Audio By Carbonatix
Shamar Alion took to TikTok to share his “Sundowntown story time.” The Black man said that while working as a truck driver in Florida, he had a truly terrifying encounter. His truck broke down, and his dispatcher ordered him to stay with the vehicle to protect its contents while waiting for the tow truck.
Alion was parked at “this old-a– Circle K gas station in the middle of nowhere.” He knew it would be hours before his company’s tow truck arrived. But he figured he could grab food and Gatorade at the gas station and wait it out.
He remembers, “An old white lady that was helping me at the counter was sweet as can be.” She asked how he was, and he explained that he’d broken down and would be waiting a long time. Then the police arrived.
The police arrive
“A Black police officer gets out and he asked me ‘What’s the problem?’ asked me what’s going on. He assesses the truck and says, ‘Listen, I’m going to have to take you somewhere.’”
At first, Alion was completely confused. He didn’t know if he was being arrested, or why. He dutifully got in the cruiser, then asked if the old woman at the counter had called the police.
“He said, she didn’t call the police on you. She called the police for you. I know her personally. He said, in 45 minutes, that sun was going to go down and you was going to go missing.”
The officer dropped Alion off at a well-lit mall where he could wait safely. The officer even called his dispatcher to explain the situation. When the tow truck driver arrived, he realized exactly where the truck had broken down, and he too refused to visit the small town after dark. Alion concluded, “This was about seven years ago and I swear I think about that s— every other day, d— near every day.” Mostly, he’s grateful to the lady who saved his life. “She could have just not said nothing. She could have just let me sit there. And I would have went missing.”
What is a sundown town?
Alion’s video title, “sundown town,” is technically a historic term. It referred to towns that posted signs requiring people of color to leave by sundown. The first curfews exclusively for people of color in the U.S. went into effect in 1714. Until the 1950s, the “sundown” law allowed Black travelers or truck drivers to pass through white communities, but prevented them from staying overnight. There were also sundown suburbs and entire sundown counties.
Today, no U.S. municipalities have an official law on the books preventing people of color from staying after dark. But as one TikToker said in response to Alion’s video, “They’re very much still alive and thriving and the next generation is holding it down.”
If you think Alion’s experience was an isolated, one-off incident, think again. He never mentioned the location in his video. But multiple commenters immediately responded: “Citra, Florida” and even identified “The Circle K on 301.” Alion just said, “yep.”
MotorBiscuit has reached out to @Shamar_Alion on TikTok for comment. You can see Alion tell the story himself in the video embedded below:
@shamar_alion ♬ original sound – Shamar Alion