The Union

by Leah Vernon

There were three classes of Lower Residents: Domestic, Chattel, and Impure. All workers. Color determined everything: the paler you were, the worse you got it.

Interesting twist…

They were terrorists in official military gear.

Could draw parallels to our society?

Tech that could save lives or make one’s life a little more bearable was only allocated to Upper Residents. Here, we were expendable. If we died, we died. On to the next.

Seeing more parallels

She had a coveted body type in the region: the curvier, the bigger, the better. A well-fed body meant that one had the funds for proper nourishment, enough for overnourishment.

The standard before it switches to the exact opposite

Her skin was a deep fawn color due to her getting dark pigment inoculations from the appearance-tech surgeons. She had been born much lighter in tone despite Mother choosing the darkest setting for skin options during her conception period. Every few months, she got her skin darkened because a pupil had once teased her about being mistaken for an Impure. Jade had never let that go. So she overcompensated for her light skin by being extra revolutionary.

Hmmmm…

I had been doing quite a bit of research for my project at the Academy, and drugs seemed to be the root of the staggering Lower Resident crime rates and aggressions. If we had stronger initiatives in place to get drugs out of the Subdivisions, then I just knew we’d win half the battle.

So how much of this novel is based on our society?!

Never witnessed how dangerous and deadly Impures are. They are irredeemable. Beyond saving. It is us or them.

Sounds familiar

The reason for the insurgency was because of how my ancestors had been treated. How oppressive the old systems had been. No one who looked like me could ever get ahead.

Yup, saw this coming

The world was in shambles when a global virus spread. The economy was weakened. Many immigrants left the Old States and migrated back to their original homes. All that was left was global warming, greedy Europes, and displaced Blacks and sporadic Indigenous communities.

Could/would this happen?

The high-powered and the unattainable Europes that held ninety-seven percent of the wealth. They were never going to let it go, never planned on sharing the wealth, as they say, so they had to be exterminated. Sometimes, you have to be just as treacherous, even more so to win the game.”

True? I like to believe that you don’t have to become like the oppressor to beat the system.

“Our people stopped reading, disengaged from reality, and immersed themselves in music that degraded our skin color and promoted crime and ignorance. We were a watered-down and lost race, becoming the bottom feeders of the human chain.

Is this how some view African-Americans?

“You are more than what they say you are. You are more than your traumas. Promise me that you will repeat this when you are tired, lost, when you feel like you can’t go on.

Good mantra