The brutal — and continued — legacy of sundown towns
| THE BIG STORY
Sundown towns are still a problem for Black drivers
Sundown towns refer to towns, neighborhoods, or even just communities that are entirely white, created on purpose by keeping out ethnic minorities. The term came from signs posted that said that people of color — namely Black people — had to leave town by sundown.
Even now, they're still a concern for Black drivers in a lot of different ways. Black drivers are far, far more likely to be pulled over and searched by law enforcement than white drivers. In 2017, the NAACP issued a travel warning for the entire state of Missouri. Black travelers make TikToks and write blogs and books about the experience of being Black while driving through the country. "Black people are always alert, and it doesn't matter if that's in Miami, Vegas, or if it's Pigsty, Alabama, you know and feel when something is not right," said Martinique Lewis, president of the Black Travel Alliance.
"Today, the legacy of sundown towns continues to cast a shadow on the tradition of the great American road trip," writes reporter Ade Onibada, "creating additional challenges for Black motorists who dare to journey off the beaten path." It's a great piece; you should read it. Anuj Shrestha for BuzzFeed News STAYING ON TOP OF THIS
Atlantic City is shutting down its needle exchange program after a spike in US overdose deaths
Atlantic City lawmakers voted to close the 14-year-old needle exchange earlier this week. Last year, drug overdoses killed more than 93,000 people across the country, meanwhile there have been HIV outbreaks in West Virginia and Boston. Needle exchanges have been proven to limit HIV outbreaks by 50%, according to the CDC, and provide a pathway to better healthcare, overdose prevention, and addiction recovery services.
"It's going to be devastating for people," said Carol Harney, who leads the needle exchange site in Atlantic City. "It's already been devastating." SNAPSHOTS
Addison Rae kept quiet when asked whether she's a Trump supporter. It's not the first time she's been accused of such a thing.
Britney Spears' boyfriend Sam Asghari shut down rumors that they're engaged. Under her conservatorship, Britney is still blocked from getting married.
A man in Alaska was hunted by a grizzly bear for days until the Coast Guard rescued him. Bears truly are nature's most misunderstood murderers.
The original Space Jam director doesn't really like the Space Jam sequel. Frankly, it's fortuitous that we even live in a society where there are not one, but two Space Jams for us to argue about.
THIS IS FINE. EVERYTHING IS FINE.
The director of the Olympics Opening Ceremony was fired for making a Holocaust (and these quotation marks are doing so much work here) "joke"
Just one day before the Tokyo Summer Olympics were set to kick off (today!), director Kentaro Kobayashi was canned over footage from a 1998 sketch where he made an antisemitic crack about the Holocaust.
"I'm in the business of entertaining people. It should never be the case that I make people feel uncomfortable," Kobayashi said in an apology. "I understand that my foolish choice of words at the time was a mistake, and I regret it." His departure came a day after one of the Olympics' composers, Keigo Oyamada, resigned after an old magazine interview of his resurfaced where he admitted to bullying other kids in school, namely a classmate with learning difficulties.
It's our last day together, you and I, as I will be gently placed back in my glass display case at Buzzed Feed Inc., likely never to touch the newsletter again. We had fun, didn't we? Maybe I shouldn't ruin it by saying something inflammatory here, like how I think the Olympics are boring or that the [REDACTED] was [REDACTED] by the [REDACTED] and I'm not big on the [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED]. Wait — oh no, they're here to take me away. I don't want to go back in storage! I like it out here! I have more thoughts to share that can only present itself in newsletter form! No! Wait! I'm sorry! I won't make fun of space again! I'll write nicer sign-offs like Elamin did! I can get better! Wait!! AAAUUGGHHHHHHHFJWFKJ— I hope you have a nice weekend but something tells me you won't, Scaachi 📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by Scaachi Koul and BuzzFeed News. You can always reach us here.
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