After paying the attention due to Anthony Weiner’s career-killing dick—which could be about to strike again—John Oliver devoted Last Week Tonight’s long segment to school segregation and integration, two seemingly opposite concepts that very much exist in the same time and space, but have yet to eliminate each other in a matter/antimatter-like collision. Sadly, like Brown V. Board Of Education and the Civil Rights Act, the push for integrated schools hasn’t ever fully done away with segregation. Even worse, it seems distinct districts are on the rise.
Oliver’s report details the continuation of school segregation, which is on the uptick again thanks to white parents finding equality oppressive, and politicians suggesting the “post-racial” society we live in hardly warrants countermeasures. The negative aspects of keeping populations apart all through their formative years are obvious, with racial bias among them. So are the pros, as funding just happens to follow white families around. What’s truly surprising is that anyone has to make the case for this 62 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed.
And speaking of putting an end to things: “How Is This Still A Thing?” scrutinized Tuesday elections. The practice was implemented to help avoid those who avoid working on the Sabbath, but it now requires considerable effort from contemporary voters. As the voiceover puts it, let’s either make voting day a holiday—that realizes the democratic process—or just reschedule elections for the days (most) people are off from work anyway.