Maintaining The Status Quo

Hey Everyone! :-)

I've got a little more from Alyce's adventures to share with you, today. Enjoy! :-)

Excerpt from sci-fi satire novel:
Squid-boy and Yax looked at each other with almost identical expressions of confusion. "Was this a deliberate effort to exterminate people with darker skin?" asked Squid-boy.

I shook my head. "No. It was a deliberate effort to keep people with darker skin poor and powerless."

"Why?" asked Yax.

"It goes back to what I was telling y'all about keeping the majority of the people divided. There are a lot more poor people than there are rich people. And if the poor people ever figure out how to work together, the rich might be forced to share some of what they have. So, the rich people work really hard to make sure that never happens."

Squid-boy waved his arms around his head. "Yes, I understand that. But I fail to see why such a random factor as the color of a person's skin would be the basis of such a division. Especially if, as you say, there is no official palette of skin tones to compare to people's skin. How do you know if a person qualifies as darker skinned? Where's the cutoff point between light skin and dark?"

Sighing, I answered, "It's complicated. It's more about where a person's ancestors were born than just about the color of their skin, though that's part of it. And, as you point out, a person's ancestry isn't always obvious just by looking at them. All of which just underscores how absurd racial prejudice is." I looked at him, catching his gaze and holding it. "But that doesn't mean it isn't real or that it doesn't hurt people. Because it absolutely does."

Lowering his arms, Squid-boy spun in place and made a raspberry sounding noise. "I still do not see how this makes sense, but I will take your word for it. Please continue."

I shrugged. "That's basically how it works. The rich and powerful play the poor and powerless against each other. As long as poor people with light skin can console themselves with the idea that they're somehow 'better' than people with darker skin, the poor lighter skinned people aren't as anxious to work together with the poor darker skinned people to improve all of their situations. Also, their energies are focused on keeping the darker skinned people from being treated better rather than on making the rich and powerful play fairly. Which is exactly what the rich and powerful want."

"And no one ever figures this out?" asked Yax. "It seems like this wouldn't be a strategy that would work for very long."

"Oh, some people figure out. Sometimes they can even get other people to listen to them and things get better for a little while. But the people in power aren't stupid; they shake things up every now and again, change up their tactics and try new approaches. Plus, when people are looking for others to blame for their problems, it's always safer to blame people who are less powerful than them. If they try to blame the people who are actually responsible, those who are in power, then they might end up in prison. Or worse."

"But you have a democratic form of government. Why don't people just vote out those who oppress them?"

"Oh, sugar, did you ever hit the nail on the head."

"What?" asked Squid-boy.

I waved it away. "Nothing. It's just an expression. I mean, you asked the right question. And the answer is tied up in why the rich want to keep the poor divided. That's why. Because if they united and voted together as a block, they could get the corrupt politicians out of office and replace them with some who would represent the interests of the majority. But by stirring up all the little conflicts that divide people, the rich keep that from happening."