An American Sensibility? Apartheid transitions….an opinion.

Recently, I read a newspaper article that talked about the fact that Chicago, a major urban United States city, was now one-third white, one-third black, and one-third Latino. At face value, one would acknowledge the reality that the United States is quickly becoming a more diverse and multi-cultural country especially in its major urban metropolises. Georgie Anne Geyer, who happens to be a foreign correspondent and commentator on international affairs for more than 40 years, went a step further in her article, “Somethings needs to be done in Chicago.” Stating that “far too many of the third of Chicago that is now African American come from fractured families as between 70 and 80 percent of black children are now alleged to be born out of wedlock.” is not necessarily the issue, especially since, across American cultures, women getting pregnant without marriage beforehand has become a recognized, if not acceptable social paradigm. And while the increasingly societal stance to incarcerate black men addresses the critical issue of how does “absent” fathers in prison/jails raise their children, what is more pertinent is that these children and single mother families are currently existing in abject poverty, rampant crime, and premature death. And without question, Latinos communities are facing the same social affects as black neighborhoods with both communities of color being marked by violence. But think about this next point.


As an avid reader and critical thinker, I came across a mid-may Associated Press article that addressed the recent Government Accountability Office report that “found deepening segregation of black and Hispanic students at high-poverty K-12 public schools.” More importantly, this report found these public (emphasis mine) schools “offered fewer math, science and college prep classes, while having disproportionally higher rates of students who were held back in ninth grade, suspended or expelled.” Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia articulated the position that the GAO confirmed “that America’s schools are largely segregated by race and class “leaving more than 20 million students of color now attending racially and socioeconomically isolated public schools.’” Based on analyses of education department data, “The GAO report found that in the 2013-14 school year, 16 percent of the nation’s public schools had high concentrations of poor and black or Hispanic students….The student body at these schools were at least 75 percent black or Hispanic and poor – and in some cases 100 percent.”


So, what are these indicators suggesting?


While the presidential primaries have been focused on the top 1% and increasing economic disparities between upper, middle and lower classes; further dwindling of the disappearing middle class, and rising abject poverty especially among American children, I continue to maintain the stance that America is becoming the new home of apartheid, where a small minority defined solely and exclusively by race (and maybe with small touches of class) will control the overall destiny and pathways of people who do not look like the powerful ruling class. And rest assured, legal strictures imposed by the top 1% will guarantee that the position of “minority” citizens will be maintained and enforced by para-military police forces and local elected politicians.


I hope to be wrong. But, pay attention to what is happening in the United States. While still underground, apartheid thinking and concepts exist along with prevalent inbred and institutional racism and discrimination. These forces are just waiting for the right time to emerge and wrap the US in a warped version of “power to the people.”


Think I am wrong?


Stay a critical thinker.



bill