much respect from Southern Illinois
My Lord, when did this happen?
Great coverage and historical facts! Your channel is the best virtual travel channel I’ve come across.
Thank you!
I have family all over the state of Illinois, and I was born and raised in the deep South. I can honestly say when I visited family up north, I experienced more racism than you can ever imagine. The worse and the most frightening experience is when I visited my sister who lived right outside of Boston. I swore I would never return there ever again.
My home town was not perfect, but I never felt afraid or threatened when out and about.
Facts, people think the south is racist (I'm in FL) but I never experienced such blatant racism until I went to Chicago.
I'm an hour south of Anna and never knew about this. Never witness blatant racism in real life until I went north towards chicago and up to Michigan
@@JoeyLegendd You must have went thru Cicero. You won't necessarily experience it directly in the city of Chicago
@@Chevyboiz nah man it was in the city of Chicago. The trains, the stores.
@@JoeyLegendd Oh so black folks don't operate the liquor stores no more in Chicago?? Wow
I’m embarrassed to admit that I grew up in Anna. Their bigotry was/is the norm, not the exception. When I went away to college, I had to unlearn that bigotry and replace that with morality. For over 40 years, I’ve only returned to that community for weddings and funerals.
I work with a guy from Anna. After I watched this video I asked him about it. He said it's not as bad as it used to be. If Iron Kettle was still there I would like to take my girlfriend there, but not after I saw this video.
Wow.
And we should believe you?
@@charlessedlacek5754 - Do you have an opposing viewpoint? Let’s hear it.
Don't be embarrassed. Take the past with humility and grace. Never forget the chapters of our lives, even the pages we think are dark and violent.
Certainly it isn't good the ignorance was rampant and you were not at fault swept in the gloom. Yet it can become a fault for having the pride to say I'm far better than those. . .egos simply can get the better of us quickly and we then become no better than what we claim to be above.
My father was from Illinois, my mother from Tennessee. I was born in the early 60's. I was raised to believe color doesn't matter and not to judge people by color. I raised my daughter the same way. Her bff from before we left the bigger city for a quieter life was a girl of color. They're both grown now. We're still in touch. She's part of our family, the girls were that close. It was heartwarming to watch them together. They were truly sisters. It's a shame everyone can't be like they are.
See laws that effect colors
I know that feeling.
I lived in Birmingham and my best friend was black. We didn't see white & black, just people. His family treated me like family.
It is a shame. My mom taught us (mostly by example) to be respectful everyone. White, Black, Hispanic, etc, didn't matter.
You were truly blessed. That’s the way it should be. My liberal parents wouldn’t allow me to have my best friend in grade school spend the night. Here was their answer. What would the neighbors think? Don’t like making anything political because it’s on both sides. With that being said everybody knows Illinois history. Read about Southern Illinois KKK and highly recommend Bloody Williamson book.
@@sealyoness
Key word: Example!
People complain about not enough whoopings and beat downs today, but examples are far more important. Adults today are not enough of example regardless of age.
My parents moved from Cairo to Chicago as young adults. We would visit my grandmother and extended family in Cairo over the summers. As a kid I enjoyed but didn't understand why my mom would prepare a lot of food for the trip. But learned that there weren't many places for black families to safely stop for food, gas or restroom breaks with kids. This ugly sore on American will never be healed until we have an honest dialog about our history. Chris, thanks for your contributions to the dialog.
Kinda like white folks in the inner city
If dialogue hasn't worked thus YET... it'll never work. No talking. It's already prophesied their will be war and bloodshed ...as it's always been inorded for another to take over or rule over the majority. Which is going to be happening very soon, if you haven't noticed the days and times were in. ⌛
Cairo used to be like some Jim Crow town in Mississippi. Then about 1969, the blacks got fed up with it and fought back. The racist whites even started their own school Camelot High, so their kids wouldn't have to go to school with black kids. Now all the white people are gone. Bye Felicia 👋!
Wow, these personal stories are always great to read and hear. Thanks for sharing.
I was born in cairo
Yea went southern Illinois university and had to drive through Anna to get to work got pulled over everyday by the same cop to the point we actually got kinda friendly I would say but it still was profiling
That’s wild that they profiled you often enough to get to know you. Sounds like a Dave Chappell sketch or something
I'm sorry you had to deal with that. I used to live in southern Illinois and it sucks
you'll have that
Should of sued him for a illegal stop
The same cop pulled you over everyday? Did he give you a ticket or warning every time that he pulled you over everyday? Do you have any proof that you were pulled over every single time that you passed through this town? Did this cop learn your schedule just so he could pull you over every single day? Did you start leaving early for work in order to accommodate extra time for your daily police stop? Everyday? That's a very believable story.
I ran the Coca-Cola warehouse in St. Louis. We didn't send our black drivers to Anna. For a reason.
Surprised to hear of a black with a job.
@@DJ-rt5ls grow up it’s 2023
@@judasz1427 and there are still 2 times the amount of blacks on unemployment than whites. Yet only 13% of the US population is black. Facts, look it up.
Good...not wanted.
"Our" black driver's???
I moved from Carbondale to a Chicago suburb halfway through high school. One of my teachers was asking me about SIL and I mentioned Anna being a sundown town. She genuinely didn’t know what the term meant and I had to explain it to her. I was about as shocked that there were people who hadn’t ever heard of sundown towns as she was that sundown towns even existed lol
Sad isnt it
If she was white she knew
Sad to say I’m 55 years old and probably learned of sundown towns only a few years ago 😔
Our education systems do not teach us the truth, which keeps us ignorant, the opposite of what it is intended to do…
We can’t learn from a history that is kept from us 💔
Tbh I just found out about sundown towns on Reddit today, so here I am now investigating on RUclips. Lol
Lived in California my whole life so I feel like I've been kinda sheltered from the reality of the type of in-your-face racism that exists in other states.
She's LIE'N to YOU..All racist WHITE supremacists in WHITE America knows about SUN DOWN TOWNS..And THATS a FACT!
Chris you have presented an excellent video and your stories about Anna is enlightening and encouraging. Thank you and be safe.
My maternal family is from Vienna (20 miles east of Anna), another sundown town. Growing up I heard so many stories about the local history. Like what the name Anna stood for, stories about lynchings and black settlements being burned to the ground... As a kid, I thought they were just made up town legends, turns out they were absolutely true.
sad stuff :(
I bet it was named after Santa Anna he would burn 🔥 White Texan settlements.
@@AK47_414 But..It Is THE [TRUTH]
This is what kids need to be learning abt in school.
Oh shit I was from goreville moved away asap to Missouri
Just discovered this channel, amazing quality and very interesting history provided. Love this style!
I’m black and have been to Anna a ton of times. I’ve heard about its reputation but have luckily never experienced anything bad there except for maybe some weird looks and an incident where someone at their courthouse almost got my license suspended because they forgot to submit something. My parents always tell me to be careful when I go there to see friends though. I hear more stuff regarding racism coming from West Frankfort
Be careful and be safe
Not worth the risk... they still the way they were in the past ,don't let tranquility fool you... once someone is spotted the whole town knows, they use technology, cell phones, I've traveled through them towns and I've seen the residents picking throughout their windows, when you think nobody is watching you there's when you're wrong...leaving the past behind "my eye"
Glad you didn't have any troubles in Anna. According to Wikipedia, Anna was 1 percent Black/African American in 2010. Hopefully this means that there is now some racial harmony in Anna.
@@jomarz1828 this comment need more view. That's why you won't get it
@@jomarz1828 experienced the same,, nothing has changed it just got more sophisticated, your employees, employers, churches, schools, and regularly frequented establishment have been doing the same for a very long time.
Chris I really appreciate you for putting together this video. Great history. Important lessons and beautiful cinematography.
wow I really enjoy ALL your post. These are amazing, and love them. This is the part of amreica that often for real thanks!!! Please stay safe and be careful :-)
Thanks for the kind words!
Thank you for having a very clean youtube channel
I love watching you drive around. Since I can't afford to leave my own town anymore
Biden prices
It’s amazing how society refuses to talk about America’s sun down urban cities 🤷♂️
😂 You mean ghettos
Reservations too
@@samuraisaxon6800 From my experience, white people are safer in poor black neighborhoods more than other black people.
Rural..Not Urban
I don't know why I love these drive through videos, but they keep me rapt. I live in southern Illinois. One of the smallest town in the middle of no where. Your Detroit stuff is cool too. I can't stop watching
I've lived in Southern Illinois since 1987, and lived in Union County through junior high/high school. Anna and Jonesboro are basically the same town. You just drive down a street in the middle of town and there's a sign that says Jonesboro city limits. Your GPS took you on scenic route! When I was in high school a Mexican family moved into town, and a certain group of people in town threatened to burn them out... in the 1990's...Having moved here from Dayton, Ohio, I just couldn't believe it.
Racists.
Back in the 1960's up until about 1970 or so, the city of Glendale CA. had signs on the freeway offramps and on major streets that read: "All Negroes and Mexicans must be outside of the city limits of Glendale by sunset. Anyone found after that will be subject to arrest". Then they gave the city ordinance number followed by the names of the mayor and chief of police. I asked my Mom about that back in '67 or thereabouts, and she explained to me what it meant. Then in about 1970 the signs came down, as they were unenforceable. Now you go to Glendale and it's a mix of all races and colors, which is as it should be. Glad to have found your channel Chris. The old racist mentalities died hard in this country.
Not totally gone yet. Therefore we get a trump mentality voting still. Angry the laws have changed, determined to " make merrikka great AGAIN?". HMMMM. For WHO?
That's crazy! Glad I don't live there!
It was like that in Pasadena too.
They don’t die
Racism is a spiritual entity & stronghold in some places. Laws alone won't do away with it.
I have driven/riden through this town since the 80s when I was a kid, going to Cape Girardeau to visit my Grandmother. Not too much has changed but it has certainly been a well kept town to say the least. Thank you for the videos of the Souther Illinois and Southern Missouri. As for the town changing the name, I think if you try to gloss over what use to be, or try to cover up the past with a name change you diminish the history of those that lived it, endured its struggles, and not learn from it. To teach others in the future you have to have something to show, and a path way to educate to make better.
i love this comment
Thank you for saying that coolhand501. Changing things like names solves very little. We need to learn from the good and the bad from the past. Avoiding controversies makes people weak and breeds bad ideas.
@@_HellYeah ehhhhh considering this acronym I’ve been hearing if it was named solely on the premise of racism I don’t see why it couldn’t be changed...especially if it’s not racist anymore (which we know it is)
@@mimi7574 Go back and watch the video again. The town is named after a woman named Anna. In order to claim that it is still racist you would need to go over there and prove that and not just speculate. We as a people need to stop lumping things together and assigning some sort of attitude or behavior to it.
@@_HellYeah I said, which we know it still is because there’s a database of sundown towns accessible to the public and this database gets updated when incidents occur and when I clicked on Anna the last incident was someone being advised not to stay in 2014 and when they didn’t know why the acronym was said. It can be argued that we don’t know the validity of the claim or that 2014 was a while ago but racist ideology doesn’t just disappear. Even when suppressed, there’s people in that same town teaching it to their kids. To say that it’s not when we know racism has really been apparent lately would be naive. I saw the video title then looked at the database before watching, btw
It’s true about Anna . I lived in Cairo. Racism was the area’s demise!
What happened?
I am born and raised in Chicago…at 71 years old, I have never heard about this town or the acronym. I wish I hadn’t. DISGUSTING!
Changing the name will do nothing, the name is not at fault. What is at fault are the hearts of those who bore such hate within themselves towards others, for simply being a shade or two different in pigment. And they will have the hardest time coping with such change. But it's still possible nonetheless. Thanks for the content.
Good thought. Thanks for the comment.
Hate towards thugs?
@@jaxxone4907 yall the last ones to call anybody thug
@@StlJvl say that again!!
@@jaxxone4907 bully behind a keyboard and wouldn’t know what to do in a room full of thugs.
9:17 So in 2020, Anna, IL, a poor town that also has a history of being a sundown town with a population of around 4000 residents, has a crime rate twice the national average? Imagine that.
This video makes me forget it's8 degrees out right now with a foot of snow on the ground and a wind chill advisory for pretty much all this week. Thank you for that.
Thanks for these videos. I am originally from Chicago and the information you have is eye-opening because I never knew the history downstate.
There are quite a few towns in southern Illinois that are still living in the past.And need I say most Trump support in Illinois comes from down there.
@@panchog2552 Almost the whole state is conservative other than a few counties in the north.
Cicero, and oak park used to be sundown towns too.
@@marcmo7138The cities tend to be more liberal. And because Chicago has so many people, it completely outweighs the small towns.
@@whyme3772 Unfortunately I know this but thanks.
Thank you for putting time stamps in your videos!
First time we watch one of your videos we live in Illinois and we had been through Anna and 127 we are subscribed and we enjoyed how you present everything going on😊
Thank you!
Yeahhh... I live 26 mins from Anna... I have lived in Southern Illinois for 15 years, only been to Anna ONCE & NEVER will again! At red lights they all the cars will stare at you. People walking by will stare at you in confusion, lol. Experienced this in Benton, IL, as well. Let's just say i keep my azz in the town of SIU! You all be safe out there. ❤
I would've stared too but that's because you look hot.
I was surprised you didn't touch on the subject of the state mental institution, Choate. I was raised in Anna and our government teacher in high school had given us a brief overview of the way Anna and Carbondale had negotiated to establish either the institution in one town and Southern Illinois University in the other. Growing up we went to Carbondale (30min outside of Anna) for anything more recreational, like malls or movie theaters. Since SIL had been established in Carbondale rather than Anna, thats the city which ended up thriving more economically and in diversity. Since I left in 2018 it seems to be declining more rapidly than I would've expected. I moved to Las Vegas and most people look at me funny when I tell them, I moved to escape a toxic home environment. I understand why though. When you think of someplace lacking in toxicity I don't think most people would think of Vegas especially if you've been or live here. There's plenty of toxicity in Vegas, no doubt. For me though it was about the people I was surrounded by creating a toxic headspace and thats the unfortunate side of a small town. Young adults don't have much option for stimulation, which is why if you aren't stoned all day other people are smoking meth back home. Bored kids park their trucks in empty parking lots getting drunk and gossiping, if there's someone of a minority group in town, theyll be gossiping about them. Everyone tells everyone they know the latest crap they heard about whoever so everyone thinks they know your business and if they don't they're trying to find out. Personally, I wouldn't socialize with many people, im just not naturally gifted at things like that but because I'm a quieter person and also was one of the 3 Asian people in town, it was easy to ostracize me. All that I could handle but I realize now it put me in a guarded kind of mindset, which lead to crippling depression, and my home life was turbulent as well which the added outside negativity combined equalled three hospitalizations on suicide watch and a substance dependency I still battle. People in small towns like Anna are completely unaware how sheltered and narrow their view of everyone else and the world is. I come to Vegas and I can't believe the level of corruption and poverty I see even as we speak. I tell my mother, who still lives in anna, and she refuses to believe me. Its the people though, that make the real difference in any place you call home. Vegas, with all its flaws, I choose over living in a place where people are content settling for what they have, and closing off to the realities of the world. Thats why the BLM protest they participated in is so significant in my mind. Southern Illinoisians In general aren't okay with the injustices they see but they aren't gonna go out of their way to shake up anything. A protest like that in such a small town is so important because these kinds of towns are usually complacent in allowing social injustice to continue because they're not affected the way bigger metropolitan areas are, at least not in any immediately noticeable way. Whatever injustice you may find in larger areas can only be addressed when everyone in the nation is speaking out against it. Simple things like finding a job or getting around has been and still is a real and disproportionately difficult feat in Vegas compared to back home, and while my husband and I are struggling to survive with our first child on the way, ill take the struggle over living in a closed off community. Small towns breed a type of person with a smaller mindset in many ways. The fight to get on our feet is 10x harder out here but when we do, i know we will find more contentment for also being apart of a larger community with more opportunities for personal fulfillment.
I dislike living in small towns for the exact reason that you mentioned! I know that feeling quite well. Hope things turn out well for you in Vegas.
About the mental institution, yeah, I messed up on not including that one.
I came across your comment on the video about Anna, IL sundown . You provided a lot of details of your experience. Thanks for your input. Have you thought of writing book about your experiences. You have a gift of story telling.
My family lived in Anna. I kept hoping you would drive past my dad’s house but you didn’t. I liked your videos except for your suggestion to change the name of the town an I am about as “woke” as they come. I have been a “woker” since I was ten and I am now retired. Maybe coming up with a new acronym or some just don’t change the name. That is silly plus it will never be done.
I live in Joliet Illinois and didn’t even know southern Illinois was like this. I feel dumb
I’m in Illinois too, near the city. I went to the bar and there were proud boys there, it’s not just in the south.
Its not like everyone is saying
Its definitely not a ghetto. No gangs. Or riots.Just good country folk not looking for trouble
Why is that so wrong? I do y go to areas were I do y fit on. So why can't prove live like they want. There not out victimizing people.
Why be upset with people
Just being who they are. O have to much to worry about in my own life. I do have time look for fault.
@@novapier7260 and it’s not just white areas. There are areas where white people should not be found.
Your not dumb. Just want you to know that some people want people and the world should live.think.breath.smell look for dirt. That is what the left democratic party is looking for. They want to be victims and people that don't think as they do ate victimizers.
I have to admit this was my grandmother's hometown and was settled by many of my ancestors. My great grandfather was a Sheriff here and my 3rd great grandfather was a judge. My grandmother left after she married around 1920, but other family members remained in the family home on Vienna Street. Last time I checked google street view the house was still there but looked abandoned and dilapidated. I never knew the dark history of the town until I started researching the town for genealogy research.
Sry sir your great grandfather was a racist and yo grandma
@@patroberts9497 you would be still living in your moms basement you coward
@@patroberts9497 what ???
@@patroberts9497 bro… what?
Some deep racist roots in your family huh
Illinois is a sundown state! Southern illinois is bad, but central, western, eastern, & northern illinois is just as bad if not worse!
Your videos are as if I/ 🌍🌎 are in your passenger seat riding & chatting, well done thanks for the tours!
Also let's not be in denial. People are just more silent and on code today but not much has changed in lots of Americans minds.
Its 2022 and the fact that places like this still exist is astonishing
Pfft look who's doing the killing in the US. It ain't in the sundown towns.
Not really. This is the usa
And very necessary
@@davidballard5841 wow! Smh Caucasians are allergic to the Sun! And u feel that way?
@@davidballard5841 How is it very necessary?
I hope and Ef 5 tornado larger than the city hits it
Hell yea
@@BigSoulja69 .......NO H8
@Daily .......NO H8
@Maggot "Shallow minded"
@Maggot ill deal with not having clean hands if it meant my future kids didnt have to deal wit racism tbh
I just found this video. It's September 24th 2022.
I was raised in southern Illinois.
The house that we lived in , most of my life , was the oldest house in the town.
My father remodeled the house , and found a tunnel under our house.
It was a big part of the Underground Railroad.
We were told not to talk about it to anyone.
The old man that my father spoke to that helped in building the house and tunnel, gave my father strict orders to stay out of the tunnel. My father was a policeman in the town.
My father questioned that old man until all that man would say is,"it's better to let sleeping dogs lye ".
THANK you for posting and sharing this. This is an important part of American History, and 'American growing up'.
Wow. Did you go down to the tunnel? You have a very interesting story
@@jtozuna when my Dad removed the coal burning furnace, he found the entrance to the tunnel. He didn't know how safe it was, so he put a bright flashlight down there and a mirror , to look how far it went out.
Wtf
who the hell would want to live there?
It’s nice here, but the people are whack.
@Maggot I mean if You like being isolated go for it. 👍🏼
@Maggot I literally can't change that. Most everyone in my class is a POS, not to mention all the idiots who I have to deal with on a daily basis.
i'm sure [conservative] white people
White people....???
I live in Chicago, and I’ve never heard of Anna Illinois until today , very interesting subject
instead of changing names and forgetting history, maybe we should be proud that things have changed and are not like they used to be....to forget history is to repeat it!
Have they changed? Sundown towns still exist in 2022. Let that sink in.
@@taymangaming it jus saying it is racist without saying tho..... Don't fall for that b.s
@@taymangaming Livonia Mi is still a sun down town.
Amazing videos. I can tell you work really hard on these!
Thank you!
I was born in Anna in '52 while my father was in Korea. We moved to the StL area for work when he got out in '53.
Still have lots of family there that we visited often as I grew up. You drove right by my grandfather's home in Jonesboro where he lived when I was a boy, and the cemetery in Anna where he now rests.
In all my 72 years, this is the first time I ever heard that 'Sundowner' reference, or the Anna acronym.
A real bucket of cold water on my boyhood memories...
Watching from Northern Ireland here. Places I will most likely never see in real life. To an outsider, so many of these towns all look like they are straight out of Lanford in Roseanne sitcom. I don't mean that with any offense. I always wanted to live in that house. Although the sundown mentality would scare me off. Even though I'm white. I cannot abide racism or bigotry in any shape way or form.
Peace walls
Sir u r more then welcome to come and visit we r a beautiful little town and it has changed
@@katherinevandervort6402 What a lovely, kind and caring thing to say. Should I be lucky enough to visit Illinois, and that is a state I have always wanted to visit! It would be an honour to meet and learn more.
@@cocteaut I have relatives that live in Ireland and going to the emerald isles would be a dream
@@katherinevandervort6402 I really hope you get a chance to visit 'our wee place' as we say! The better half and I both did the dna thing, I'm adopted, so it was interesting to see the majority of my living blood kin residing in Canada and the US. Two of my sisters live in British Columbia, got to attend one of the weddings, it was a really special and emotional visit. Also have family in Indiana, New York state, Maine, Ohio, Oregon, Washington state and more (no Illinois yet though!)
These piano compositions are gorgeous. I'd love to know the name of them.
the audacity to think you own land when it was stolen to begin with 😂😂 DISGUSTING
How about the audacity to actually think you own land. It's all in the legal and banking dictionary under title and deed. We have legal title, not owner ship.not even your cars do you own. The deal sold them MCO to the DMV before you bought it. Now you know why you have to register it. Get your MCO and you don't have to register it.
Conquered*
@@bretthousman8317 Stolen. and everybody knows it. 😂🤣
I don't know how I came across your channel, but I'm glad I did. Being raised in Peoria, IlL and growing up in the projects, I've never even heard of the city of Anna. Thanks for the education and highlighting things that need to change as we evolve as people and a nation. 27 years of active duty military service will change your outlook on the color of a Man's skin. And yes I am a BLACK MAN. Thanks for the content.
you people ruined Peoria
Im from Peoria I also never heard of Anna certainly wouldn’t ever go there
@@richardvoncline😂😂😂😂 it’s 2023 baby get over it
@@richardvonclineGROW UP!!
@@tyleashia714Thank you for that response!
NT, I saw your Cairo and Benton videos, then this one. Great stuff: informative, interesting, unique approach and becoming more refined. Really great work. Thanks for the videos!
Thank you so much for all of the work and research you put into these videos! I am a life long Chicagoland resident and its so interesting to see the history of towns I would drive past while going on road trips. As a white person its also very important for me to understand the struggles black people have went through and are still going through. The story about the BLM peaceful protest in Anna was a nice one that gives me hope.
I appreciate your video content. It really shines a light on a dark and foreboding past.
I just learned about sundown towns I had no idea! Its crazy to know this sorta stuff still exists This little town is so cute tho (sad history) I love the houses! Thank you for sharing!
Isn’t That Just Crazy! Sorta Ike how illegal drugs
💊💊💉🥄💦🔥🥴🤤😵 just appeared🇺🇸big cities..🤔💭❓
@@victordejung5675 This world is bad regardless, whether it’s a sundown town or drug infested town, hard to find anything good, honest, or safe these days!
Now you know where to move, a nice sundown town. No gangs, crime, or rape. Just hard working white people.
@33Donner77 the thing is that sundown town will literally unalive, attack, etc. Outsiders. Its pure degeneracy and evil.
In the early 1970s I was a photography student at SIU, Carbondale. I drove frequently to Anna to photograph buildings and streets in the late afternoon. This was where I finally discovered and was able to express the beauty of the sun lights in photographs. I snooped around, walked around the streets with a large format camera but nobody bothered me. Back then, I was a young Asian male (from S. Korea) in the 20s. Those B&W photographs taken in Anna are proudly on display in my living room.
Umm that's because you are Asian. Try being me. A black man
So what’s your point? You like small white racist towns?
Because your skin is closer to theirs, you probably didn’t stand out as much. Had you been a black or darker Latino person, they could’ve given you a rough time.
@@whyme3772 ?? Now that's a double stereotype. There are gradations of skin hue among both blacks and Koreans. Why can't you just take his experience for what it is?
@@africkinamerican Still plausible. You know these sundown towns.
I pulled up by myself around midnight. They was like we liked Obama. Lol
First, I was watching world of briggs, then I came a-crossed this video talking about Anna, IL, which I thought was some normal small town. A few weeks later in school, I was reading a book about the unequal history of America when I saw Anna, IL in the book. Then I thought that Anna, IL is famous for something. So I came back to this video to watch it and learn all about it, great video!
I remember being in this town late one night helping a friend who’s car stopped coming from Cape we were so terrified
Did anything happen, or did locals help you?
Why did you take the long way to Jonesboro Illinois. It would have been shorter if you had gone through downtown Anna. Which is only 5 minutes a way from Walmart.
Walmart is in Anna Illinois
beautiful house , beautiful countryside view , thank you mr.chris
Chris you do such a great job of giving context of the town's history and explaining local landmarks. I haven't watched very many of your videos, but I really enjoy when I do. Keep up the great work man I love the videos!
Love your videos and your commentary! I appreciate your dry humor
Anna, Illinois is where the Annabelle Hydrangeas was originally found. Also the state hospital has some family history for me
The cleanest looking poor town I have seen yet.
Love it! Great channel!
Thank you!
Damn bro you thought of everything....
I like the way you handle your videos it's informative to the point and factual
Well done, I truly enjoyed this video. Good luck with your channel, excellent format.
I marched in the Anna protest. I live in the next city over in Carbondale. This video covered our cause in Anna’s history very well and I’m very glad to see this video presented in such a professional manner. 👏
Tf is a northern state doing being that racist anyway tf smh.
Thanks for your support Nate;!
W nate
So you're a confederate?
@@justchilling704 Most sundown towns were located in the northern states.
I'm from the Chicago area... a friend of ours convinced us to move down there near the lake. We lived in Benton, and I made a friend from a town called Colpe. It'd just outside of Herrin which isn't far from Anna... he was a young black man and explained the racial history of the area and how African Americans built Colpe in response to not being able to get housing or buy homes in Herrin or "in town". Colpe is just about the size of a small subdivision. I only lasted down there about 2 years. Had a black roommate and experienced a lot of racist activity. I had to call the police once because a group of grown men were trying to mess with these young boys then tried to make it seem like the boys were being aggressive and had a knife... I genuinely feared for the kids. I walked them down the beach road and called the police for them. I couldn't deal. Moved back.
I couldn’t live in that type of culture ever
It’s spelled “Colp”.
needless to say I was raised in Colp , Illinois in the mid 80s and there was something different about the place not seeing many Caucasians around until I got to Herrin, Illinois to school. It was very segregated back then .
Columbia, Il. is also a sundown town and still has a siren that goes off everyday (or at least it did up until 7-8 years ago).
omg really
😪😪
Omg
Wth
Maybe it’s worth checking that out. If the siren is still active, then it’s a matter of acting fast to defuse it. It’s 2022 fro crying out loud!!
My hometown had a siren that went off every night at 10pm. It was for minors to go home. Also known as a curfew siren.
My congratulations the video is excellent.The video has great images.Good Job :)
Okay ya got me hooked! As our home is watching the Market, we are processing buying land.
For some of us Anna is more notorious for the Choate Mental Health Center that you passed at the end. It was founded in 1869. Alot of history around this place.
Alot of people when you mention Anna in my area say, that's the place with the mental asylum.
I've unfortunately took many a patients there and its a crazy feeling walking through the halls. Just imagine the stories those walls could tell.
Agreed! Anna has always been associated with asylum in my forty years of living. I’ve never ever heard of the acronym. Ever.
I worked there up until a year and a half ago. Them halls do hold a lot of history. Going from there to a private mental health entity, sometimes makes me miss the amazing individuals who call Choate home. Heck even us techs call it home. Because we spend more time there than we do with family. I don’t live in Anna. The Wine Trail is home. Some bad people caused the nation to see all of us as bad. The younger generation do not tolerate racism at all. A lot know Anna by Choate ❤️
I was born and raised in Metropolis, IL (very Southern IL!) - Anna was always known in the area as the home of the several mental institutions there. My great aunt was very mentally challenged and lived in various institutions in Anna from age 18 until her death at age 75.
Choate hospital
My hometown is Mounds, which is north of Cairo. Anna was known for it,, s mental hospital. I don't know anything about sundown; my parents raised us in the rurals where we were not exposed to things like this.
Yep, when we would get in trouble my granny would say "I'm send y'all to Anna". I never knew it was a sundown town. But now several African Americans work at the mental institution.
I never knew Metropolis was a real town until 16 years ago.
Edit: Funny how the fictional Metropolis was like a big city in Kansas, but in real-life, rural tiny town in IL.
My family originally settled in Kinmundy, but my great grandfather was institutionalized in a state hospital in Anna. I was hoping you might stop to show the location. It’s nearly impossible to find any records left from those days. That’s very sad.
One other interesting point if that the Annabelle hydrangeas were rediscovered in Anna (hence the name). It was thought that this variety had vanished. Nope. It survived in little Anna, Illinois.
I've lived in Illinois all my life, born and raised...not always proud of that fact for certain reasons. However, I can honestly say that I've never heard of sun down town's in my life, but racism is wrong and shouldn't even exist...no matter where you are or the color of your skin...people are people and should be equal and treated fairly.
The best music you've played on any of your videos!
Being from Central Illinois, it is amazing the different cultures you encounter throughout Illinois. Demographically, Southern Illinois is basically in the southern US. Illinois could have been 3 states, north of I 80, I 80-I 64 and South of I 64
I really appreciate the content and the scenic view; I just hope your vehicle is fuel efficient.😇 Thanks.
The movie Fugitive with Harrison Ford had a scene filmed in Anna. An ambulance was crossing RR tracks on S Main St then turning right onto E Vienna St 20:54
I'm still try'n to find that dam ...
@@582tird lol, me too !
@@582tird The dam is actually in North Carolina
Sun down town Chicago Illinoiis black Americans hurt every weekend,very sad
I'm happy to view these driving videos during the $5/gal gas price times!
P.S. I left Illinois over 20 years ago due to the high cost of staying during retirement....
Did you notice the price of gas in the video? about half as much a gallon as it is now.
Everytime I was coming east I got gas in Iowa I just drove through illinois never slowed down until I hit Indiana. Got gas in Indiana. The amount fuel is in illinois they should pave EVERY road EVERY year. The amount of crooked deals in illinois is insane. So I always try not to stop/ do business there.
Heyyyyy! New to the channel! Go to Grundy, VA. It's where I went to law school. 🤷🏾♂️ The people in Bluefield, W. Va. Said that it used to be a sundown town.
Informative video Chris! Keep em coming.
Love Southern Illinois and its people. Better than big cities.
Southern Illinois Whites are more Racist then Southern Whites and Southern Illinois Whites hate big cities more then any other Whites because Chicago impacts the rest of the State so heavily, Also I would rather live in a big city then the middle of nowhere.
Have a good friend who’s Grandfather was born and raised in Anna and the stories are 100% true. Her Grandparents didnt like me too much when I came around me being of Mexican descent but after a while they loosened up. Unfortunately its just the way some people are raised.
It’s also ungodly. There are a lot of folks I fear for who think they are Christian but are not.
They still had that hate in their heart for you. They just learned how to deal with you. That hate still existed.
We have to keep in mind that there are Sundown Towns all across the United States, not just in the south. I was aware of the southern areas, but i was curious to see if there were more, and unfortunately YES!
Love this channel , great video bro, love your attention to detail and not only your historical facts , but your unadulterated opinions or commentary as well, keep going bro !! 🙏🏾… oh yeah now subscribed !!
Thank you for this video....we need more people like you, im from illinois....do more videos like this......i need to know this to protect my family....
I stopped at that same Wal-Mart in Anna in August of 2019, after escaping the mother of all traffic jams on I-57 earlier that day. I bought a Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats T-Shirt, a Dr Pepper and a Snickers. I met a delightful check out lady who said that they had moved there from Downers Grove a upscale Chicago suburb. She said they enjoyed it there very much. Perhaps it is just a matter of perspective.
It’s so beautiful there. My dad came from this area and I have lots of relatives that live here. If I was retired I’d move here.
Was she black?
@@chillinwsunshine7562 No
Assuming she is white, I guess it would be enjoyable seeing that she isn't affected that much by the sundown policy
@@paullindstrom7635 not important then..
i live and worked around anna all my life . i even walked in the black live matter 2020 with my daughter its not a raciest town at all. for changing there name because what people did with the A N N A wouldn't be right I imagine even all the town around where just as raciest back then why not chance there names also. the town anna wasn't name from that raciest saying it was from a woman.
Well in Arcola they were trying to put me in jail so bad and to this day I still don’t know why.
Wow
Thank you for this video and all your research.
thank you for sharing i love see old towns in different states
As you're driving, I kept waiting for Jeremy Dewitt to whiz by yelling. 😁
I want a lieutenant now, SAR-G'NT!
you better figure it out!
I learned about these sundown towns today in a company’s meeting
What is this piano piece I love this
By the ash tree by Slow Meadow
History shows that both those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it that's why we can't change the name of the town!