Though the Supreme Court's decision way back in 1954 on Brown v. Board of Education ruled that segregated educational facilities are "inherently unequal," the practice is still thriving in certain areas of the country. As John Oliver explained on the latest Last Week Tonight, segregation (in 2016!) is actually a problem that's only getting worse.
Surprisingly, the South currently stands as the most integrated area in the United States. But seemingly liberal cities like New York? Not so much. "At this point, if you're in a city like New York, you're probably thinking, 'Oh, splendid, I know where this is going: a story vilifying the backwards and racist American South,'" Oliver said Sunday. "'Let me just grab a handful of kale chips that I can munch on while feeling superior!'" But certain schools in NYC and elsewhere simply "never really bothered" integrating, something of which Malcolm X reminded the nation years ago.
"Oh shit, liberal white New Yorkers," Oliver said, noting a 2014 report that found nearly 7,000 "apartheid schools" with a white student population at or below a single percent. "Twist ending! You were racist the whole time. Put back those persimmons you bought yourselves as a treat from Fairway. You don't deserve them anymore!"
Damn. But how the hell is this going down anyway? As Oliver explained on Sunday's episode, the Civil Rights Act kinda gave the "so-called racial imbalance" of northern schools a pass. "If a New York school was all-white because it's drawing from an all-white area, even if that area had been kept that way due to a host of explicitly racist housing policies, that was somehow fine," Oliver said.
Worried Oliver might peace out on America entirely should next week's election go the wrong way? Don't be. He's not going anywhere.
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