American Apartheid

In 2023, Black people remain second-class citizens

Black and white photo of Walthall House in Newbern, Alabama, with the words “American Apartheid” superimposed. Adapted from a public domain image.

Today, I read a story that brought me to tears. In 2020, Patrick Braxton was elected as the first Black mayor of Newbern, Alabama. But the town’s white residents have kept him from serving through racist intimidation and harassment. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; please read the story to understand the extent of this injustice.

A Black Man Was Elected Mayor in Rural Alabama, but the White Town Leaders Won't Let Him Serve

The town of Newbern is 85% Black, with 69% of the Black people living in poverty. This is not South Africa in the 1960s, this is the year 2023 in the United States of America. But the ongoing oppression of Black residents by the white minority is, for all intents and purposes, apartheid.

Yes, this is rural Alabama, but that doesn’t make blatant racism acceptable or excusable. The Black citizens there are US-Americans just as much as I am here in the (supposedly) progressive city of San Francisco. They are just as entitled to have their civil rights respected. Instead, they are literally being treated as second-class citizens.