Many white supremacy defenders have gone out of their way to deny any racist intent being a factor in this Napa Valley incident. One of the key strategies to maintaining the system of white supremacy,is by denying it’s existence,no matter how much proof or evidence is available.

One thing that is impossible to deny is the long,well documented history of blatant racism in the Napa Valley area. When you understand the history of white supremacy in Napa Valley, the alleged racial discrimination that these innocent Black women suffered on the Napa Valley Wine Train will not seem like a stretch of the imagination.

According to prominent white historian James Loewen, author of the book Sundown Towns-a book about cities and towns all across America that barred Black people from living in or visiting certain areas after sundown- Napa Valley allegedly had a policy of excluding Black citizens.

This exclusionary policy is evident today because the current population of Napa is 74,966 people and only 436 of those residents are Black. There is a saying among many of the residents of Napa Valley today that NAPA stands for “No African People Allowed.”

In the 1920’s, Napa Valley hosted a huge Ku Klux Klan rally that brought in around 10,000 people. There is a mural in downtown Napa today that commemorates the KKK history in Napa. (photo below)

In 1989 many Neo-Nazi and Skinhead organizations around the country felt comfortable enough with the city of Napa they tried  to hold a white supremacist “Woodstock” styled concert event there. After pressure from the Jewish Defense League and other organizations the event was shelved.

There have been several articles from the local news outlets in Napa that document the history of racism in that area.

Going back to the early history of Napa,a Melanoid woman named Mary Ellen Pleasant-who is known as “the mother of civil rights in California”- is buried in Napa Valley.

Ironically,Mary Ellen Pleasant gained much of her notoriety for establishing lawsuits against a couple of railroad companies in the Bay area for ejecting her and other Black women from their trains because of race. And here we are over 100 years later,and the system of white supremacy is still in place and we have gone full circle.  Black women are still getting ejected from trains in the same area of the Bay, and race is still the suspected factor.

As the New Year has approached us, the majority of the country has just come out of the holiday season which includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years’. In the midst of the hoopla of these three separate occasions, many of us of African descent have taken note of other—and perhaps even more special—occasions that take place between the months of December and February: Black History Season.
Not familiar with the term? You’re not alone. There are many Blacks who are barely exposed to the information given that is more freely during Black History Month in February. Black History Season—like the holidays—extends over a period of time that lasts for a minimum of two months. In December, many of us commemorate the seven principles of Kwanzaa, which is celebrated during the final week of the year, beginning with December 26.
The Kwanzaa festivities are only the beginning. The month of January kicks the Black historical perspective to full swing, starting with celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 on New Years’ Day. The month of January also includes the world famous MLK celebrations that often span the entirety of this particular month. The season reaches its peak (and unfortunate demise) in the month of February after the Black History Month celebrations have vanished.
The most positive aspect of Black History Season is its propensity to spark interest in Black history, culture, legacy, and even current issues that involve the Black community. Perhaps the irony of me coining this time period Black History Season is the recurring trend of Black people who observe these special days, yet allow themselves to revert back to apathy from March until the following December.
Despite the short-lived celebration of Blackness, all is not lost on this alone. Let us use recent events such as police brutality toward Blacks, white supremacist media propaganda, and the perpetual exclusion of Black people from all outlets of the dominant society as a rallying cry to emphasize the importance of celebrating our past greatness and using it as a blueprint to build a promising future. Let Black people be the reason for Black History Season.

 by B. Clark